To all a piece of advice

I stayed at the flamboyant on three occasions and I can onestly say you get more than you moneys worth!the staff is pleasant,the rooms are clean and the bay view is beautiful.really people the island and beaches and restaurants are above most of you standards!If you want fake service fake food and sterile environment!stay home or visit disney!

Karma rules us all!!!!!!!!

Le Flamboyant hotel and resort

When I stayed here the hotel was newly re-opened after hurricane damage, so all rooms were in great shape. There were hardly any people at the hotel and I had a whole wing to myself with an ocean side (or inlet side) room.

The beach leaves something to be desired. Most people seemed to enjoy the pools.

Food in the restaurant was very good, but it was difficult to get anything off-meal-hours.

All in all, I enjoyed my stay and would not be opposed to staying there again.

So Disappointed with itravel2000 for the recommendation

We had just gotten engaged in Nov2003 and decided to go to St. Martin to celebrate. The agent at itravel2000 recommended Le Flamboyant. To our dismay, it was nothing like how she described it. The staff was unfriendly, the food was horrible, the room was old and musty- smelling, and the so-call "beach" was made of clay!

Loved it - will go back

Four or us had a wonderful time and would recommend the island and hotel. The accommodation was a lot better than expected - everything worked - and was clean. The towels were changed ever day and were a good quality. We found the staff super. It was a pleasure to go to the dining room, bar, reception as it was always a laugh. What we did find were that some of the visitors were quite rude to the staff. The food was excellent. The beach, while not on the ocean, had a lot of palm trees to relax under, unlike the ocean beaches. The lagoon was not bad for swimming - but obviously nothing to compare to the wonderful beaches there (which are walking distance from the hotel). This is not a five star hotel, so one must not expect five star facilities. I had some trouble calling international numbers (but that is quite common in the Caribbean) which is why, I assume, they have a phone booth in the reception area. The internet is on dial-up (once again, this is not North America and not a five star resort). I have visited St. Martin several times. The French side is quiet and quaint and the Dutch side is busy, busy, busy. The people are wonderful. We attended a Church service on Easter Sunday on the French side which was amazing. We drove around the island and did a bit of shopping on the Dutch side, visited the casino, etc. All of it was GREAT!

Don't Stay Here!!

This was our third trip to St. Martin, we previously stayed at another (nicer) hotel. We love St. Martin & will return to the island again and again, but never to this hotel, ever! Believe me, I know the difference between nice hotels. Read closely & be forewarned!

Ameican Airlines lists this place as a three star hotel, and the hotel proudly displays four stars on its sign. My first indication that something might be amiss! (First-class hotels don't have a sign with stars!!) It is hardly anything close to four stars!!

1. The smell of sewer gas and/or feces is omnipresent on the lower floors! I guess coming through the drains. Enough to make you gag! We walked on the upper balconies whenever possible to avoid this sickening smell.

2. The property is beautiful, but small things are in disrepair. The buildings are old, and seriously your basic Hampton Inn in the U.S. is nicer! After four requests and three days, they finally fixed the toilet. They told me to hold the button as if I don't know how to work a toilet! They left no indication that they had even been in the room, nor did they call to inquire as to whether or not it had been fixed!

The interior door lock (safety bar) on our childrens room (room 711) was removed. Lots of simple things like this are broken. Knobs coming off of furniture, bad caulking in the bathrooms. Patchwork and old looking.

3. The staff is more dedicated to moving traffic through this place than to being helpful. During the day, you have to stand in line to get anything done, or to even ask a question. Told the concierge of my toilet problem and asked for a piece of paper to write down my third request, (so I didn't have to stand in line at the front desk) And she said: "You have to tell them in person, (as opposed to calling three times) or they won't fix it." Her exact quote. How's that for professionalism?

On another occasion, (Saturday April 10, 2004) I had loaded up the family in our newly rented jeep to tour the island, and I couldn't work the gate, so we could drive out. The gate is in plain view of the front desk, and I walked over to the desk clerk and asked him to open the gate, as my family was sweating in the baking hot sun. He told me that I must go to my room and retrieve the gate card I was given, and he would NOT open the gate. I told him that I did not receive a card, and he still would not open the gate for me, whereupon I had to go back to my room and retrieve all documents that I had been given to prove to this uncooperative desk clerk, that I was not given a card to open the gate! All of this is going on while my wife and children a baking in the hot sun in a convertable jeep! After proving to this idiot that I was not given a card, he then gave me a card to open the gate and leave.

They give you cards to redeem for towels. One per person. While I guess this helps them keep up with the towels, it is more reflective of their clientele (who presumably might steal towels!). When you return the towel, you get the card back. I did this once on our last day, and went in the manager's office adjacent to the front desk to accomplish this.

In this room, was a fat lady who was smoking cigarettes (thus ensuring that all of the towels reek of cigarettes). My kids swam, and I returned them about 15 minutes later, whereupon this woman questioned me about why I was returning them already! (The insunuation was that I might get more than my daily allocation of towels, and/or that we had not used them or had unnecessarily used them just to dry off at the pool! Again, rude untrained and unhelpful!

4. The rooms. The beds are of the cheapest variety. Thin mattresses and small pillows. Nothing remotely resembling luxury here! The in-room hair dryer gets too hot to hold on to. There are no 110 outlets that will accomodate a hair dryer & the staff has no AC converters for use.

