Page 69 - Travel Leisure - USA (February 2020)
P. 69
The pool and C A R I B B E A N S P E C I A L
private beach
at Belmond
La Samanna,
open again on
St. Martin’s Baie
Longue.
THE COMEBACK KIDS
operational. There is complimentary shuttle service
The twin-nation island of St. Martin/St. Maarten, one of the between the two properties, so guests can enjoy views
worst hit during the storms of 2017, is officially getting its of the bay from both vantage points.
groove back. BY SARAH GREAVES-GABBADON On the Dutch side, Sonesta has rebuilt its two all-
inclusive properties. The 130-key, adults-only Ocean
Point Resort (sonesta.com; doubles from $309 per
person) has added two restaurants: tapas-focused Casa
Blue and the romantic Candlelit Island Grill. All 420
ITH BOTH AIRPORTS open and the blue- rooms at its family-friendly neighbor Maho Beach
W tarped construction zones long gone, this (sonesta.com; doubles from $199 per person) have been
half-French, half-Dutch island is doing its given an update, with a renovated spa and the addition
best to put Hurricane Irma in the rearview. In fact, of a teen club. A Montauk dining staple moves to the
65 percent of the resorts are up and running again this island this spring with the debut of Navy Beach
season. Among the most spectacular is Belmond St. Maarten (navy beach.com; entrées $21–$36), a new
La Samanna (belmond.com; doubles from $545), an restaurant at IGY Yacht Club Isle de Sol. The second of
83-room grande dame that’s been given a full the brand’s two Caribbean openings (the other, at
redesign. The polished revamp, which coincided with St. Thomas’s Yacht Haven Grande, launched in
necessary structural repairs, extends to all public December), it will offer poolside daybeds, a horseshoe-
shaped teak bar, and dining overlooking Simpson Bay.
areas—including the Baie Longue Bar and the main
COURTESY OF BELMOND LA SAMANNA know that the 12,000-bottle La Cave, said to be the parade of over-the-top yachts passing through the
Come sunset, ascend to the Sky Deck and watch the
restaurant, L’Oursin—but oenophiles will be glad to
marina. Also on Simpson Bay: the reopened Karakter
largest private wine cellar in the Caribbean, remains
(karakter stmaarten.com; entrées $14–$34), a school bus
unchanged. Also on the French side, the 10-room
beachfront boutique Le Petit Hotel (lepetit hotel.com;
turned bar that, just minutes from the SXM runway,
doubles from $475), in Grand Case, and its hillside
serves as an unofficial departure lounge for in-the-know
sister a mile away, the 24-room Hotel L’Esplanade
travelers. Swing by before you leave and raise an Amstel
Bright to the resilient island’s brilliant future.
(lesplanade.com; doubles from $425), are fully
T R AV E L A N D L E I S U R E . C O M 65
