My son and I stayed at the Flamboyant this past week.
Well, for starters, instead of having 2 double beds in the
room, there were 2 small beds pushed together.
This was unacceptable to us but there wasn't much we
could do. The beds were about a foot off the floor and
in poor condition. The 1 pillow we each had was extremely
flat and uncomfortable. I did ask for 2 more and received them.
It really didn't make a difference. I woke up with a back
ache every morning. The TV didn't have any English speaking
channels. I couldn't even get any news about the US and
had no idea what was going on. I did know about the
European events because they were widely broadcasted.
Bummer. Ok lets get to the food. Breakfast, we thought,
wasn't so bad. A good assortment of many items including
an omelette station. Unfortunately there were many birds
flying inside the tent area and the chairs were always dirty
from them. My son and I used to look for clean chairs before
we sat down. Awful. We also noticed one night after dinner,
that the restaurant isn't so clean. We noticed a disgusting
bug. I won't go into detail, but use your imagination.
From that point, I didn't want to eat there anymore, but paid
for an all inclusive. Gross. Definitely not a 4 star hotel,
maybe 2. Don't waste your time or money. Sorry.

The hotel was situated on Nettle Bay in the centre of the island of St. Maarten. The hotel itself was clean and very friendly.

We had an one bedroom suite which was quite quaint. The bedroom was separate from the bathroom and the toilet was in fact in another room all its own. There was a living room area which had a lot of closet space and a pull out couch. We had a balcony that overlooked a garden. It was quite serene and peaceful. The balcony featured a kitchenette and cooking outdoors was both romantic and fun! The cleaning staff did an excellent job of cleaning each day.

We had opted for the Breakfast Plan which we will not do again. Although the food was quite good, hot and of sufficient quantity, it was the same every day. We would have had more variety utilizing our own kitchenette. We did not eat any lunches or dinner at the hotel as the food on the island of St. Maarten is phenomenal and we had planned on trying out some of the over 360 restaurants on the island. This proved to be a good choice. Booze is very cheap on the island as well so the all inclusive would have cost more than the restaurants, the liquor and the food at the grocery stores did.

One word of caution, make sure you understand the exchange rates when buying food in the stores but more importantly when you order food in restaurants. If you pay cash the restaurants generally match dollar for Euro or Naf but if you pay by credit card then you pay the exchange rate. When we were there 1 US dollar was = to $1.80 Euro so it would have been much more expensive if we had used credit cards. There are ATM's all over the island and we were able to use a Scotiabank and get US dollars easily.

Another thing to note about this hotel ... it is very quiet which is what we wanted. If you are looking for night life and partying by the pool all day this hotel is not for you. The average age of the people there was about 40 but there were a few young families.

The last thing to note about this hotel was that it is situated on a Bay. The beach is ok but it is not like the beautiful beaches of the ocean. We had not planned on swimming at the hotel other than in the pools (which are nice and are clean) as there are 36 beaches on the island. Rent a car and experience as many as you can.

Our favorite beach for swimming was Orient Bay. It is very beautiful but not very private. Our favorite for body surfing was Gauna Bay. Very small beach, very secluded and quiet. Beware of the very large waves (almost 7 feet the day we were there) and the undertow. Great if you are a kite surfer. No good for swimmers who are not strong swimmers. For entertainment value but not swimming go to Maho Bay and watch the planes come in. They come in so low you can smell the fuel and feel the heat of the engines. It is really amazing to watch.

Shopping at the open market at Marina Royale is the best bet for your buck on the island. Unless you are loaded (read rich) do not shop in the stores at Marina Royale as they are very pricey. The boardwalk in Phillipsburg has a great deal and huge variety of shopping but it is more pricey as that is where all the cruise ships come in (read tourist trap). Rima's beachwear warehouse in Phillipsburg was a good bargain too!

One thing to remember about the beaches on the island. They are all publically owned so some of the ones where there are vendors have chairs and umbrellas for rent. If there are no vendors there then there are no chairs so bring a blanket or your own chair. Rentals for chairs range from $5. each for the day to $18 for two chairs, and umbrella and a beer.

There are also very few peddlers anywhere on the island. However, when on the Dutch side beware of the time share people. They are very sneaky, tell you that you have won a prize and the rope you into signing a contract you cannot get out of. Sign nothing while on vacation.