The furniture is dated and the rooms overall are average at best, with little things either missing or broken. The shower curtain and room towels were cheap and thin.

5. The hotel is on the bay. The water is nice, but wouldn't you really rather be on the Ocean?

6. The free breakfast is very average, and packed with people!

7. There are three English speaking channels on the TV. CNN, HBO and one more. I couldn't figure out how to block HBO, and since I was not given the suite I was promised (they gave us two rooms instead of the suite I had booked), I had to hope that my children didn't turn on the TV late at night and sample the sex flicks that HBO is so fond of showing!

8. Outside of our room, and inside of the courtyard, (not in the lobby & not near the pool) was an international (public) phone for credit card calls. I don't know if you can make international calls from the room (we didn't try) but why is there a need for a public phone for international calls immediately adjacent to the guest rooms? I'm sorry, you just don't see pay phones in the courtyards of finer hotels!! You see this type of thing at youth hostels and lower-end apartment complexes. I am betting that the room phones were blocked. I used my cell phone, so I can't say for sure. There is a credit card internet computer. I noted with interest that that this was free at the other luxury hotel where we had previously stayed.

9. There is no room service or coffee maker in the room! I hardly believe that any hotel that rates four stars, would not have room service! It would have been nice to have coffee on the balcony, but this was impossible. I couldn't carry hot coffee back to the room in the tiny cheap paper cups, and I dared not ask for two paper cups or actual (ceramic) coffee cups to take to the room!!

The above in indicative of how you feel here. Like the masses who must adhere to strict rules, designed to keep you from getting too much at the expense of the hotel!! It is so different from the really nice (super friendly & helpful treatment) that you receive at the finer hotels on this island. Honestly, I have had better treatment from airport security guards and Customs Agents!!

My advice, they should close this hotel, fire the entire staff (start with that fat smoking woman in the manager's office who doles out towels like they are daily rations at a prison & end with that idiot front desk clerk!!) (with the exception of the maids), put some money into the property, and reopen as a luxury hotel. What a shame that an otherwise nice location and property is run so shabbily!! It is basically a family, do-it-yourself hotel that is in need of repairs and an attitude adjustment!! It is nothing appoaching luxury. Don't stay here unless you are trying to go on the cheap, and be prepared to be treated like cattle!! I hope this review sends people by the hundreds to other hotels! This is my payback for being treated like a crimminal by an untrained, rude and unprofessional staff!!

Good Place to stay

Nice Hotel. Clean rooms, quiet. We didn't see many children. Tennis courts, hot tub, pools, pool table, internet access (pay). No face towels or bathtub stopper. Nice pools. The food was ok but the meals kind of expensive but that's true everywhere on the island. Euro to dollar conversion same as almost everywhere on French side Free shuttle to casino nightly. Other shuttles available to popular spots. Didn't like birds flying around buffet table.

A truly relaxing experience

Stayed at Le Flamboyant in end March/April 2003 for a week. Hotel was clean, very quiet, almost deserted. Almost all guests were french, and the staff were french speaking with a little English. Restaurant was expensive but there were plenty of options on the buffet menu each night.

I loved it because it was quiet. Even the french children were quiet and well behaved! The beach is not a beach however, and though there are $1 buses going by the resort all the time, a rental car is advisable if you want to explore the truly wonderful beaches and restaurants around the island. I am planning my visit for this year already.

Front desk needs upgrade.

Just returned from 8 glorious days on Sint Maarten / St. Martin 8/16/03. Stayed @ Le Flamboyant on the French side of the island. The resort is reasonably priced and clean. A few of notes of interest: 1) they don't cash traveller's checks or US currency at front desk. 2) front desk personnel not friendly of helpful. 3) refrig. didn't work proper, ice cream melted and milk soured. I would say 90% of the guests were French with families and not friendly. Very quite. If you want action, go to the Dutch side and more English speaking people. I will return to the island and most likely stay on the Dutch side.

Le Flamboyant - Totally adequate

Third visit to St. Martin. We love the island with its quiet beaches (Orient not so quiet) and great restaurants. The hotel was clean and better than expected with a very comfortable bed and quiet a/c.The pool area is very nice. Considering the hotel's beach is located on the lagoon, they have dressed it up nicely, but it does not compare to the real beaches on the island. If visiting St. Martin you must have a car as I can't imagine staying at this or any hotel on the island for a whole week without jumping in the car and going to different beaches and experiencing the phenomenal dining in Marigot and Grand Case.

Very Disappointed

The brochure describes this hotel as being located between a lagoon and the ocean. In reality, it's on a lagoon, no ocean. The lagoon "beach" leaves alot to be desired. It's not the white sands of the carribean. It's hard ground with some sand sprinkled over it. Pool area very noisy with kids. If you like the sounds of the ocean waves and some peace and quiet, this place is not for you. The standard room was so-so. Draw drapes did not open as the cord was broken. The bathtub did not drain. There were no stoppers in the two bathroom sinks so if you dropped something, kiss it goodbye. No washcloths. According to front desk, they aren't supplied. We requested hand towels, never got them. Our phone rang approx every 20 to 30 mins with a french message stating we had a pending message. When we tried to obtain the message, it was totally in french. We asked the front desk to change our phone to "english" (which is easily done at the resorts) so we could understand what was being said. Receptionist tried 4 different times and was unable to do so!!! You can get much better accommodations elsewhere for the same price. We left this place after one day! Would not recommend it. Sorry!