St Maarten vs Aruba?

[LynnW]

I posted a question on the long thread about the best resorts in St Maarten but did not get an answer and since I have a couple of other questions I thought it was better to start a new thread. First of all what is the difference between the Royal Islander Club la Plage and the Royal Islander Club la Terresse? Most people seemed to chose the Club la Terrasse over the Club la Plaige on the other thread. Since we'd probably be looking at using points I was wondering how these 2 resorts compare to The Pelican or any of the other points resorts? We have also been looking at Aruba but have heard that it is very expensive. Are the restaurant and drink prices really that much more expensive in Aruba than St Maarten? We are also considering Hawaii but would like to find out more about St Maarten and Aruba before making a decision. I just hope whever ever we chose for next Jan will have better weather than we had for our 2 weeks in Cancun this month!

Lynn

 

[Blondie]

Personally I find St. Maarten much more pricey than Aruba, expecially on the French side with the euro. Love both places, though. I think Terasse is the newer building but it is across the street from the water. La Plage is on the beach side if memory serves. We live an hour outside of Boston and I find the Aruba prices not too much dfferent than here at home. We love Pelican but many poster bash it. They have really great rooms and some not so good so be sure of location if you book there. Both places are wonderful, but I find St. Marten more upscale, more fine dining and more to see and do...

 

[LynnW]

Thanks Blondie!

I guess I'm leaning more towards St Maarten because I understand it's more scenic than Aruba. We plan on going for 2 weeks so we'd like to be able to eat a few dinners in. How are the supermarkets in St Maarten and Aruba? I understand the Royal Islander Resorts are located close to shopping. It's so easy at home or when traveling to timeshares in North America to just pick up things at the deli or frozen food to eat in when you don't feel like cooking. Are these available in supermarkets there? I wouldn't worry about it for a week because we'd probably eat out every night.

Lynn

 

[royalholidayclubbed]

St Maartens

Is for me more interesting. And the French cuisine on the french side (obviously) is great - plus you feel that you are closer to europe whereas the Dutch side is more americanised. I tried several beaches there and all were fine. Worth your while to hire a car at least for a day or two and driving around the island and trying the different beaches.

 

[caribbeansun]

It depends on where and what you eat. I certainly didn't find SXM any more expensive than Aruba for comparable dining. You can have a decent meal with wine on the Dutch side for a little under $100, on the French side in Grand Case you'll be double that amount.

We found Aruba boring and lacking in things to do. SXM has a ton of variety as far as beaches and restaurants go and is more diverse as far as landscape. You can do day trips from SXM to St. Barts, Anguilla or Saba as well.

 

[Blondie]

Lynn- big supermarkets on both islands with all you will need. Great French pastries and breads, too, in SXM, ooh la la...! Great pizza on the floating Heineken bar across from Royal Palm and great fish at Lee's next to the bar. Good, resaonable prices for SXM

 

[Kal]

If you want to eat cheap, St. Maarten is the place. Talk of the Town (a lolo) serves up a "plate of food" for $8. That includes an entre (ribs or chicken with a choice of 3 side dishes). Better yet, Johnny B Under the Tree sells grilled ribs, chicken and lobster. A large rack of baby-back ribs goes for $5. Half a grilled chicken is $4.

 

[LynnW]

I understand there is no public transportation for tourists in St Maarten but what about Aruba? If we stayed at the Royal Islander Club la Plaige for 2 weeks would we need to rent car for the whole time or would a week be okay? We rented a car for 2 weeks in the Mayan Riviera because the MP is so remote but found we did most of our sightseeing the first week and only used it to go into Playa del Carmen for dinner 3 times and to WalMart the second week.

Lynn

 

[Kal]

I understand there is no public transportation for tourists in St Maarten ....

Not true, there are small buses available for many popular destinations. Cost is about $1.00 each way.

 

[doubledigit]

sxm definately

We have really enjoyed sxm. We stayed 2 weeks. One week at the Pelican and the second week at Sapphire Beach. I liked each of them for different reasons. The beaches on the island are beautiful. I can't imagine going without renting a car. It is extremely easy to drive as there is one main road around the island. There is so much to see and the freedom of going to different beaches every day is so worth it. We loved mullet bay and dawn beach on the east side of the island (great food at scavengers). The grocery store at the curve on the way to phillipsburg (grande) is super. The topography of this island with the mountains makes it more interesting than aruba. Sitting at sunset beach bar watching the planes land makes for a lazy afternoon.

 

[Aldo]

St Maarten/Martin has one of the best public transportation systems I have even seen.

There are medium sized busses which run a regular route between P-burg and Marigot, then are are dozens, if not hundreds of little jitney vans which run intermediate routes here and there, and will stop anywhere that you care to wave them down and will stop anywhere you ask them to as long is it along their route.

There are a few places that aren't covered by these jitney routes but I'd bet they cover 75% of the roads on the island.


Getting, say, from Simpson Bay over to Orient Beach or Grand Case is a little trickly, and requires 3 jitney changes, but it can be done..

 

[silverfox82]

almost a toss up

My wife brought 2 cats and 2 aruba timeshares to our life together 14 years ago. She took me to aruba, I took her to SXM, she loves aruba and really loves SXM. I don't think you can go wrong with either. Aruba is below the hurricane belt, St. Maarten is right in the path so the time of year could make a difference. Both have large supermarkets with reasonable prices, more variety in sxm due to the dual nationality. Restaurants are great on both islands and prices range from cheap to NY City or more. I think SXM has a better variety of restaurants and the neighboring island of Anguilla supplies them with the freshest lobster in the world. The people are great on both islands so thats not an issue but I would avoid the philipsburg area in sxm after dark due to some reports of petty crime. Nudity is prevelent on some beaches in sxm, topless at most, Aruba is more prudish so that might be an issue if you are bringing children. All things considered, I give SXM the edge. PS, rent a car, they are cheap and the roads are good. You can go to a different beach every day and join the never ending debate about which is the best.