My girlfriend and I just returned from a vacation at the Mont Vernon Hotel in St. Martin. It was Sherri's first trip anywhere and I wanted it o be a good one so I chose St. Martin because the Caribbean is supposed to be so beautiful. We left Toronto on Saturday April 23rd 2005 and landed in St. Martin at four hours later. The flight was uneventful which is good at 40,000 feet! and the attendants were very pleasant. Upon arrival at the St. Martin Airport there was a bit of a problem handling so many people all at once and a bit of kaos reigned. It was quite comical if you sat back and watched. Nathalie, our Air Transat rep met us at the airport and tried her best to answer all questions and get all the sheep er people on the correct buses to their respective hotels. Kudos Nathalie! Tres Bien!

Unfortunately we arrived at the hotel after two other buses and were shepherded into the main lobby of the Hotel. This proved to be another situation where I could practice my virtue of patience. The Hotel staff (Brovo Wilf!) were very accommodating and helpful to all the people who spoke atrocious French (that’s me!). Fortunately we met a fantastic couple from Parry Sound Ontario who made the time pass quickly.

If the Hotel reads this review please, as a suggestion, the next time a large number of guests visit your Hotel greet them at the front door with Mont Vernon Hotel Representative and a number dispenser then move them to the bar area and wait for them to be called up to check in. The greeter could dispense Hotel wrist bracelets and numbers at that time telling the bar tender to start making the Guests feel like they are on vacation. This would help eliminate the noise in the lobby and not make the Reception people feel so pressured.

After we found our way to our room in the St. John building we were pleased at the size of the room and the cleanliness. We had a 'garden view' room that overlooked the lagoon and mountains behind. I was quite impressed with the view especially when I heard that upgrading to an ocean view room would be $50 American per day per person!. We did not spend much time in the room anyway because of the beach and other activities but at night the hills lit up with the lights of houses and other Hotels and was quite nice. That night we took a walking tour around the complex and found that it was good exercise for the legs to manoeuvre around. The Hotel is built on a partial mountain on the beach so there is a lot of slopes and/or stairs to climb and ascend. The pictures in the Air Transat vacation book are a perfect representation of the resort.

The next morning, and all week long, we woke to sunshine and birds singing outside our room. The sun was bright and hot. The beaches were so white and clean. They were so clean we couldn't find any shells washed up on the shore for the kids! In addition to the birds we found a lot of little lizards that roam freely. Now don't go thinking of Komodo Dragons people! These were very small reptiles that kids love to play with. They were anywhere from two inches to six inches long including their tails. They always scurried away if you got too close and were never a bother.

With this package there was the 4 day car rental included except for the insurance which was $25 US a day. Hmmm now I can rent a car for $29 Canadian including insurance so don't let them fool you folks your paying the full shot of the car rental. What they are doing is making a car available for rent while you are there. When we booked the Air Transat we read that insurance was $12 a day (that is more believable) but unfortunately after we booked it we were told the insurance was now $25 a day. We tried to rent a car on Saturday and were told it would be $35 US because we didn't have a voucher (they give you this upon arrival at the Hotel). Regardless take advantage of this rental because 3 of the 4 restaurants they offer a la carte meals at you cannot get to by walking. You must rent a taxi which can run you from $3 to $15 one way depending on if it's raining!. Sherri and I ended up hooking up with the couple from Parry sound and rented the car for a couple days and they rented one for a couple as well. This worked out well as it was half the cost. The Car I rented was brand new! It was a little green Hyundai with 235 km on it, air conditioning and seated four. It was a nice little car and Thanks to William of the GUST Car Rental agency at the Hotel. The one thing about the car was the horse power. These cars are little and can get around the island well. Unfortunately I push 200 lbs, Geoff went about 240 lbs and the girls were another 230 lbs together. At one point we were going up a steep hill and the car was having trouble so Geoff turned off the air and we got what felt like a turbo boost! LOL. What a hoot!

We ended up visiting Phillipsburg and the Shops on Front Street where some good deals were found. The liquor is very cheap compared to Canada. I picked up a litre of Crown Royal for $10 US! Do NOT under any circumstances just automatically give the vendors their asking price. Everything is up for negotiation especially if you buy more than one! We were shopping and it was hot hot hot so we stopped by a street vendor selling beer and Mikes Hard lemonade. We negotiated two beers at $1 apiece and two Mikes Hard for $3!. It was a hoot! I bought a ring at one of the Jewellers and they gave beers to everybody that was with me LOL!

We also ended up going to Marigot market for half a day. We did not enjoy this as much because the vendors were not willing to deal as much as the ones in Phillipsburg. One vendor even told Sherri to keep her money! lol.

The four of us couldn't decide what to do for an outside excursion so we decided on the Golden Eagle tour around the Island on Friday for what they call a farewell tour. The cost of the tour was $99 each and included all you can drink for the day. It also included a light snack in the morning of ham and cheese sandwiches, a tour to two other islands for swimming, snorkelling for about half an hour at Creole Rock, lunch at a restaurant on the beach in Grand Case and a shuttle from and to your Hotel! This was an amazing deal which I would recommend to all.

