This was our fourth trip to St. Maarten and the first time we stayed at the Divi. We stayed for 5 nights (June 28th to July 3rd). Traveling with me was my husband and two teenage sons (14 and 18). Our last trip was 5 years ago and St. Maarten has changed somewhat. It was disappointing to see all of the building going on in the Cupecoy area. The high rise buildings seem so out of place and there are so many high rise condos being built! There were also a lot of speed bumps added to the roads which was new since our last visit.

CAR RENTAL: We have always rented a car from Tropical Car Rental, but this time they were a big disappointment. Mickey would always be waiting for us upon our arrival at the airport but this time he wasn’t there and we waited ½ hour for him to come after the taxi drivers called him for us. When we got to the rental office, we were given a less than desirable vehicle, a Suzuki. While it was the car that I reserved, it was in terrible condition. The air conditioner didn’t work, the convertible roof was stapled together, there was a nail in the spare tire on the back of the car, and there was a large crack in the windshield obstructing the view on the passenger side. This car looked like it was ready for the junk yard and just didn’t feel safe. We couldn’t believe that they are renting this car out to people. We weren’t happy with it and told them we may be bringing the car back.

We drove to the Divi and our room wasn’t ready yet. No big deal – we arrived at 1:00 pm and check-in wasn’t until 4:00 pm. There was a Thrifty/Dollar car rental office on site so we decided to rent a car from them. It took awhile to track down the rental agent in that office, but we ended up renting a convertible Mustang since the Jeep we wanted wasn’t available. The Mustang was fun to drive and ride around in but not very practical for going over speed bumps even if you went over them very slowly.

We went back to the office of Tropical Car Rental and returned the Suzuki. They took the car back without any problems. Hopefully they gave it a proper burial.

Since it was a Sunday and most grocery stores were closed, we went to the 7-Alive convenience store across the street from the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort, which had everything we needed as far as buying drinks and breakfast food. Beer in St. Maarten is less expensive than bottled water.

ROOMS: By the time we got back to the Divi our room was ready and we were very pleased with the size of the unit. I should mention that we traded our points with RCI for a one bedroom luxury room that can accommodate 6 people. There was a full kitchen with dining room and a pull-out sofa in the living room, a king size bed and another pull-out sofa in the bedroom, two balconies with tables and lounge chairs, two full baths (one with a Jacuzzi tub) and a washer/dryer. There was also ample closet space, an iron/ironing board and all of the necessary kitchen supplies.

The maid came to empty our garbage every day and bring plenty of fresh towels. There was cleaning service once during our stay of 5 nights.

HOTEL: We were really surprised at how small the infinity edge pool was! From the pictures on the website you think there is more to it but it’s really small. We really didn’t spend a lot of time in the pools at the Divi because the beaches are the main attraction for us so it wasn’t a big deal.

They are still doing construction on Gizmo’s beach bar at the Divi and I was told that construction is expected to be completed in another month.

We only ate at the Seaview Café once and we just got a pizza and some fries. The food was okay.

We found the location of the hotel to be excellent – very close to the main town of Philipsburg and close enough to Simpson Bay where we ate almost every night.

Someone else mentioned the difficulty in finding the Divi from the main road and I agree! There should be a sign posted and a street light at night, and the sharp turn onto the road made it difficult to access so most times we drove past the road until we could turn around and come back to make the left turn onto the road that leads to the Divi.

There are several different beach areas at the Divi, one section that is rocky and the other section that’s closer to the check-in desk which is not.

There was a woman that does hair braiding under the almond tree on the beach for $2 per braid.

Another note about the hotel rooms: I’m a travel agent so I requested a tour of some of the different room types. The room that we were in was large but it wasn’t one of the newly renovated rooms. The renovations are beautiful. I was told that the timeshare units are different than the hotel rooms and are in a different section.

I posted pictures of the different room types. One note about the studio rooms – avoid Room 222. For some reason, there were hundreds of mosquitos by the doorway of this room and if you opened the door to enter or leave, quite a few of the mosquitos would come into the room. I looked at the other doorways in this building and it seems like only Room 222 had this problem.

