We have stayed at several other places in St. Martin, all on the French side, and this one was by far our favorite. The room was very spacious, two queen beds, kitchen area, with real dishes and glasses, as well as a nice bathroom. Very European in nature. If you want US hotels, stay at the Westin at Dawn Beach.

Each room has a nice area to sit outside, and four units share a pool. Very private and you feel as if you are in your own paradise. With the windows open, never needed to use the air conditioning.

Internet access is available, in their lobby. Only down side is they charge you for access. Husband bought a five hour card, and did not use it all, and he is on email constantly. Able to manage his time.

This resort is on Orient Beach, so very close to the beach bars. Their food is just as good as the restaurants in Grand Case, and no reservations needed. Can recommend Coco's as well as Bikini Beach.

The resort does have chairs and umbrellas for use, free of charge. You are also within walking distance of a small shopping center, with a grocery store. To find it, walk down the beach to Bikini Beach Bar, and turn in towards the road. Small area, and easy to miss.

We are definitely going back to St. Martin, and will stay here again.

I wanted to stay on the beach of Orient Bay because of the beautiful beaches and proximity to the clothing optional beach. The Esmeralda is on a quiet end of this stretch of beach, which is wonderful. The grounds are beautiful.

The only complaint I have about the room is that you can hear everything that goes on in the room next to you. This is probably a function of high ceilings, no rugs, thus it can't really be avoided.

The on-site restaurant is very good. There are other restaurants that you can access (a short walk down the beach) and they are are fairly pricy. Basically, within walking distance there are 2 types of eating choices: pub grub, and good food that's not cheap. We took a taxi to Grand Case a few nights and that offered more variety. The next time we'll rent a car to allow more flexibility.

Overall we had a wonderful stay at the Esmeralda and I would recommend it to anyone.

When we arrived at the resort, the staff was very friendly and courteous.
We were given a free room upgrade even though the resort was completely full.
The check in was quick with no issues.
The room was very beautiful, and nicely decorated. The bed was king size.
We had a pool view. We were at first shocked to see a fully naked couple relaxing at the pool but then found out
that it was the norm for St. Maarten.
The beach is a 5 minute walk. We were given free chairs with pillows and umbrellas.
The overall resort is beautiful. The restaurant on premises is very nice and the food was delicious.
The staff at the resort and around St.Maarten might seem very rude but that seemed to be the norm for everyone around
the island. Because of the dollar decline, the prices were mostly in Euros and were expensive as the rate climbed to
1.5 to 1 in some places. The normal restaurant bill around St. Maarten is on average $120-$150 per couple.
Overall, we liked the stay and would go again in the future.

I really liked it even with the small problems... We did not have an oceanview room but liked it all the same. It's about a 2 min walk to the beach. The rooms are very simple but nice, fairly clean with high ceilings. The a/c cooling power is not that strong and can freeze up. Housekeeping was prompt and they did an acceptable job. There is no alarm clock or radio in the room. Voltage is 110V , The pool is really small – one per four villas. Yes a few Cockroaches in the room – Staff NOT too enthusiastic or too helpful. The bed is a bit hard and not too comfy. Water pressure not great in the shower. Decent closet space, safe in the bathroom, no wi-fi in the room. you gotta pay for internet use. which is pretty standard. There is a toaster in the room but no microwave. The TV has only 4-6 channels most in French or italian. so you can't even watch weather.

I did not like the fact that the beach reasturant had really slow service and the price for breakfast was $45 for 2

Restaurants/Food
Food on the French side is slightly more expensive - the French side accepts Euros and we all know what's happened to the Euro. 1 Euro = 1.3 dollars. Restaurants on the french side don't authorize for tip when they swipe your credit card. So either add the tip ahead of time or give cash. Most places we went to added the 15% service charge.

Try at least one of the restaurants in the Village at La Playa. They are more casual and not as expensive but still have good food.