Sonesta Maho Beach Resort & Casino St. Maarten St. Maarten/St. Martin

Wonderful hotel!! We opted for the semi-inclusive and went out for dinners. Breakfast was great with either a buffet or menu options. The bartenders were always very friendly and also very busy. If you are patient and relax you will get your drink. Went through about 20 bottles of water(they are HUGE bottles) and never had a problem getting one. The beach is small but we never had any problem finding a lounger to lay on. The only problem we had was with our "standard room" we got a view of the sewer treatment plant. Went to the front desk and told them it was not acceptable to me and got moved to a view of the city which we loved because we could listen to music from cheris from our balcony. Overall I would highly recommend Maho!!

Staying at the Maho resort and Casino was absolutley amazing, I went with my mother and my aunt, and we all enjoyed our stay beyond imagination, the people were so friendly and everything is so laid back. The hotel was beautiful and clean, the planes flying over the Maho beach was amazing and definitley is an attraction to the hotel, its neat! especially the 747's. The food was good! we highly suggest you go on an inclusive package, if you dont, take lots of cash, the duty free shopping was great, the drinks were great! Cheris across the street is alot of fun! and the casion was fun too! we tried to do everything and we were not dissapointed with one thing, our whole stay, we are going back! absolutley loved the Island!! and everything about it! Orient Beach was a blast, and philipsburg was a great shopping experience!!! cant wait to go back, we just got home, and now we are planning our next trip there! see you soon St Maarten! Whatta Buzz-On!

I can't believe some of these reviews. I must have stayed at a different resort. My family and I stayed at the Maho last Thanksgiving weekend for 4 nights and found the rooms clean and spacious (not plush or lavish, but very nice) and the staff was efficient, prompt and friendly. My daughter left her wet bathing suit on the bed one afternoon. I called housekeeping and requested a bedding change, and it was done while we were at dinner. Our room was overlooking the sewage treatment plant, and if you stayed out on the balcony for any length of time you could smell it, but it wasn't overpowering. The view out the window obscured the treatment plant, and the mountains and golf course looked lovely. My husband, father, and daughter tried to play the course, but after 2 holes they quit. I understand that the course owners and the insurance companies are still in litigation after a 1999 hurricane and the course is in sad shape.We didn't take the all-inclusive plan. We don't like the constrictions. There were several restaurants on and off the property that were absolutely delicious. The on-property restaurant, The Palms Grill, was great and the wait staff was amazing. Our waitress gave us 2 shrimp coctails on the house!Across the street is a small restaurant called Pizza & Pasta. It should be called Steak, Pizza & Pasta because we had some of the best rib eye steaks ever.The taxi drivers we took to Phillipsburg ranged from "quiet but friendly" to "tourguide and tourism promoter", but all were enjoyable.Shopping in Phillipsburg was most of our daytime entertainment, especially the way the jewelry sales people "calculate" your discount.The pools at the Maho were beautiful. We even jumped in and swam up to the bar in our clothes one afternoon.All in all I would say that we had a great time and we look forward to going back in the future.

Still can't believe this hotel is rated with five stars somewhere.Food selection is terrible. Two or three different meals, which I usually didn't like. Say that my taste is special but I had to grab desert's first because in five minutes there is no more, and they are not replacing it. Other choice that you have is better food in grill restaurant but you have to wait for an hour at least. If you are asking for bottled water (we been instructed so) at the bar.... they calmly answering that they don't have any. I said to myself that I'm on the vacation so I didn't have to eat too much and that is the way I solved that problem.But it was raining too much. What to do??? No entertainment people there to make a fun. OK there is a casino and if you were not good you would be even more upset. I was lucky there...but that didn't mean anything to me because if I wanted to gamble I could do it in Toronto too without traveling that far.Hotel does not have the beach!!!What they called the beachfront of the hotel is 2x2 sq ft that we couldn't use because of waives.We used one (15 min walking distance that isgood but again there is no bar and you have to pay $25US for umbrella and the bed. And funny thing is if you go for a lunch and come back you have to pay again.But even that wouldn't be problem for me because there are some nice beaches on the French side and we rented a car to go there. Bad thing is that was raining every two hours so that was like hunting the sun. We gave up and spend time shoping. At the end they have good prices for gold and diamonds so we made it useful if not anything else.If you are looking for the rest this is the last place on the planet that you can find some.

Spent week of 2/13/2003 there and was a very nice hotel. Did not do all-inclusive so I can't comment on that. The grounds are beautiful. 2 pools but beach is very small so recommend going elsewhere for beach days. The rooms are similar to any nice hotel. Clean, good size, full cable channels, safe, etc. Most have a good view. Great location if you like walking distance for many bars, restuarants, shops and casinos. Can hear planes land since right next to airport but only a few jets a day and they don't seem to land after dark.

