This was our first trip to St. Martin, so we stayed only four nights, to get the flavor of the place. We will be back next winter for a longer stay. St. Martin is a delightful place and the locals are all so very friendly.

Jardins de Chevrise is located in the Mount Vernon section of the French side of the island. I had not seen good directions anywhere on how to get to the hotel, so here goes. Coming from Philipsburg you will pass the several entrances to Orient Bay on your right. After the last Orient Bay entrance you will ascend a hill and there will be a right turn to “Cul de Sac” Turn right and take the next right onto Rue Mont Vernon. Go straight and you can’t miss it. Coming from Marigot and Grand Case… just outside Grand Case you will see a left turn for “Aeroport de Grand Case”, the small local airport. The next left after the airport turnoff is the road for “Cul de Sac”. Turn left and take the next right onto Rue Mont Vernon.

Jardins de Chevrise is great value for the price. The hotel is clean and well-maintained. The staff are friendly and helpful. Our philosophy is that we only sleep and shower in our room. As long as it is quiet and clean we are satisfied. We were very satisfied. The rooms are studios with small kitchens. The floors are tile, décor spare, but functional. A nice touch was the fresh cut flowers left by the staff. Each room has an air-conditioner operated by a remote control. The water pressure was a bit weak, but since St. Martin has to produce all their water through a desalinization plant, maybe it is a conservation measure. Anyhow, there is water enough to take a shower and get clean. There is a small color TV that gets only HBO on its one channel, but if you’re planning on going to St. Martin and watching TV, I pity you!! The beds are made up for you each day. We felt the mattress was a bit hard, but not uncomfortably so. Fresh towels are set up each day. The hotel will give you beach towels if you ask. If you are interested in cooking you can rent the dishes, etc. Breakfast is by the pool which is located in a lovely plant filled courtyard. It is extra, 7 euros per person per day; a little steep, but very nice and convenient. There is a bakery nearby, within walking distance if you’d like to get your own rolls or croissants. The hotel breakfast is a nice way to meet some of your fellow guests. There were lots of Europeans at the hotel when we were there – mostly French, a Canadian group that was departing just after we had arrived, and a nice German couple that I practiced my high school German on.

Orient Bay, the island’s premier beach is a short distance away. It is better to drive to it than to walk, we found. Ten minutes brings you to the public access to the beach. Leave Rue Mont Vernon. Make a left at the end of the road onto the Cul de Sac Road to go back to the main road. At the main road make another left in the direction of Quartier d’Orleans, and Baie Orientale. You will pass three entrances on the left to Orient Bay. The third and last has a sign that says “Galion” Take this left. Don’t be intimidated by the pot-holed dirt road. Up this road for about 100 yards, then make the first left – still a dirt road, but more a washboard road instead of pot-holed. At the fork where the Club Orient Security box is, make a left to the “Public Access” Parking is available for $3.00, but if you get there early enough, say between 9:00 and 10:00 am, you can pass the parking area, make a right towards the beach and park free along the masonry wall.

The beach has all sorts of water sports available, shops for beach wear, eating places, and drinking places as well – all right on the sand. We had our mid-afternoon Margaritas (substantial in a plastic cup for $6.00) at the Tex-Mex bar right on the sand. Say hello to Michel the bartender if you go. Right where you park is the dividing line between the regular beach and the Club Orient beach. The entire beach is a public beach, so if you are interested in skinny dipping, or nude sunbathing, just walk up on the right and join the guests of Club Orient. You can rent beach chairs and umbrellas from Club Orient for $6.00 each item. Two chairs and an umbrella cost $18.00. Alternatively, you can skip the public access road at the fork and drive straight into Club Orient. $20.00 gets you two chairs and an umbrella (an $18.00 value) parking all day, and use of the toilets and showers of the Club. There is a beachside snack-bar, also. If the nude beach is not your style, you can turn left onto the beach and you can also rent chairs and umbrellas for comparable prices, and be near the shops and food.

Visits to Grand Case and Marigot are a must. Grand Case – just ten minutes from the hotel – has lots of great restaurants. The souvenir shops in Grand Case are much too pricy. You can buy comparable souvenirs down in Philipsburg for a third the cost. Marigot surrounds a lovely harbor and is the site of one of the ferry terminals if you want to visit some of the nearby islands.

The Dutch side is much more congested and traffic is miserable. Philipsburg has night life and casinos if that is your interest.

The people are very friendly and my only bad experience was getting gas for our rental car on the Dutch side as I approached the airport. We were ripped off on the price of gas. On the Dutch side they do not post gas process and, I suppose, they feel they can charge you outrageous prices. On the French side all the prices are posted prominently – I guess to avoid that. The gas prices were (on the French side) 0.79 to 0.83 euros per liter. Say about $1.00 per liter (about 4 liters to a gallon roughly – so about $4.00 per gallon. We had a Toyota Corolla that needed about a third of a tank of fuel. I was guessing around 4 gallons, so it would have cost about $16.00. We were charged $21.50.

All the native French speakers that we ran into in service jobs spoke English fairly to very well. It doesn’t hurt to have a few phrases of French to be polite in their language. In addition, many of the residents there come from countries such as Jamaica, or some of the smaller islands like the British Virgins, Anguilla, Antigua, or Trinidad and English is their native tongue.

