PRICE:
Frommer's Highly Recommended

Separated into three distinct sections, this megaresort, practically a self-contained village with its sprawling convention facilities, is the island's largest hotel. It's the closest thing on either the Dutch or French side to a Las Vegas-style blockbuster resort. It has a rather anonymous feeling (it's always full of conventioneers and giant tour groups), but it's modern and up-to-date, thanks to continual upgrades and renovations. Set on a 4-hectare (10-acre) tract that straddles the busy, and often congested, coastal road adjacent to the crescent-shaped Maho Beach, the hotel's scattered structures are painted a trademark cream and white. The large rooms are conservatively but comfortably furnished. Each has wicker and rattan furniture, Italian tiles, plush upholstered pieces, a walk-in closet, pillow-top mattresses, and good soundproofing (important, since planes taking off at the nearby Princess Juliana airport thunder overhead several times a day). The hotel contains three separate, directly managed restaurants (the Point is excellent but avoid the Palms, where karaoke blasts louder than the jets), with another half-dozen on-site that are independently operated but accept all-inclusive guests. The glitzy Casino Royale, across the street from the accommodations, includes a cabaret theater for glittery shows and Q Club, the island's splashiest late-night dance spot. On the resort's street front, the Maho Promenade is filled with several dozen shops open late, restaurants (including Cheri's Café), an Internet center, a scuba-diving center, dance club, piano bar, even a classy gentleman's club. Ask about the all-inclusive option, which includes breakfast, lunch, and dinner, all drinks, and other amenities, with the room rates.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Portable St. Maarten/St. Martin, Anguilla & St. Barts, 2nd Edition, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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