if you are booked to stay at the caravanserai in st martin please make your changes now. our first night we had no air conditioning, we were told it would be fixed in the morning. it was not. then we only had one bathroom that was working when we awoke, again we were told it would be fixed, it was not . by the morning of day 3 of our vacation we now had no running water and could not use any bathroom facilities. we had to go to a nearby business to use the facilities and wash and change clothes. in addition to all this you could not use the phones from our room or the tv. we felt more like hostages than vacationers.
we called RCI from who booked our stay and they said they would have us moved within two hours, which they did.we were now booked at the royal islander (a little dated) but very clean and in working order. it was great to even be able to swim at the resort unlike the previous were we were told it had four pools,tennis courts activities room,restaurants,casino and laundry none of which existed. it was dissapointing because i read reviews just before we left and also told by the timeshare the resort construction was almost complete. not so, it is barely started. in the resorts defense when it is ever completed it will be beautiful but that is a long time away. please change any plans you may have for the caravanserai for at least two years or you too will be looking for a back up place to stay. after our first three days in misery we spent the last four days doing as much as we possibly could. be sure you take the golden eagle friday cruise it is so fantastic also if you parasail as we did go to orient beach and go out with carib they are great. we plan on going back to st maarten again but alittle wiser this time! v gresik

My husband and I went to St. Martin for our honeymoon in May of 2006. We had a great time, hence the fact that the island was a little dirty. The caravanserai hotel was great, we had an amazing room that had a balcony that overlooked the ocean. I LOVED WAKING UP IN THE MORNING AND LOOKING AT THAT! Our room was very clean, and the service was very friendly. Unfortunately we had a pretty decent rain storm while we were there but it only lasted one night, everything got flooded though (outside, not inside). The night of our vacation our air conditioner broke, but we did have it on non-stop the whole entire time that we were there, and it kept our room nice and cool. Oh, and you cannot hear the planes really, maybe slightly, but they are not like shaking the pictures on the walls or anything! The music from the surrounding bars can be a little loud, and you can hear that from your room, unless you are the other end of the resort. Its a nice overall place to stay!

I signed through Free St Maarten to view a time share at caravanserai. For doing this, me and my three girlfriends got a free car rental for a week. We received the car and went to Caravanserai for our tour. First they were rude because we did not have our husbands with us - three of us are single. Then when they read on our application forms that we were Canadian, they left the room, called "Free St Martin" who then informed me that this resort does not deal with Canadians! We then went to Oyster Bay Beach Resort and were treated fabulous. I was disgusted with the treatment at Caravanserai,we have friends that work there and have visited it and "bamboo bernies" as well as "Splash" which are all located on the complex. The 4 of us have been visitors to St Martin for over 6 years and have many friends there. We have made sure to tell all of them of the disgusting treatment we have received. we will also be contacting the tourist bureau as we believe this reflects badly on our favorite island. Alot of Canadians come to this beautiful island, this resort would be well advised to smarten up.

Stayed @ Caravanserai Oct 16-23/06. Had room 2105, waterfront studio on 2nd floor. King size bed, bathroom with tub/shower, full kitchen (no dishwasher), dining/siting area & balcony with small table, 2 chairs + 2 loungers. Everthing had a 'tired' feel to it. Bathroom floor badly cracked, shower tap fell off & took 24 hours to be fixed. Fresh towels daily. Bedroom OK, bed comfortable, lots of closet space, secure safe in bedroom closet. Kitchen appliances old but serviceable (including a whistling kettle). Complete set of dishes & utensils for 4. Dining table/chairs + sofa (bed) + 2 arm chairs fairly good condition. Sand on floors not swept up even though unit serviced daily. 2 TVs with max. 10 channels, reception average and signal out several times reportedly for a few hours each time (no biggie).
Pools very small and unused when we passed. No beach, just a walkway with a few tables & loungers. Thursday thru Saturday, music from Bliss and Sunset Beach Bar can be heard (& felt) until 3:00 - 4:00 am.
Reception staff not friendly.

Nearest beach, Maho, now mostly eroded back to bare rocks. Rent a car & use Mullett, Long Bay, Kim Sha (Atrium), Orient or Anse Marcel.
Sunset Beach Bar great for plane watching but very expensive. IMO, best beach bar is Bucaneer @ The Atrium. Best local restaurant - Le Charolais next to Casino Royale in Maho (try the Rack of Lamb or The Mixed Grill)