The resort is quite good, but there are serious drowbacks.
The check-in is very inefficient. I was begging the front desk to allow early check-in, even just to leave my luggage in there and make sure everythign inside is in working order, but they refused. I was there at 10am, but couldn't get in until 3:50pm. The first room they've assigned was on the 1st floor, and had a broken balcony door. Obviously, I asked to change rooms, and was given one that hasn't been cleaned from previous guests! The forgot that they didn't intend to use it that day, and didn't clean it. By the time I went to change rooms for the 2nd time, the reception area was a mad house! Just a large number of people, with their luggage who were getting angry and impatient. The third room they've assigned was overlooking a parking lot, a wall of a building, and a dumpster. It was 6:15pm, the sun has set, I was tired of runnign back and forth with my bags, and my day was basically ruined.
The room was spacious, had all the equipment, and a quite strong AC. They do charge $1 per day for electronic safe.
The negative to all this is that only one maid service is included. So, I did expect them to change bed linings only once. What i didn't expect, was that they only once changed the bath towels! I took several showers per day, and the towels were constantly wet and not clean by the and of the week...
I wish they'd change towels every day, like they do in other places.
The resort notifies guests to NOT tip beach attendants. Well, my experience was that they don't even budge until you tip them! All beach chairs remain locked together, and you need at "attendant" to unlock them. They also provide umbrellas, but those usually go to people who tip well... Fortunatelly, there was a shadow from the building, so I didn't need an umbrella...
The beach on the pictures seems larger than it is in reality, and it is shared with another, much bigger resort. So, in high season it gets VERY crowded for my taste. Although it's "not allowed" by the resort policies, people leave their towels under palapas very early, and around 8AM there's no space in the shade, except in the "deep shadow" of the building, far away from the water. People who "reserve" those places under palapas sometimes don't show up until mid-afternoon, but I guess if you tip well, the "beach attendants" won't remove your stuff after 1 hour of non-use as per resort policies...
The beach suffered major erosion while i was there - strong waves created a sharp 4-5" drop in the floor as you go in the water: a shallow, maybe 1-1.5' water followed by a 4" wall-like drop. One side of the beach, near the very end, was ok with a smooth descent, but the rest was very difficult to get in/out.
The waves also seemed to wash away most of the finely crushed shells and sand, and left sharp rocks and lerger particles. Many people prefered to wear rubber shoes in order to get into the water. The beach has gotten pregressively worse while a was there...

My husband and I stayed here for our honeymoon in September, and it was so beautiful and QUIET. There were some old retirees and 1 family there, but mostly it was just us -- no crowds, wild party animals or anything like that.

It was perfect. The weather was hot, but not too hot (maybe low 80's), and the sun was shining almost every day with the perfect breeze blowing all the time.

Flamingo has an AWESOME view of the ocean, and the hillside view is equally as beautiful bc you can watch the sun rise over the hill each morning. It takes your breath away.

The style of the hotel is very caribbean -- sort of bright and colorful. But everything was very clean and the landscaping was beautiful. The water around the resort wasn't as beautiful and crystal clear as some of the pictures you see of the Caribbean, but still very nice--and clean.

They had a nice sandy beach, which they share with the neighboring resort, but it was plenty big enough and uncrowded--at least when we went. Then they have another beach area with rocks, which is also very beautiful. The pool is amazing.

I would highly recommend this resort if you are going to St Maarten.

Stayed at Flamingo Beach Villas resort 22/09/07 to 06/10/07. Our 1B apartment was situated slightly up the hill from the main resort, I would have preferred to be in one of the beachfront villas but this was our first time on St Maarten so we didn't know the layout. The apartment was clean and tidy although probably due for refurishment judging by the furniture but we were reasonable impressed on arrival. Although there is some refurbishment ongoing at the resort it did not bother us during our stay except for the first Monday when they opened a container adjacent to the tennis court and proceeded to load a vehicle at 8am with the radio playing at full blast. A quick phone call to reception and I am pleased to say there was no repeat. We had a dishwasher, washing machine and dryer in our apartment so had no problems with laundry although there is one on site if your apartment is not so well equipped. Check in was quite slow, only 3 on the desk on a Sat PM! and likewise even though we opted for the quick check out on the Friday evening before our departure there was still a queue and we had to wait some time. We ate at the beach restaurant on the first night mainly because we didn't know the area and were so tired after the journey from England. We were not impressed with either service, food, or cost, needless to say we only ate there once more and that was a snack. Reps advised us that the restauarant was to lose its franchise as a recent visit from the new owner of Diamond/Sunterra Resorts was also not impressed. We were disappointed because there was no other restaurant or bar on site and most places in the area stopped taking orders by 9pm or 10pm at latest. Where do people go? The restaurants in the immediate area are limited and its a strenuous walk up and down the hill into the main restaurant area at Simpson Bay . No pavements, and roads are in an atrocious condition, even the locals complained about the state of them to us. After 5 days we hired a car for a week, it was better than walking and we were repeately advised not to walk because of risk of being mugged!. We did not see or experience any problems but it certainly makes you worry. The resort offers a free transfer service between Flamingo and the sister resort Palm Beach up to 5pm, we managed to persuade them on a couple of occasions to give us a lift there and back on an evening but it would be easier if this service was available on an ongoing basis, especially if you don't hire a car,or would like to have a drink. Overall we had a lovely holiday, the beach area was really nice with free sunbeds and umbrellas to guests and the water was warm and calm. Beach towels are available through the resort and can be changed daily on the beach, we took our own towels but next time will definitely use theirs, saves on luggage allowance and laundry. Both the beach bar and pool bar at the resort closed early so there was nowhere to have a drink on the resort and as most of the restaurants are closing at 10pm there are only a few places left open to have a drink, unless you want to go the casino's, we were told places stayed open later in season so next time we will come in season although I dread to think what the traffic is like, it was bad enough when we were there. My husband said it was the worst place he had ever driven and parking was a nightmare, however despite this we would recomend you hire a car and tour the island, we did and visited several deserted beaches during our stay, you could nearly believe you were on a desert island. How long that will last is debateable as there is a lot of development going on in some areas of the island. Very friendly local people although I was a little concerned when they kept trying to offer us a lift, we Brits have very suspicious minds.The area is very americanised and the only tv channels at the resort and restaurants are american with american sport. Even a 24 hour weather channel showing weather in USA but not caribbean weather! Watch out for mosquito's and sand fleas, very hard to see and give nasty itchy bites, perhaps it was the time of year but they did come to give our apartments a monthly spray whilst we were there so seems to be an ongoing problem, worst we have been bitten for years. I did realise whilst there why the British are considered to be reserved, we say please and thank you as a matter of course but next to American's this made us seem very reserved. Personally I don't want to know the family history or personal life of the people at the table next to me every time I sit down , or even in the pool or the sea, but American's do seem keen to share it with everyone. One other warning this is a very relaxed place, no-one dresses up for dinner, in fact most of the restaurants are little more than roadside shacks, I turned up 1 night in a posh frock and I'm certain some of the diners thought I was the caberet!!, The furniture in the restaurants took some getting used to to but we did had some excellent meals although even with the good exchange rate on the dollar food was very expensive both in shops and restautants. Phillipsburg was a great place to visit and we would have returned if we could get parked. It's a shame all the money has been spent on this particular area of the island where the cruise ships come in because they certainly need to make improvements elsewhere. I would have loved to have been able to eat my evening meal and take a stroll along Simpson Bay area without fear of being knocked over, or being forced off the road, it would certainly improve trade if you could stroll from place to place. Overall thoughwe had a great holiday and I look forward to our return although we will have to save up as it certainly a place that hits the pocket.