The room was fine, after we relocated away from the original room- which was next to a giant air conditioning unit! The Front Desk personnel were quite nasty when we asked to change, but eventually we succeeded with the help of a Manager. This is not the place to be if you just want to relax in peace and quiet! There were several large groups of loud, drunk and obnoxious partyers the week we were there. It was hard to find a place to sit in the restaurants, then difficult to enjoy our dinner, while listening to the next table belt out song after song! The servers in the restaurants were indifferent at best. We purchased an all-inclusive package, which was a mistake. Due to the atmosphere, we ate the majority of our meals away from the hotel. St. Maarten is a beautiful island, with lots of great beaches and restaurants. We liked it so much, we're going back next month- but will be staying elsewhere!

Stay away from this place worst service in the world....People left early.....just to get away.....it did no good to tell anyone of the poor service..just save your money.........stay home.....

Maho Beach Resort was great - I actually enjoyed the airport being so close. The planes did not disrupt us, and made for some great photos! Food is good, location is great. Everything you need is right there. I would also recommend the Grand Cafe Restaurant, have some steak. I will definitely go back to Maho again!!

I just spent 1 week at Maho from Jan 11 ,2003 and was satisfied overall with the experience. I will gloss over details that have already been covered in other reviews and tell you what the Hi's and Lo's are from my perspective . First I would have to say that the proximity to the airport can be both good and bad. I'm an aviation buff so watching the air traffic was a great source of entertainment and I didn't mind at all. But if you are not ,and you don't want to hear noisy jet engines and smell the occasional whiff of jet fuel in the air . You may want to find somewhere else to stay.

As for the service I found most of the staff were very good , a few seemingly indifferent and a couple downright surly! Take it with a grain of salt , and if you are expecting 5 star service like we are accustomed to in North America you can find it in St. Martin but at a much higher price. ie the Meridien Hotel at 450 $ + US per night.

The all inclusive meal plan was well worth it as St. Martin is relativly expensive to eat out in. Count on a minimum 10 us$ even for a fast food type take out meal up to 20 to 30 $ for even a simple bar type meal and of course 50 $ plus for the many great high end restaurants on the island. We found the food at the Buffet was okay to good depending on the Theme night and desserts by the way were always great .

You can also eat at the alacarte Palms Grill as often as you wished. We found the food there was better than the buffet and ate the majority of our meals there. We ate at the Point and the Paris Cafe. both of which were great and both included in our meal plans ( one visit each for the week).

The beach at the resort was pretty good . Not as nice as Grand case , Baie Rouge and Long bay . But I thought it was as nice or better than Orient and Cupecoy and better than Dawn beach. One odd thing I noticed was that the red flag was flying every day . I myself am a very strong swimmer so after swimming with some trepidation the first 2 times I was swimming out around 80 to 100 M out to sea and across to the sunset bar and never felt even a whiff of current or undertow.

As for entertainment; they have a little bit of live enter. each night at the Palms Grill. But there are plenty of bars and Clubs within walking distance of the hotel as well as the Royal Casino and don't miss the Platinum lounge for some superb Adult entertainment. We found that overall Maho Beach had the most active night life on the island . Although we never went to the Orient Beach area at nighttime.

As for the rooms they were nice , clean spacious with good AC. The rooms that are the quietest face toward the golf course and away from the pool and airport . Unfortunately they also overlook the sewage treatment facility out back which you can smell. We were in one of them but it was never bothersome unless you kept the patio door open which we didn't . We still felt the reduction in noise was worth the tradeoff . We just kept the door closed; and the view was great.

One interesting item to pass on ; The owner of the hotel actually lives on site in the hotel complex and owns most of the real estate around the hotel.

in summary;

the High's ;

- great value all inclusive meal plan

with good food

- Great spot for night life

- clean spacious rooms

- nice beach with low waves

- thrilling aircraft traffic

- 5 minute trip from airport to hotel

The Lows ;

- Some spotty customer service esecially during busy season

- Thrilling aircraft traffic

- some rooms overlooking the sewage

treatment facility

We had such a great time at Maho and St. Martin that we plan to go again in the future.

Stayed at Maho, Beach Resort and Casino and was very happy with everything! Hotel is exceptionally clean, rooms are nice, beautifully landscaped, food is great. If you tire of buffets, would recommend to eat at the a la carte restauant. Food is really good. A few things that other people may find irritating about this hotel, (which I did not) is the fact that the airport is a stones throw away, and is NOISY.I found it quite novel though, and was amused by watching the planes land, especially Air France! I didn't hear any planes at night though. The beach here is rough to swim in, and is on the "approach" for the planes. You must clear the deck when a plane is approaching. There is a beautiful public beach right next door, called Mullet Bay. (you can get food, drinks, and snacks there) Only a 7 minute walk from hotel. No entertainment at Maho Hotel, but there is across the street in the Maho Plaza, which by the way, has many jewellery stores, Star Bucks Coffee/internet cafe, etc... at your doorstep! :) In my opinion, it is still worth it to stay here despite the proximity of the airport. Each person has to decide what they can live with. I am going again this winter!