Royal Palm Resort , St. Maartin
May 18 2008
the resort is beautifully renovated inside, and work will soon take place on the outside. all the staff was great.
all rooms face the ocean, with a belcony, and huge windows that open about 20 feet. you feel like your outside, with the ocean breeze coming in.
lots of restaurants right across the street. I liked Pizza Galley
We took the Calypso Dinner Cruise, what a great French meal.
best snorkeling was at Mullett Bay
and Baie Rouge was the most beautiful beach.
We rented a car right from the resort and had no problem, if you think of parking in town as an adventure. but the only way to see all the beautiful beaches. (about $40.00 a day)
check out www.randomwind.com for a great sail. they are right outside the resort.
Debby & Ron

Just got back from a 10 day stay at The Royal Palm in St. Maarten. It was a super trip. We happen to be owners with Diamond Resorts and this is one of their properties. Everyone there is so attentive and very nice. There has been some upgrading with more to go. Soon it will be getting a face lift.
The location is perfect. There are so many restaurants and a casino with in walking distance. Lots of good food and good happy hours. We like Jimbos, Ric's Place, Tijuanas, Boathouse and Lees. Also good places to go is Sunset Beach Bar to watch the planes and Cheri's Cafe in Maho.
HOWEVER, the best place to eat, is at The Royal Palm. In the 10 days we were there, we ate 7 times at The Royal Palm. 3 dinners, 3 lunches and 1 breakfast. The food is terrific and the prices are very reasonable. The restaurant is called The Cabana Beach Bar and Restaurant. We had everything from eggs to surf and turf. Great service and the bar has a great happy hour from 4-6. They do a good business there.
There is also a nice pool with a swim up bar. Lots of lounge chairs at the pool and a lot of chairs and large tiki umbrellas on the beach.
All the rooms here are ocean front. There is a nice beach and the water is calm.
Anything we needed, the staff took care of including calling to confirm our air to go home. Rooms are very large and the beds were comfortable.
One thing that is getting to be a problem in St. Maarten, is the traffic. Coming back from Phillipsburg to Simpson Bay can take quite a while, especially when the bridge is up for the yachts to get into the Simpson Bay Lagoon, which is next door to The Royal Palm. It is neat to watch the yachts come in.
Don't hesitate to go here. You'll have a fun time.
Bonnie and Gary Simpson
The Villages, Florida.

Me and my 3 sisters just returned from a week at the Royal Palm Beach and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay there. The ladies at the front desk were most helpful at check-in, check-out, and all times in between. The rooms were spacious and tastefully decorated and have all the things that you need to feel at home. The staff at the pool bar and the second floor bar, especially Don, Michael, Denise, and Oscar are some of the sweetest people you will ever meet. The resturant at the resort may be a little slow at times, but the food is good and reasonably priced. Happy hour at the pool bar is from 4-6 pm and the time passes awfully fast!!! The Tango Dinner Cruise is a nice activity where you can see a beautiful sunset and enjoy good food and drinks. There are plenty of resturants within walking distance that serve a variety of food, and Lee's, which is across the street was pretty good. If you happen to find yourself on the French side of the island, try to make your way to Tropicana's or Yvette's. They both have very tasty food and good service. The Royal Palm Beach is a wonderful place to stay and they offer excellent customer service with a wide range of activites for the entire family!!!

Well, where do I start? This hotel was awesome! My boyfriend are now a part of an elite travel club, you could call it. We found the hotel in their list of ones to stay at and we were amazed. I was so excited to get to the hotel and when we did, I didn't even want to leave. The room was spacious and clean. Nice granite counters and new appliance's. Nice looking furniture and all the tools needed to make breakfast.
The beach was a two minute walk from our room. We handed the staff our beach cards and off we went to lay in the sun. There was cute swim up bar at the pool and the bartenders were very respectful and polite.
I also loved the location of the hotel. Every morning we wake up to sailboats and yachts. Then we would go sit on the rocks and watch the yachts go in and out of the bay. What a sight!!!
Just one small downside to the room was a small fruit fly problem. They were OK at the beginning of our stay, but as days went by, they started to multiply. So we just call housekeeping and they brought us a bottle of Raid. Worked OK, but we were rarely in the room to make it ruin or stay.
We also rented a car because we thought it would be easier to get around than a taxi, guess again. The traffic on the island is a little crowded. So many more cars than people. And when the bridge goes up, you can expect to be in your car for a long time.
We went to Orient Beach one day and on the way back I think it took us over and hour and a half to get back the the hotel. But I would rather be stuck in traffic on a tiny island with beautiful landscape, than in zero degree weather in Minnesota. Who wouldn't??
Other than those couple things, we had a great time and will be returning to the "friendly island".