We are just back from a 5 night stay and really enjoyed the Westin. We were there on pts and we did get upgraded to a oceanview room. They really took good care of us. The manager introduced himself and talked with us quite a bit just after we arrived and were having lunch by the pool. We had no issues with housekeeping - room was cleaned great and early in day. We had a number of treats/gifts dropped off during our stay which was a nice. We only stayed at the resort one full day and spent rest of time seeing the island. We had no dinners at resort but rest of the food was pretty good.

Pros

Room was nice - ours was very large and alittle odd in that there was all this empty space before the door to balcony. Not sure if there should have been more furniture or what. Could have had a couch, coffee table, another tv and table with four chairs with all the room there was. There was just one chaise - it would have been nice to have more seating or furniture to fill void. Another king size bed would have fit so not sure what the plan of the room was to be.
Room was quiet never heard neighbors. We always had plenty of towels and toiletries.
Again housekeeping was timely and thorough.
We loved location - away from congestion. It only took us 14 minutes one night to get to Grand Case for dinner. We loved the convenience of Big Fish/Mr Busby's_Daniels. We had 3 dinners in total over there and one breakfast plus took snorkel trip from there.
All the hotel staff was great and friendly. The concierge was pretty helpful also.
We liked the openess and simplicity of pool area - not crowded at all.
Beach was very nice and we always saw open chairs at pool and beach.

Cons (none were really that big of issue, but wanted to give people overall review)

Casino at entrance is pretty shaky looking. It should have been walled off or totally separate. It was always very empty so can't imagine at some point that it would maybe shut down. Rest of lobby is really nice so entrance would have been so much nicer without tackiness of casino right there.

A couple of group meetings were there - never bothered us but lobby was congested at one point and they had events near pool and beach in late afternoon/evening but didn't really notice. or get in the way.

Dawn Beach can be windy - we were actually cool at times by 4 pm. Didn't mind that there was no shade as it was always breezy. Might be a good option for summer as then there is constant breeze.

Other note on driving - it is difficult to navigate the roads first time through as it is dark. I suggest taking a dry run in daylight and taking note of land marks. Once you do that you are fine. But again Westin was nice if you didn't want to go to all parts of island, you could avoid alot of the traffic. Dawn Beach to Grand Case was the least conjested area of the entire island.

I would definitely come back to this Westin again, although would admit I wouldn't pay full price. I wasn't entirely blown away by the island as compared to alot of others so wouldn't be rushing back. It was too congested and built up for my liking. I enjoyed food (lunch at LaSamana, Big Fish, Daniels, Le California, Sol E Luna) but again maybe I had too high expectations and didn't totally agree that is was heads above all other islands. I had as good meals on Anguilla, St John even St Croix. There was a great selection of "different" types of food in St Maarten/Martin though. It just didn't overwhelm me.
The beaches and water are really pretty. Thought Orient Beach while beautiful, was just alittle much for me with wall to wall beach chairs and only 1/3 were occupied. I just prefer more quiet beach. We did not have any safety or crime issues and never felt unsafe.

Note: A sea-view room can be a full frontal view of a car park. Should you lean over the balcony you will see the sea over some trees. Splash out and go full ocean view or save your money and go for the courtyard view.

The pool area is overcrowded.

Many of the concierge staff are beyond useless. When ordering a taxi the night before before to phone, walk and down and change PM to AM and 7 to 8. Then wake up the next morning and confirm your booking. Finally walk outside and hail a taxi as you can be sure there won't be one waiting for you.

Large TV

Beach is nice but rather than umbrellas they hire out blue pizza-oven type things which mean you have no view when bunkered in.

The upmarket restaraunt was quite good for a 4* hotel.

The reception area is dominated by a tedious, grey and yet smelly casino.

