A few caveats:
- First, keep up to date on the latest news about all "SXM" (St. Maarten) Timeshare Resorts. Our SXM Weekly News delivers the latest info on all SXM timeshare resorts every week, and Weekly News is free, as always. Subscribe here.
- Second, don't buy weeks directly from resorts; they charge the most. Buy from timeshare owners directly. Follow the precautionary recommendations we post on our Timeshare Rentals / Sales page. We accept ads from paid JMB Website Supporters members only, so we know who they are should any issues arise. The good news: issues have never happened -- and we've been doing this since 2002. See the "Timeshare Sales & Rentals" page on our site.
- Third, take advantage of lower airfares midweek. You can buy extra days at selected SXM resorts directly on our site -- just go to our Timeshare Rentals
page and use the "Extra Days" link you'll find there.
- Fourth, all resorts are OPEN unless otherwise noted.
What appears below is newly revised reprints of recent SXM Weekly News articles on SXM timeshares in our erstwhile "Timeshare of the Week" feature. All are reprinted from SXM Weekly News. These are in no special order:
Simpson Bay Resort and Villas, which recently completed a $35 million renovation of every part of the sprawling resort (only to be followed by another after Irma hit), deserves to be at the top of this list. What Royal Resorts did here, with the help of supplemental maintenance fees assessed to timeshare owners and a lot of Royal Resorts' own money, is quite miraculous. They've transformed what was a long in the tooth resort into a showplace that could easily compete for the island's top timeshare. Virtually everything is new, with extremely attractive and comfortable guest condominiums, a very well-equipped gym, the popular Replay sports bar, and even an authentic fine dining Mexican restaurant, La Patrona, on the Marina Plaza, and Bovin, a new steakhouse, nearby. Simpson Bay has become perhaps the most sought after of all St. Maarten timeshares; definitely give it a closer look: http://www.simpsonbayresort.com.
Belair Beach Hotel... Some resorts just never make the news. They go about their business in an effective, consumer-oriented way, make no enemies, but also make no headlines. That's the story behind the Belair Beach Hotel, overlooking the Caribbean near the Southwest corner of the island. A timeshare resort for as long as anyone can remember, Belair offers suite accommodations and achieves great customer satisfaction, based upon a number of communications we've received in recent weeks from timeshare owners there. One thing that's particularly interesting to us is that we only very rarely receive timeshare units for rent or sale at Belair — testimony to the fact that Belair timeshare owners are very happy people who like to use their own units every year. That says a lot.
Bel Air Beach Hotel www.belairbeach.com
La Vista Resort and its across-the-street sister, La Vista Beach, are superbly well managed, well-maintained resorts overlooking or on the beach in Pelican Key, Simpson Bay. Fiercely loyal and happy clients (which means the world), great food in the Hideaway Restaurant (with entertainment), comfortable rooms, beautiful sun deck, and a true Caribbean feel. You can't go wrong at La Vista; tell the GM, Andrea, that we sent you. La Vista: http://www.lavistaresort.com
Located next to Dawn Beach, Oyster Bay Beach Resort offers a gorgeous setting, superbly maintained facilities, and a long-standing attention to guest satisfaction. The central location in Dawn Beach makes trips to Orient Beach and to Philipsburg fast and easy. Just go, you won't be disappointed. (If there's any seaweed on the beach, it's taken away every morning.) Oyster Bay Beach Resort: http://www.oysterbaybeachresort.com/
Divi Little Bay Resort, on its own beach near Fort Amsterdam just west of Philipsburg, has a near-perfect tropical setting, newly renovated rooms, a new building, new restaurants, exquisite vistas, great dining, and legendary Divi service. Like the resorts previously covered in this series, if you try to find complaints about Divi you'll be hard pressed to succeed. It's a very good resort that takes care of its timeshare owners and consistently receives memorable accolades. Learn more here: Divi Little Bay Resort:
Royal Islander Resort on the water next to Maho Beach is clearly one of the most well respected of all SXM timeshare resorts. We recall receiving no negative reports about it, ever. What we do hear is that its people bend over backwards to serve customers, the the resort is perfectly maintained and immaculate, and that everything runs with the precision of a fine Swiss watch. All of those strike us as good reasons to take a second look at Royal Islander.
Royal Islander: http://www.royalislander.com/
If we were basing resorts featured in this series on cost of ownership, Hilton Royal Palm Beach Hotel would not make the cut. They have been very pricey in terms of AMF -- and totally without justification, in the minds of many timeshare owners. Nor have they played nice with their timeshare owners when originating their high charges.
But the resort has a well-maintained physical plant, a beautiful beach, quite good amenities, and a capable, experienced staff — so on that basis we've included them. We have also never had any complaints about the rooms at Royal Palm, another good sign. So… It may be worth checking out. We are not particularly fond of Diamond Resorts, the company that owns Royal Palm. If you Google them, you may well find some of our reasons.
Royal Palm Beach Hotel (Closed due to Irma; reopening info on their site)
Some resorts just never make the news. Last week, we talked about Bel Air resort in this way. It's fair to say that another resort that has not made much news lately is Flamingo Beach Resort, next door to Simpson Bay Resort. Flamingo originally was part of the old Pelican resort, as was Simpson Bay. It split years ago when developer Martin Vleitman had financial difficulties and lost Flamingo, Atrium, and Royal Palm Beach, all of which were originally part of the Pelican Resort colossus. Overshadowed by its neighbor, Flamingo Beach nonetheless is quite a gem. It's very well maintained and the beach is beautiful. You can often find Flamingo timeshare condo units for rent or sale on the timeshare rentals page on www.everythingsxm.com as well as weeks at most of the other hotels noted below.
Flamingo Beach Resort
Festiva Resorts' Atrium Resort has made the news, but not for a number of years. When Festiva took it over, timeshare owners were displeased with some of their antics -- and we reported it here in SXM Weekly News. Atrium has a great location in Simpson Bay, near lots of restaurants and several beaches. Its owners seem happy -- very few complaints in recent years. You can sometimes find Atrium timeshare condo units for rent or sale on the timeshare rentals page on www.everythingsxm.com as well as weeks at most of the other hotels noted below.
Atrium Resort http://www.festiva-atrium.com/
Dawn Beach Club has been touted as one of the finest St. Maarten timesharing resorts, and for good reason. Affiliated with the Westin St. Maarten (soon to be relaunched as a JW Marriott), it's on Dawn Beach and offers perhaps the widest array of amenities of any SXM timeshare. Look at it closely.
We also suggest you go to our Everything St. Maarten Facebook Site and ask there about specific resorts and about the recent experience of people there. Recent matters greatly -- you won't benefit from yesterday's news.
Dawn Beach Club http://www.dawnbeachclub.com
St. Maarten Sea Palace is the only timeshare resort actually in downtown Philipsburg. Divi is nearby but not downtown. From Sea Palace during the day downtown is an easy walk.
Sea Palace has been around for years, it's located on Great Bay beach, and it has had significant upgrades. Timeshare owners give it high marks; see http://www.seapalaceresort.com/ We also suggest you go to our Everything St. Maarten Facebook Site and ask there about specific resorts and about the recent experience of people there. Recent matters -- you won't benefit from yesterday's news.
St. Maarten Sea Palace http://www.seapalaceresort.com/
Updated 12/10/23
