My husband and I spent 1 week at this hotel. We chose this hotel because my husband loves airplanes and he wanted to take pictures of the airplanes landing. If this is the reason that you visit this resort then you will love it.

We were given a room with a view of the ocean and the runway. The room was clean and well maintained during our stay. The air conditioning kept the room overly cool but other than that we had no complaints about our room.

We were on the all-inclusive plan and the food is mediocre. We had breakfast there every day and the buffet was dry and there wasn't much change in the choices from day to to day. We had lunch at the Palms Grill twice and the hamburgers were over cooked and tasteless. We also ate at The Point and we were disappointed with the size of the portions and quality of the food. We ate at Le Charolais and the Paris Bistro and both times we did not eat on the all-inclusive menu. For all the other nights we ate off the resort and found some very good restaurants.

The service was adequate but not overly friendly or polished.

The resort was very clean and the gardeners were always around cleaning and trimming. The pool was very nice.

Smoking is allowed all around the resort both inside and outside.

We had brought our laptop and we bought an internet package for the week for $49.99.

We were in St. Maarten for a week and had booked a room through our timeshare at the Pelican Resort. We got there and were so disappointed that I immediately started calling around to other hotels. We found the Sonesta and stayed there for five of the seven nights. Its a very nice hotel - our room was nice and had a great view of the pool and beach. We could also watch the planes take off and land from our balcony (surprisingly it wasn't too loud). I would recommend this place for sure, but don't plan on eating lunches at the hotel - we weren't fans of the Palms Grill or the other places. Cheri's Cafe across the street has a great lunch, though! The Sopranos piano bar is also fun to go to after dinner - the singer who was there during our stay was a lot of fun!

Sonesta isn't so bad. We got a Pool/Beach view room which was nice. We did see what the water plant view looked like, and it was definitely unimpressive. I would not have liked to have this view. The large pool w/ swim-up bar was great. For those who enjoy massages, I 100% recommend the Good Life Spa located in the hotel. I had the "Just Arrived pckg" - $115 for Full body mini scrub, and 55 min full body massage, and it was great. Honestly, one of the best massages I've ever had! Like other reviews, I found the hotel staff to be 50/50... some were super nice and helpful, others were... well... maybe they woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Anyhow, I thought the hotel's location was convenient... literally minutes from the aiport (the airplanes were not THAT bad), a little market, across from the biggest casino on the island, and lots of restauraunts to choose from. I definitely recommend getting a car to drive around the island, there's lots to see! I read some reviews that Mullet Bay (right next to the hotel) was great, but... we found it was a bit toooo crowded, and no where as beautiful as Orient Beach (on the French side).

I stayed at the Sonesta Maho Beach in August 2006 with 2 friends. We booked this trip very fast without any time to research where we were staying. The original destination was Mexico and I changed it because I wanted more to do. When we first got there I was pretty happy with the look and feel of the hotel. The first time I saw one of the planes landing and heard the noise it scared me and I thought what have I gotten us into. By day 3 it no longer bothered me and I found it interesting. I have read the other reviews and smelled nothing from the power plant. The noise from the bars along the beach could be heard but only when the terrace doors were open. I'm an AC gal so they were closed at all times. The food left a little to be desired and I felt that the buffet was sparse, food was unappetizing. The staff when we checked in could have told us that we were allowed to eat at other restaurants on the property. Unfortunately we were on the 6 day plan, 1 day short of being allowed to eat at The Point. The tours provided by the hotel (free and not) were all good. Loved Orient beach except for the people trying to sell me things and braid my hair every 10 minutes. The people i met at the resort were all very nice and friendly. All in all I felt very comfortable at this resort and would go back except I would not do the all inclusive for dinners. I ate out the last night because I was sick of the buffet and it was very good. Biggest regrets of the trip: not seeing more of the island and not eating at a restaurant recommended by a friend in Grand Case. Next time I guess. Recommendations: buy your internet cards early as they run out fast. Take the meal plan that includes breakfast and drinks only. Talk to as many people as possible about shopping, renting cars, etc. Everyday we were there we got a new piece of information or a name of a guy who new a guy with a lower rental price.