RESTAURANTS: On our first night we ate at Pineapple Pete’s. While the food and atmosphere was really good, we got sticker shock when we got the bill. Be aware that most restaurants will automatically add a 15% service fee onto your bill so it’s not necessary to tip on top of that.

We were also disappointed to find out the next day that the Divi discount card that they give you when you ask for one at the front desk offers a 10% discount for Pineapple Pete’s. It would have been nice to know this when we checked in and before we ate there rather than having to ask for the discount card.

We also ate at Jimbo’s in Simpson Bay and the Turtle Pier which were both good. The Greenhouse in Philipsburg wasn’t worth another trip in our opinion. By far the best and least expensive dinner we had was at Pizza Pasta behind the Casino Royale in Maho. We always eat here and the food is so reasonably priced and good. It’s a tiny restaurant – only 11 tables, so it has a cozy feel to it.

BEACHES: We went to Dawn Beach on our first day which was wonderful! I floated in the ocean for hours and the water was clear and calm. We enjoyed the beach service from Mr. Busby’s bar, and it was only $10 to rent two chairs and an umbrella. When we returned to this beach later in the week, the water was rough and there was a lot of seaweed in the water. We spoke to a honeymoon couple that we met earlier in the week and they said the seaweed wasn’t there in the morning so I guess it comes and goes. Dawn Beach is one of my favorite beaches.

We also went to Orient Beach which is always nice. We paid $20 for two chairs and an umbrella. We found that as you walk down the beach, the prices go down - $9 for a chair, umbrella and drink – then $8 and then $7. It pays to shop around!

We also spent an afternoon at Maho Beach to watch the planes fly in and take off. My boys enjoyed being sandblasted into the ocean as the jets took off. The Sunset Bar & Grill is pretty much the same as the former Sunset Beach Bar.

DRIVING: There was a lot of traffic on the island while we were there. They’re building a road and most days we sat in traffic. Driving in St. Maarten can be tricky too because the roads tend to go from two lanes to one-ways as you turn a corner with no apparent signs telling you – so we would just follow the flow of what other drivers were doing. You really do need to rent a car to get your most out of your trip.

We wouldn’t hesitate to go back to St. Maarten again. We’ve stayed at many different hotels on the island and I would love to stay at the Divi again.

If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me at [--]

My husband and I stayed at the Divi in July 2005. I meant to write a review when we got back and these help us so much when planning a trip. We finally made it back to St. Maarten in June 2009 and this prompted me to write this review. We loved the Divi. It is centrally located, easy to get to other areas to visit. We rented a car on the property and drove all over the island. We had so much fun checking out all the beaches. The Divi has an activities desk and we did several fun activities during our stay. It was nice to come back to the peaceful beach and nice pools at the Divi after exploring the island each day. The only down side for us about this location was that there is no night life within walking distance. It isn't a long drive to Simpson Bay though and that is where you'll find most later night entertainment. After staying somewhere else on our trip in June 2009, I can say for certain that I'd have rather been at the Divi!

My husband and I stayed at Divi in 2004, and we couldn't wait to return. The hotel rooms have been redone and are gorgeous - and you just can't beat the view of Little Bay. We took our children (11 and 8) along, and my parents joined us as well. Even though it's the off-season, there's still plenty to do: we all enjoyed the various water activities, and the children loved the three pools. Snorkeling was a favorite activity, and we saw several cool things in the water. The beach has zero rocks and the waves are very calm, making it a perfect place for children. The Monday night manager's party was fun, and the Thursday night BBQ was really good (and had fantastic live music!).

The location just can't be beat: sequestered on a little spit of land between Great Bay and Little Bay with gorgeous 360-degree views. About 20 minutes from the airport, 1 mile from Philipsburg and 30 minutes from Marigot. It was a lovely place to return to after spending the day exploring the island.

We stopped by the Westin while driving around the island one time. It was gorgeous - but it was huge and impersonal. The pool area was loud and littered with beer cans and the beach was rough and rocky. Divi is a little slice of the island: unassuming, simple, relaxing and quiet. The fact that you walk from the hotel rooms onto the sand is an unmatched plus. One of my children wasn't feeling well for a few days, but the layout of the rooms and the resort made this as comfortable for us as possible. We weren't trapped several floors above the beach; we opened the sliding glass door and sat on the porch where we could feel the sun and hear the ocean and still keep tabs on the litle one in bed.