Best food on the beach is found at Orient Bay at Pedro's. You can eat a snack tray for two with ribs etc for $18. US. Just try to eat it all!

Best entertainment on the island is found on the Dutch side at Cheri's Cafe near the airport and right beside Casino Royale. It is hilarious but I will not spoil the fun. The food is good there too with big portions so go hungry!

Best romantic dinner on the island is on the French side at L'Escapade in Grand Case. Sit on a balcony overlooking the ocean and watch a sunset while you eat grilled lobster and sip red wine. Caution it is very pricey but well worth it to splurge once during your stay!

This hotel is central on the island which makes getting around easier. Traffic can be so congested it rivals Toronto's Don Valley Parkway. However, because of where we were situated we seemed for the most part to always be going against traffic.

Would we stay here again, absolutely. We are already planning next year's trip. Hope yours is as wonderful as ours was! Bon Voyage!

I was comprehensive about staying here after reading some of the reports, but was pleasantly surprised. Check-in was a breeze, and we were taken to our room by golf cart. We had a suite on the first level right on beach. We could walk outside our room every day and get beach chairs under a palapa. The room was clean and spacious, the bed was comfortable, a/c worked well for the 9 days we were there. Our room was always made up by the time we returned from breakfast.

All of the people were very friendly, and we had no problems with them understanding English. The resort manager/owner or whatever you want to call him always spoke, as did the restaurant manager. Jack, the singer, was always talking to the guests and included the children. He even offered to take us to the Harley Davidson shop in his own car, and anywhere else we wanted to go.

The food was very good, and we could always find something to eat - we didn't starve. Fresh cooked fish for lunch was excellent, as were the daily specials. Waitstaff at lunch was sometimes lax, but Lynn and Adeline were exceptional. The BBQ buffet with ribs was very good.

Bartenders were fantastic - Francis, Thomas, Maria & Patrick, and had our drinks ready when they saw us walking up to the bar. They always greeted you and shook your hand when you got to the bar. They made their specialty drinks for us, and anything we ordered. The all inclusive worked well if you liked to have a few drinks, because frozen drinks were $6-$8 each, which could add up quickly over the course of 9 days. Bottled water was also included.

We also took advantage of the shuttle services that were free as part of the all inclusive package to the beaches, shopping in Marigot & Philipsburg, & island tour. I wouldn't want to drive there-seems like everyone is first!

We were glad that we stayed on the French side, as the Dutch side was much more crowded. We would definitely stay here again.

Just came back from 2 weeks in the Caribbean and stayed 3 nights at the Flamboyant Hotel (and resort).

St Martin (being the French part of the island) is very French. This said, there are quite a few Parisians which are known for being rude and only helpful because they must. One of these were a youngish woman which unfortunately was placed in the reception when we arrived (and also whenever we needed beach towels) and this triggered some misfortune with some of our friends from across the pond (The US).

Anyway, the hotel is fine and has a very nice kept beach which didn't get crowded at all while we were there (came Saturday and left Tuesday). Sun beds are all free (not always the case in The Caribbean) for the guests to use as is quite a few non powered water sports equipment. The lagoon is very calm but far too much sea grass to be able to walk out far enough to get a good swim. There is some noise from speeding boats, but not too bothersome. Breakfast is brilliant and you sit more or less on the beach (ok surrounded by fishing nets to keep cats and others out) drinking your somewhat weak coffee and having your typical French food. There is a restaurant opposite the hotel (think it was called The Buccaneers) which has an out of this world setting. You will be served a 1st class dinner on the beach with the lights shining through from Marigot.

We had a room in the back of the resort and had a huge balcony with a garden view and little kitchenette with all utensils, fridge and a stow top. The room was MASSIVE with your typical Carib furniture and fine sized bathroom.

I would highly recommend a car if anyone should want to stay at this fine hotel if you want to see the island (on your own - the hotel has some sort of sightseeing as well) which is worth doing. Margot is very French and it feels very much as your back in mainland France... Philipsburg is a typical Cruise ship terminal city with legalized gambling and pole dancers to attract hungry Criusers...Not my cup of tea really.

Overall I liked St Martin a lot and the hotel made it very easy to wind down to begin your Caribbean vacation. There were mostly elderly people staying at the hotel but this could have something to do with the time we chose to go, and it was def. not a bad thing either. If you speak French the service is excellent. If you don't, expect a lukewarm reception from some others not, so it is a bit of a gamble...