Our stay was on 3/23-3/30. Overall nice hotel, but if I would be paying $500+ a night for resort view, I would be very disappointed. So, if you can get a rate of $300 and under or you can use your points go for it. Upon our arrival we were gritted with nice and cool punch. Bellboy took our luggage and no line at front desk (nice). Now I am a gold starwood preferred guest and was using my points for this stay. We did not get upgrade. We had courtyard view and that was OK, because resort was fully booked. By reading all reviews I was happy not getting propane tank view (lol). Resort decoration is very much described very accurately on this site (it is Westin style and I like it). WARNING . This is the point were the star will be taking-unless you need to do not stay in connecting rooms. There is no soundproofing at all. Literally you can hear every world, even if you get quite neighbors (we were awaken twice, so finally called front desk). I am actually very surprised that no one mentioned it before.
Beach and pool area gorges Yes the beach is very windy and no shade at all any ware. I have to agree with others that at this price and level of this resort they should proved umbrellas at no charge. That is there second star is coming of. We did rent cabana for $50. You will enjoy beach if you are strong swimmer. It can be a lot of fun playing with all the waves and snorkeling but for me it was scary because of strong current (it was sucking me in the ocean).
Liquid-beach restaurant nice and reasonable priced. Try chicken curry wrap. For children only 2 choices (peanut butter and jelly or grill cheese sandwich with chips and fruit salad $4.50).We had very good service because we had cabana. We also did breakfast $25 for one and children under 5 free. It was very good.
In summary, this resort just does not have that “class” that they are shooting for. However, they have nice service, nice rooms if you get good view and it is vacation and you should enjoy it. Rent a car and enjoy the island.

My wife and I spent 8 days at the Westin from March 10-18. We enjoyed at the hotel and the island. We are avid travelers who go on 4-5 vacations a year.

After reading the reviews of previous travelers I was a bit concerned about the hotel. Once I arrived and got to my room I realized there was nothing to worry about. This is defiantly one of the nicer hotels on the island.

Cost: We used most of the hotel services (restaurants, "gift shop", spa, etc.). There is nothing unexpected in terms of cost that is any different they any other 4-5 star hotel. (Yes Fiji bottles at the pool are $8 but there also that price at any hotel I have been at-you can buy them for $3.50 just down the road from the hotel at the corner store). The pool restaurant was surprisingly reasonable having sandwiches that ranged from $6.50-$10.50. Main restaurant breakfast ranged from 10-22 (order individual items or buffet) and lunch menu was reasonable (burger $10). All expected for a hotel restaurant.

Room: We had a room that overlooked the courtyard. The room was well appointed with a flat screen TV, minibar, and huge bathroom. The first 4 days cleaned before 11 and the next 4 days by mid afternoon. No issues of bed bugs which I read about in previous posts.

Staff: The staff was great...we had an issue with the bill at checkout and rectified within minutes, staff at gift shop called us by name, pool staff friendly, restaurant staff got to know the guests and even called you by your name day to day.

Pool: There is very little shade but just move your chair during the day and you will be fine. Great pool with an unbelievable beach. We spent about 5 hours there each day and had a great time.

Location: The first drive to the hotel was tricky (even with just one main road on the island). It takes about 25-40 minutes to get to the hotel depending on the traffic. The hotel is closer to the French side and away from the action of Maho beach area. So depending on what you are looking for you should keep this in mind. I found with all there is to do on the island you will need a car to see everything so the location of the hotel should not be a hindrance.

Restaurants: There are great restaurants on the island especially on the French side especially in Grand Case. There are two restaurants that are minutes from the hotel Big Fish (very good) and Busby’s casual place for all meals. I would recommend to enjoy the food of the island.
List of dinners
March 10 - Big Fish - very good/semi casual
March 11 - Sole Luna - one of the best
March 12 - Hotel - very accomadating
March 13 - La Rosa - disappointing
March 14 - Big Fish
March 15 - La California - Great, dont let it being casual fool you
March 16 – Temptations/Rare - very nice and great good (tempation has better decor)
March 17 – La Gondola Italian Ristorante - good resuturant

I would go back to the hotel again and would recommend it to friends and family