The shops on property are nice, but nothing special. The market is a plus, especially for those late-night M&M cravings. Five computers with high-speed Internet help you stay connected - when the Internet is working! (Such is life on a gorgeous island.)

We ate at the Seabreeze restaurant more than anywhere else, and it was good. The cheesburger sliders were a favorite, and the Caribbean chicken salad served in a pineapple was just outstanding. The bartender is most willing to create virgin frozen drinks for children (and their parents).

Not-so-greats:
The food at the resort can be overpriced at times.
Beware the "conch chowder" that's more like split-pea soup.
It would be nice to have mini-fridges in the hotel rooms; we bought groceries for snacks and drinks and had to run to the ice machine several times a day to keep everything cold.
Accuracy of information isn't a strong point with some of the staff: the activities coordinator told us several wrong things (store locations/hours, activity costs and availability, etc.) and my parents had a charge on their bill that should have been removed. Trust, but verify.
If you need a rental car, get it from the airport. It takes more time, but the Thrifty representative on the Divi property is 100 percent worthless. We had a problem with our rental and asked for his help - he said it was our problem and he wouldn't be able to help.

We had two one bedroom, 2 bath units on the ground floor facing Great Bay - they were clean, huge, nicely decorated and had everything we needed. The views of the bay and the cruise ships were great. Just across the cobblestone street was the cafe and pool overlooking the beach on Little Bay. At the end of the cobblestone street was the infinity pool. What a beautiful pool that was!

Everyone on staff was very friendly, check in was a breeze. We arrived prior to the check in time of 4 pm but both units were ready so we got right in and unpacked. There is a decent fitness center, grocery store, and coffee shop as well as a gift shop, liquor store and jewelry store on site. The members lounge for Divi owners has WI-FI. Even though we do not own at Divi they gave us unlimited access to the internet free of charge.

We did agree to take the timeshare tour one morning. There was absolutely no high pressure salesmanship so all in all it was quite nice and after about an hour we were done and given a choice of gifts for our time. We took the voucher to use on a rental car.

On Monday night there is a welcome party and on Thursday night there was a farewell party. Both have free rum punch and live music! There are a few things going on at the resort during the day (dance lessons, bingo, etc) but it doesn't have highly organized activities. We did use their activities desk to book our excursions ( 2 dive trips and a sailing day). It was very convenient.

You can't beat the location of the Divi. It lies along a penninsula between Great Bay and Little Bay about 5 minutes ride by taxi out of Philipsburg. Taxi cost $4 a person to go to town or back to the Divi.

We did not eat at the Toucan Restaurant but had lunch twice at the Seabreeze Cafe. The food was excellent. My husband loved the Cuban and the pizza was really good too. Prices were not bad, actually much better than we expected.

We did have a couple of maintenance items that had to be taken care of. One, no hot water the first day. they were right on that so within a few hours they had us up and running. Second, half way through the week the lock on the patio door quit working. Within a couple of hours maintenance had come and fixed it. We got follow up calls from the front desk to verifiy with us that we were satisfied and the work had been done.

The only area they are still working on from the hurricane damage of last fall is the Gizmo Beach Bar. At the rate they are going I bet it will be finished within a couple of weeks. Other than that the resort looks beautiful and the 3 pools, hot tub, restaurants and bars are all up and running.

There is an onsite car rental (Thrifty) which we used for 3 days of our trip. Its pretty cost effective since any taxi ride to Simpson Bay (where a lot of the restaurants are) is at least $20 each way and the ride to the Divi from the airport is at least $23.

We never felt unsafe or worried anywhere on the island but in todays world you never know so it was nice to see that there is a guard house and gate at the entrance to the Divi that is manned 24/7. Just a little extra peace of mind.

A word of caution if you are driving in from the airport instead of using a taxi - the road that takes you into the Divi from the main road is not marked at all. I mean not at all so it is easy to drive past! Also its a very sharp right turn thats difficult to make in one sweep, without doing a reverse Y.

This was a great vacation stay for us and we will be back!!