My husband and I were concerned about this facility after reading many of the reviews. Yes it is an older facility. Yes we had mosquitoes in our room. A lot of them. After he spoked to the management, it was a lot better. We found out after taking a poll of the guests, that the bugs are more on the ocean side not the street side. There is stagant water at the end of the property that conributes to this problem. The other issue we had was getting towels and faceclothes each night.

As someone said earlier, politeness will go a long way. However, I must say, that although the locales do not come off as friendly as some of the other resorts I have been to, they were I felt just not very personable with some outstanding exceptions.

There could have been more activities available, but we did enjoy the relaxing family atmosphere. It seemed many of the locales enjoy the faciity as much as the visitors to the island. We had no problem with the food. We liked that the Bayview Restaurant had a different theme each night.

We decided we were going to make the best of our week stay and did. Overall, we both agreed we had a pleasant and relaxing stay at the facility.

They gave us a room on the first floor that is LOWER THAN GROUND LEVEL! Our "balcony" there had a 4 foot wall up to the ground. We were on the "mountain view" side, but all you can see are the cars and fences.

We're a couple, and they gave us a room with two small double beds, so we had to sleep separately for the whole week.

When we asked to change rooms after the phone, coffee machine and sink weren't working well, they told us that the hotel was completely booked although we saw a big group leaving at the time.

Maybe the rooms on the high floors are better, but we wouldn't know.

The hallway outside the room was tile..not carpet, so any noises outside the room (footsteps, screaming kids, drunk people fumbling to open their door) were clearly audible, even all the way down the long hallway.

There was always a long wait for the elevators, and hotel staff wouldn't let us go ahead of them on more than one occasion.

We decided to spend as much time away from the hotel as possible once we saw the room. Driving around the island was great. I recommend St. Maarten, but not the low floors of the Great Bay hotel.

The pool and beach area were nice, but the bedrooms definitely need renovation. The musty smell was so strong, our clothes still smell bad back at home!

Just returned from a week at the Sonesta Great Bay and I would rate the hotel as average. It was a nice enough hotel for the money we paid but the sleeping rooms and restaurants are in major need of a renovation. You can tell this hotel is old and if they would spend the money to renovate the sleeping rooms and restaurants, this would be a much better resort. However, the beach and pool area were one of the best I saw in St. Maarten.

We stopped at Sonesta Maho Beach and while the hotel is much nicer than Great Bay, the beach at Sonesta Maho is not nearly as nice as it is at Great Bay.

We did not do the AI and we were happy about that as the food was average. The same things were served for breakfast every day and lunch didn't vary that much. We ate dinner at various restaurants on the island and it was not expensive. I have been to other islands in the Caribbean where the food was much more expensive than it was here.

The hotel did have a smell to it and I think this has to do with the fact that it's old.

The hotel is within walking distance to Philipsburg which was great for shopping and eating/drinking.

Would not stay here again until they updated their sleeping rooms and restaurants.

Will definitely return! The staff were friendly and helpful - they truly went above and beyond in every way.

The hotel is in the perfect location - on its own beach (with a gorgeous view) and a quick walk to the boardwalk, shops and restaurants. The sand directly on the resort is too rough for a barefoot walk (crushed shells?) and the undertow way too risky to swim, but softer sand and smoother waters are just a quick walk up the beach and you can rent chairs and umbrellas from multiple vendors. We were just as happy to lounge by the two pools and revel in the view.

The resort really made guests feel at home with excellent food, fun activities and onsite pampering services. The poolside BBQ Buffet and Italian night at La Cuicina (with gifted guitar player) were especially awesome.

Thanks to Sonesta Great Bay for making our stay fantastic. Recommended for anyone!