updated: 06/19/11 |
St Martin June 2011 Trip Report June 3 - 17 |
|
(Pictures will expand)
Rainbow Tower Unit 402
Views |
June
11-17. Rented from Bob Barron
here. Nice unit on the top of the RB towers.
Hot tub did work, but start it heating about two hours early.
Not private area...adjoining units have views of the outdoor showers
and
hot tubs...virtually every part of the penthouse deck. Inside
stairway to rooftop via narrow short-step stairs. Gas grill
and two beach chairs provided. Interior is nice. Huge granite breakfast bar. Plenty of kitchen appliances. Dishwasher did not work, but only tried to use it once on the last night. Bob replaced the coffee maker right away when it did not work the first morning. Beds were very comfortable. The bathroom counter space was very limited. The washer/dryer worked, although quite noisy. The air-conditioner had to be kept on 25C or higher or else it might freeze, but it was cool enough to be comfortable. Very nice freezer/refrigerator w/icemaker. There were quite a few leftovers we enjoyed including beer/wine/food products. Bob also included a GSM phone to use. Nice touch. There is free WI-FI in the unit with the router placed at the front door. You have to be in sight of the router anywhere down the hall or in the front bedroom to get reception. For the Rainbow in general, there are some construction and maintenance issues (like with all condo resorts). The whole resort needs repainting. The wiring on the penthouse decks need conduit dressings rather than raw holes in the walls. The tennis courts need resurfacing. The pools are in good shape. One of the two tower elevators was not working. The penthouse decks need privacy screening, but this seems to be left to the individual unit owners. |
|
Rain Event:
Around the
Island:
|
The Blue Mall is supposed to be finished in October. |
Annual Cookout
Night with Friends
An evening or two at Sunset Beach Bar
|
Got to include some
pictures of my wonderful, fun mate...
|
Annual Train Domino Tournament...
|
If anyone honestly thinks that
I (Don) have a prayer of winning this.....
|
Traffic | Simpson Bay from airport through the T to Cole Bay and up the hill gets and stays slow from about 10:30 on. The best way around the island is through the lowlands and Marigot. If you need to go to Phillipsburg, go early! |
Crime | Saw none nor saw anything that worried us. There were police on the French side in the Marigot marina market area pulling over traffic twice and inspecting papers on the harbor road from the cemetery to the market. Plenty of guards in Maho. |
Improvements | The Mullet Bay Resort eyesore is being demolished finally. They started in the area near Maho towards Aquamarina Resort. Paulo of Murano Glass (Marigot harbor) told us that there is an effort going on to transplant the iguana population who live in the Mullet Resort area. |
Money | Took about $1200 in small bills. Glad we did since the credit card machines in numerous businesses were not working. |
Meals |
Orange
Fever at Orient Beach was good. Sugar Cane Cafe in the
Atlantis Casino was so-so. Tropicana
at the Marigot harbor was fabulous as usual. We cook most of our own meals so we know what we are eating. We cooked at the room even moreso this year. The Garden Market in Simpson Bay at Billy Folly Rd has a hot cafeteria self serve bar that is great, if you fight the traffic to get there. |
Internet | Rented the Scarlet modem the first week ($55) and it worked great in the OC unit 15D. Took my Linksys router and it worked great with the modem. The OC also now has a wireless router around the pool and office which works intermittently. Used Sprint Evo on wi-fi mode and the Skype app for phone calls and for monitoring house alarm system. |