The dollar is accepted everywhere. Most prices are quoted in dollars. At restaurants we got the bill in Euros and the dollar equivalent was written on the bill. The exchange rate was roughly the official one of $1.20 per Euro. Credit cards are accepted, but they like the tips in cash, so make sure you carry lots of cash for that, also for bars, souvenirs, etc.

St. Martin is a delight and Jardins de Chevrise the perfect quiet spot for your headquarters as you explore this island.

Enjoy your trip to St. Martin.

We loved our recent stay on the first floor with a wonderful terrace overlooking the bay. We compliment the staff on the cleanliness and the flexibility on our check out time.

We walked daily to the local boulangerie for our bagettes for lunch. We drove to Grand Case for the supermarket and stocked our refrigerator for a great daily breakfast.This hotel is small and in a neighborhood so you feel a part of the area. We had rented a car and preferred walking most. The trek to Orient Beach is just that a 10 minute at most walk but we preferred the walk to Club Orient each day and it takes about 25 minutes.
Our favorite restaurant after eating in Marigot and in Grand Case was the one right near our hotel called Luna du Soleil. We ate there twice in our short 6 day stay. i miss the island already. we were there from 1/4-1/20/06 and we'll come back again.
we are a couple in love so we enjoyed the quite life on the french side. Au Revoir mes amis

What a nice break from the hustle of the Dutch side. Like others who commented, I took advantage of the nearby bakery for fresh baguettes and croissants. Excellent!

Also -- you should definitely get a car to explore the island, buy groceries, and for general freedom. There is no variety of dining within walking so a car helps you get to Grand Case, Marigot, Simpson Bay, etc. The remoteness of the hotel is its appeal but also its only issue.

The Pinel ferry is close as well as Orient Beach. The walk to the beach is about 10 minutes and not enjoyable in the heat of the day since we were lazy Americans. The best bet is a short drive to Boo Boo Jam's so you have a base camp that serves food and alchol at rates more reasonable than the South end of the beach. It is much less crowded and fewer naked, middle-aged Frenchmen. The dressed ones with thongs were not much better!

The kitchen was adequate but it might be a good idea to get a non-stick pan at the market with disposable plates and cups for easier clean up. We had maid service that did a good job with towels, etc. and was not charged extra. The biggest mess we made was the sand but there was a broom on the deck that controlled that. The covered deck was very nice and not too buggy. We had bought bug candles and spray but really did not have as much issue as the previous year on the Dutch side (Royal Palms). Seating and table were basic but very clean and functional for a couple.

The room that we got (no requests on our end) was a nice 2nd floor unit that overlooked the pond. The pond did not smell but, on past year's visits to the island, I remember the pond getting low and foul. The parking lot was a little tight but I did not see many other guests (very much off season). You can park up the street, 30 seconds away if needed.

The staff was excellent, providing drinks and making some calls for us. They were extremely pleasant and personable and very much appreciated our business. I am not sure how suited this hotel is for a family unless you got a loft room. It is outstanding for couples getting away. Nothing fancy but nothing hectic or loud either.

On this trip, we went to Orient Beach (since we were there), Philipsburg (shopping and more touristy pubs), and the Dutch side. Our favorite is Boo Boo Jams for proximity, price, and friendliness. It is a spot to relax! We went to the Green House in P-burg which is not as homey as the one in St Thomas. Kangaroo Court is a good find as well as its sister place on the beach (good sangria cocktail).

Our best finds (Dutch side) were the Buccaneer Beach bar (next to Indiana Beach) which was very friendly and affordable along with the Peg Leg Pub which was well-kept, well-serviced, friendly, and had good food. We also visited the Sunset Beach Bar which was a little overpriced for drinks so hitting their specials is highly recommended. It's a good stop from Noon until 4 to watch the planes come and go. The bathrooms were poorly serviced for a tourist bar so that was a disappointment. Bamboo Bernies looked fun but we are not night folks.

Another good trip to SXM!

We booked a one week "last minute" stay at the Mercure towards the end of March. Shortly before our departure we were informed by our travel agent that the Mercure was overbooked for the first two days of our vacation and that we had been transferred to the Jardins de Chevrise. As compensation we were given complementary breakfasts at the Chevrise. We used the resort much like a cottage. We rented a car and spent every day exploring the island and the wonderful beaches it has to offer. The room was a nice, no frills affair, clean but a little run down. The kitchenette (on the balcony) was adequate as well although it was a little inconvenient to have to sign out a "kit de cuisine" in order to have plates, cutlery, pots and pans. The contents of the "kit" were clean but in pretty rough shape with huge payments for anything that was not returned. Clearly the hotel wants you to use the restaurant for meals whereas we preferred to eat breakfast in the room and sample the fine restaurants around the island in the evening. If you like brewed coffee in the morning bring along your own filters and filter baskets (and coffee of course). I tried the full breakfast on our last day and found it to be very good and the price wasn't too bad ... on par with most restaurants. The pool was great and very clean. The TV was adequate but not up to North American standards. The hotel staff was helpful and the maid service was good. Our major complaint was the noise generated by the DJ who would fire up his 500 watt stereo system every day at 11 am and play loud, highly unrelaxing music all afternoon and into the night. Our room was across the pool from the restaurant so we bore the brunt of the noise. Try to get a room on the other side of the hotel if you can ... the view isn't worth the abuse from the music and bad karaoke that some evenings went on until 1am.

We would recommend the Mercure for people who don't mind roughing it a little. Watch where they put you though or bring along some ear plugs!!!!