Affordable and delightful villa in St Martin
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This villa was perfect for our family - my husband, myself, 2 adult daughters and a 6-year-old grandson. It is every bit as beautiful as the photos and walkthrough video suggest. Our requirements were for an affordable condo/villa in St Martin (budget was $4000 USD a week) with 3 bedrooms, 2-3 bathrooms, an ocean view, facing west for the sunset view, with a pool and close to beaches. We also wanted internet access, and a washer/dryer. This villa satisfied every requirement and then some. I recommend you check out the walkthrough video. It will give you a much clearer picture of what the property is like. Sea Dream is fairly new, bright, clean and furnished nicely with high-end appliances. It is located on a hillside overlooking the sea with Anguilla in the distance. We could see Friar's Bay to the left of us. There are actually 4-5 identical buildings all fairly close to one another. During our stay, neither villa on either side of us was occupied so ours was extremely quiet and private. Yes, the villa was walking distance (10 minutes) to both Happy Bay and Friar's Bay but along a fairly challenging hillside and rocky footpath. If you have mobility problems, you will want to take a car and park closer to those beaches. Personal security was not a concern for us. This villa is located in a gated hilltop community. The windows and door on the front of the building all have iron grills. All the other windows and doors have roll-down aluminum shutters to secure them. There is also an alarm system which we did not use during our stay. The private plunge pool is 10 x 20 feet - small perhaps but it satisfied our needs. The yard is nicely landscaped and the decking material is Trex (or something like it) The covered sunbed that you see in the photos was large and a perfect respite from the sun as well as rain showers. This property is by far the nicest in the string of identical units. One surprise is that there is a small herd of cows that graze the fields in this area. We were surprised the first morning when we saw a cow outside the backyard fence. As you will see in the walkthrough video, the upstairs bedroom is a fair bit smaller than the 2 downstairs bedrooms. It has far less storage space with just a few shelves in the bathroom. The ensuite bathroom has double sinks and a large walk-in shower,. But the toilet and a tiny sink are in a small windowless room (like size of a closet) outside the bedroom. It was not a concern for our family group but it may be a consideration in choosing bedrooms for 3 couples sharing the villa. The balcony was huge. We ate all our meals at the table there and enjoyed using the BBQ. The seating group of sofa, 2 chairs, and coffee table on the balcony was lovely. The kitchen was extremely well equipped for our meal preparation. I should note that unlike some other vacation rentals we've had, all dishwashing soap, laundry soap, paper towels, toilet tissue, and kleenex were supplied and replenished. The bathroom toiletries were all from L'Occitane. There was a "welcome" package of basics like crackers, cheese, butter, milk, eggs, baguette, coffee, jam, bottled water, and beer which was definitely appreciated. We went grocery shopping in Grand Case at the Simply Market but much preferred the Super U in Marigot which is a bit further away but has a far superior and larger selection of foodstuffs. We rented a car for our entire stay - and I would recommend others do the same. This villa's location is a bit isolated from shopping, restaurants, and so on - plus we wanted to go sightseeing and enjoy other beaches. Our stay couldn't have been smoother. Robbin from St Martin Reservation Center helped us in our search for a suitable villa and handled all the correspondence / transactions for our reservation. A housekeeper came every day but Sunday. As planned, we were met at the airport and transferred to the villa. Our concierge from Sothebys Realty St Martin met us at the villa. Our car rental had been set up in advance and the car was delivered to the villa. I would recommend this villa and this agent.
Diane M
- Toronto, Canada
Dates of Stay: March 2016
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