My girlfriend and I visited Sunterra's Flamingo Beach on St. Maarten's on the Dutch side Sept 8-15th 2007, leaving husbands and children behind in the States for a girls only week. It was better then my trip there in Sept. 2001 when I went with my husband for the first time. The remodeled room was beautiful and clean. It is facing Simpson Bay on the 3rd floor and perfectly located. Everything worked and the furniture was very comfortable with the dining room table perfectly appointed, not that we used it. Well, ok so I wasn't crazy about the living room furniture. Oversized chair, with way too much plastic in it and the sofa could of been of a higher quality. A small discomfort in an otherwise very nice and comfortable room. The bathroom was spotless and large and much much better then last old unit I stayed in, where I accidentaly put my foot through the shower wall while shaving my legs due to all the wood rot behind it. Not so with this one. The tile work was very well done and I know because my husband and I own a construction company. And although there was remodeling and construction going on, it bothered us not at all.
There were lots of appliances in the kitchen and most importantly, the air conditioning worked. I had read in other reviews where the air units were not working. I think this is due to people not closing the blinds and curtains during the day and really, who wants to block out the beautiful views. But it is a must to keep the rooms cool and comfortable. The controls are locked down so the lowest temp setting is 65. It never gets that cool though and we had both ceiling fans going the whole week to help keep the temp inside down.
Checking in was fast and easy. However, on Friday night they offer an Express checkout so you do not have to wait Saturday morning along with everybody else trying to get out. The problem was it was not 'express'. I think it was offered from 6-8 pm. I got in line about 7:30 and heard others say they had been in line for 45 minutes already and were still waiting in line. This was due to the fact that there was only person at the front desk checking people out. Bad management there. And on your bill there are the standard fees, timeshare usage fee, $7 donation for the timeshare association island charity and then this- they charge you $1 a day for use of the safe in the room. Whether you use it or not, there it is. Come on! Although we did use it and were glad to have it, the safe is in the room, part of the room and should not be billed seperately. So several customers were complaining about these added costs and even though at check-in you state you do not want to contribute to the island charity, they put it on your bill anyway. So check your bill as always but do not expect an 'express check-out'.
Now for the beach area- clean, beautiful, perfect and they have added a large floating platform out in the bay to rest and doze on. Very enjoyable. What I hated- the island women constantly bugging you to have your hair braided and trying to sell you jewlery they claim to have made themselves. An ankle bracelet was being sold for $8-10 and you can get the exact same thing at the Rima store in Philipsburg at 3 of them for $5. I understand they are only trying to make a living but take it to the public beaches. The resort beach is suppose to be private and there is nothing worse then dozing in the sun and being woke up and harassed to buy something you do not want in the first place and have said so repeatedly.
The beach was so perfect , we never used the beautiful pool. But it was there and sparkling clean as were the grounds in general. The staff was very polite and helpful.
There is a bar/resturant on the beach but we only visted it at happy hour and only ate there for the big buffet dinner offered by the resort for $19.99 plus tax. The food was wonderful and varied and well worth the price.
A must stop for excellent Indian food is Lal's across from the airport. It is a bit hard to find if you are heading toward the airport but once you've turned around you can't miss it. It is right before all the car rental companies.
Stop in a see Dajeek at the liquer store in the post office plaza just past the airport and over the bridge on the left. He offers unlimited samples of the various guavaberry rums so you know just which bottles to bring home with you. He has some wonderful stories if you would like to know where the islanders go for their vacations.