My husband and I spent a week at Great Bay Beach from November 28 - December 6. We had read other people's reviews prior to booking and based on what we read we were concerned about the food quality. We are both foodies and found the food to be excellent. The quality of the buffet was a great deal better than what we've experienced in Jamaica, Cuba or the Dominican Republic. The new Italian restaurant served a nice variety of well prepared dishes. The jewel of the restaurants at this resort is the a la carte restaurant, Molasses. The food and service was impeccable. Special mention must go to both Ruffino and Gilberto who made our dining experiences at Molasses something we won't be forgetting. Both are extremely friendly, knowledgeable and a credit to this resort.
We had requested a room with a bathtub and when we checked in found that our assigned room had a shower only. We brought this to the attention of the front counter supervisor, Julian, who found us another room without delay. We ended up staying in the apartment section of the resort.
The beach and pool areas are well kept and the ocean swimming is fabulous.
We flew Sunwing and our rep, Martha, advised at the orientation that a taxi into Phillipsburg would cost $4 per couple. We took a taxi into town the first day we were there and were charged $10. We did get the taxi drivers name, Ash, and took that back to Martha to let her know. She said she knew the driver and then changed her story about telling us it would be $4. We booked 2 excursions through Martha, the island bus tour and the catamaran tour. The bus driver for the island tour was 20 minutes late, the air conditioning didn't work well and the van was packed with 12 people plus the driver, the loud speaker didn't work so half the passengers could not hear the island descriptions and he took us to Orient beach for 45 minutes when none of us had our bathing suits. This tour was only $45/head but I'm not certain if I would recommend it. The catamaran trip was the best excursion we have ever been on ... bar none.
All in all a great trip. We would definitely go back and recommend this resort.
- Also Known As:
- Sonesta Great Bay Beach Hotel Philipsburg
- Sonesta Great Bay Beach Resort And Casino
- Sonesta Great Bay Beach Hotel
- Great Bay Beach
- St Martin Great Bay Hotel
- Sonesta Philipsburg
- Great Bay Beach Hotel
- Sonesta Great Bay
- Philipsburg Sonesta
- St Maarten Great Bay Hotel
- Sonesta Great Bay Beach Resort & Casino St Maarten-St Martin/Philipsburg
- Official Description (provided by the hotel):
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Overlooking beautiful Great Bay Harbor and a short, 10-minute walk from the exciting capital of Philipsburg, Sonesta Great Bay Beach Resort & Casino offers the best of both worlds: great shopping, dining and entertainment in a quaint downtown setting, and a tropical escape within a beach front oasis. With spectacular views, unparalleled service, a full range of amenities and a mile of white, sandy beach, the Sonesta Beach Resort provides the ultimate Caribbean experience.
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