We stayed at the Sonesta Maho on our way back from St Barts. We chose the hotel for it's prximity to the airport as we are huge airplane buffs. Other than the plane spotting, the rest was a joke. It's hard to find any other part of the place to say something nice.
When we arrived the whole place smelled moldy. We were pushed out of the way getting on the elevator by a worker with a smelly mop bucket.
The toilet wouldn't flush in our room and when I called down to ask for help the front desk told me it would work "in a few hours". We called three hours later when it still wasn't working.
When I asked the receptionist for internet connection information I was told I would have to wait until others "used up their time" because no access codes were available. This sounded fishy to me and I went to next receptionist to ask the same question. She rolled her eyes at her colleague and proceeded to give me a cable for my computer, instructions for logging on, and information that all the lobby was wireless and free!
The first afternoon we were starving and sat down at the
The following day when we went to the pool to get our towels, we were told "we are all out, come back in the afternoon." Uh, it was 10am, what do we do until then?
The poolside restaurant was no better. We waited in line to be seated, and when the line got too long for the host he opened up another section in the restaurant, proceeded to seat 5 tables, but there was NO server to help. The long long wait for food was rewarded with a terrible meal. The lone bright spot at the meal was the very friendly, funny, engaging bartender. We loved her.
Overall, the hotel stunk, and save for the breathtaking fun of the planes landing feet away from the beach, the Sonesta Maho was no better than a roadside motel in nowhere, USA.

I cannot believe the good reviews about this place. WHile the rooms are cleaned daily, the hotel itself is worn and dirty. The carpeting needs to be shampooed. In certain areas it smells. You can see the runway from this hotel. It is not fun to see the planes take off, it is annoying. I called my cousin from the room and she thought I was at the airport. The night club can be heard from the rooms and it goes on until 4am. I could tolerate that, but then this hotel keeps roosters, YES roosters in a planting area next to the rooms. So after hearing the club all night you get woken up by a rooster at the crack of dawn. The air conditioning does not remove the moisture from the room properly. SInce I was on the ground floor and did not have the option to leave the patio door open the choice was between damp and suffocating or cold and clammy. This part was unbearable and made me want to go home. The beach area near the hotel has huge signs that warn of bodily harm and death as a result of the low flying aircraft. I could go on and on about the hotel area,but I would like to tell you about the island itself. After seeing someone almost fall out of a bus, we made sure on the next bus ride to securely close the door. We were called back by the bus driver who accused us of slamming the door and threatened us with paying for damages. (there were none) He then left us to stand at the wrong area for the transfer bus. We later decided to take a taxi who drove too fast and caused us a bleeding injury, yet we were forced to pay for the ride, with a five dollar discount. rude, rude people. If you go here,stay in Marigot or Phillipsburg NOT Maho. Or better yet go to Aruba which is friendly.

Finally I made it to Sonesta Maho. Have been wanting to visit for a while now. My husband and I stayed there from 29th March - 2nd April 2008. At first, I was a bit skeptical when I read some of the reviews but it was worth it.

The beach at the resort was indeed small and the waters were rough at the time of our stay. But, I absolutely LOVED watching the planes come in and take off. This made it wonderful for taking pictures and got to experience jet blast from the planes when taking off.

Our room was Ok, nice comfy bed and great bathroom. Although it was close to the Airport, it was not as noisy as I had imagined.

The only bad thing is that I did not enjoy the food as compared to that offered by other all-inclusive resorts I visited. We did not eat at the Point Rsetaurant since you have to stay 7 nights in order to get the vouchers, otherwise you have to pay, it is not in the all-inclusive plan.

We did the island tour for $20/person. It was great. We drove around the country and stopped off for shopping in Marigot and Philipsburg. The beaches around the island are magnificent. We spent a day at Simpson's Bay. The beach was much calmer here. The Great Bay beach is also awesome.

We also visited Orient Beach on the French side. It was very windy here which makes it great for parasailing and riding the waves. There is a nude portion on the beach to the far right but if you are not going to take it all off, don't venture there!

I

We were leery of staying here due to the some of the bad reviews but I think it's all about the room you get. We upgraded to the Premier Oceanfront and absolutely loved it.

Room was clean and modern with a nice balcony. Try to get a room on the ends of the hotel and you will get an added bonus of a high vaulted ceiling on floors 8, 9 and 10.

All the staff were very friendly throughout our entire stay. The maid went out her way to make sure and say hi everytime we passed her (posssibly hoping for a a better tip) but truely seemed interested in make our stay the best she could. The only problem was about an hour wait when we called at night to unclog the toilet.

The grounds were clean and well kept. The pool was great with the swim up bar. Lots of "all inclusives" spend the day there. Drinks were better at the pool than some of the local bars. The beach isn't much but was fine for walks - really the only reason to go to this beach is for the planes that land right over head which was really cool. Don't worry about the aircraft noise, there are only a handful of loud big planes each day in mid afternoon.

The location was great for nightlife. There are 5 or 6 good restaurants right next to the hotel. Each night at 9pm the dancers in the casino show come out and perform in the street which is fun. Some of the best and latest nightclubs are walking distance (but the Q Club is closed awaiting new management). We were not bothered by the noise - could only hear it if we were outside on the balcony. Casino was fun too.

My tips:
Upgrade to the Premier Rooms (top 3 floors) or at least to the tower building.

Ask for a room on the end if you get a Premier Room.

Do not stay in the older wings especially if you are facing the back - there is a water treatment facility back there
(we did get a whiff of it a few times but it was not a problem).

Get a car and go to the many other beaches on the island - Mullet and Orient were our favorites. It cost $5 per day to park in the hotel garage.

Go to Bliss, Bamboo Bernies and the Sunset Beach Bar at night - all walking distance and open very late.

Overall, we loved our trip and this hotel. I would choose this hotel again and do not believe all the bad reviews.