All the food at the Hotel was quite good. There was a little of everything for everyone. The best part we found was going out to the different restaurants for supper. The liquor at the resort flowed freely when the bars were open. Most of the bar tenders were fun to be around and Phillip is a hoot. Enjoy your necklace mon ami!

Also the entertainment staff provide some good entertainment if your around to enjoy it, especially the Cabaret they put on. The Modonna impersonator (aka the water aerobics instructor) was quite sexy especially when you get picked as the helper as I did! Woo-Hoo!!!

Now just some stuff that I didn't really care for. There were no garbage cans scattered around the resort for miscellaneous garbage. I had to either give it to the bar tender, keep it and dump it at the room or (which I did not do) just leave it lying around for others to pick up. There was quite a bit of litter from people that were not as cognisant of the site of trash lying around. Garbage bags sat for days on the path outside our room for pick up. Eventually like all trash it was broken into and strewn which kind of kills the paradise effect lol. Snorkelling equipment was not available as people took out the equipment one day and kept it all week therefore the four of us ended up renting equipment for $10 US a day each. If your going and want to snorkel invest in some here and make room in your luggage for it. I will for the future. Also there was no availability at all to get kayaks or windsurf boards because of past accidents and liability issues so the advertisements are wrong...

As with other reviews yes the pool bar was only open from 10:30am until 5:00pm. The bar in the Lobby area was open until 5:00pm until 12:00 midnight. They were not open at the same time. It would prove to be more accommodating to the vacationers to have both open at the same time with variances to the times.

As for the sun worshippers who chose to tan all parts of their body…..yes there was a bit at the resort. It can be expected because it is the French side of the island and the Europeans are not as up tight about nudity as we Canadians seem to be.

The Hotel is in what is probably the best location on the island. Private, secure and quiet. The room was cool, clean and large with a nice view of the beach, but compared to other three star facilities in the Caribbean, the hotel failed completely. The food was poor. Well below the standard of the plain food served in Cuba and not in the same league as Cancun. There was an unpleasant smell of old cooked fish, goat and hamburger from the lunch kitchen all day as you went between the pool and the beach. There are supposed to be three bars but we only ever found two open and never at the same time. The bars were a good seven or eight minute climb apart, depending on your energy level, so getting thirsty in the wrong location was irritating. The pool bar closed at 5pm. so relaxing with a cold drink in the early evening by the pool or beach was difficult if not impossible. Unless you are extremely fit, this hotel is not for you and could benefit from golf cart or a miniature train service, escalators and an elevator.

The free car rental was great and the well dented and scratched car got us around the beautiful island several times without our having to worry about its condition deteriorating. We met with what could only be described as "attitude" from most of the staff, although one or two did go out of their way to help. Service was noticeably better for French speaking people. The four dinners outside the hotel were all good and made a nice change from basic.

The duty free shopping in Philipsburg was great. If we ever return to the island it will definitely be to the Dutch side where we were treated with friendship and respect.

Just visited St. Martin and stayed at Hotel Mont Vernon in March 2005. Here's our evaluation of the resort:

Location: North end of Orient Bay. Hotel is built on a hill, a lot of uphill and downhill walkings to access the beach, pool and restaurants. Not recommended for seniors or persons with walking difficulties.

Beach: Beautiful and clean. White soft sand and some waves. About 1/2 hr. stroll from this end to the other end of Orient Bay where all the nude sunbathers are. The south end of Orient Bay is much more calmer than the north end. Across from Orient Bay, there is an island called Pinel Island that is worth a visit if you like white sand and very calm water. Not much for snorkelling though. You can take a taxi boat (jet ski) across for $10 pp round trip.

Hotel: Clean. 3 stars rating. Staff in general are friendly and accommodating. No elevator. 3-storey row houses.

Restaurants: La Creole at the lobby area serves buffet breakfasts and buffet dinners. Not a lot of choices but food was good if you like French cuisine (very rich taste). Buffet lunch is served only at the pool restaurant near the beach. Lunch is extremely simple and I'll only rate it 2 stars. However, our travel package includes 4 nights dinning at 4 different restaurant outside the resort. We didn't use it as we enjoyed all the dinners at the resort. Service was excellent during dinner times. Some of these restaurants outside the resort are not within walking distance and you must have a car to get there.

Hotel Activities: Very little. Only aqua aerobics. Some night shows. Free shuttle to a casino every night.

Drinks: 2 bars. Lobby bar only opens from 5:00 pm to midnight. Pool bar opens from 10:30 am to 6:30 pm. The all-inclusive package only includes soft drinks, beers, local liqueur but no cocktail or mocktail. The only snacks available are peanuts.

Car rental: our package includes a 4-day car rental which is a bonus. If you prefer, you can rent the car for less than 4 days.

just came back from spending a week in St Martin we were a group of five.. not to take anything away from the island itself.. it one of the most beautiful I have seen.