Grand Case Beach Club — Hotel in Saint Martin (France)

Update August 2023

We just returned from celebrating our 47th Anniversary from this paradise (thanks staff for celebrating with us) that we have stayed over 17 years. Everything was wonderful as it is always. We saw many of the staff who remembered us and some new. The front desk Roselyn, Ruth, Maureen and their colleagues. Laura in Marketing (didn't get to see her this time), Housekeeping Sandra and especially Helene. Security staff both around the premises and outside as you waked to Grand Case. Hileman, Jimmy who were always around to help us with anything. Everyone working as a team to make the stay enjoyable. This paradise is located in a beautiful setting with spectacular sunsets from your room, the beach, Sunset Café , close to Orient Bay with its many restaurants in the evening , close to Grand Case, the supermarket and L 'Express for delicious pastries.

It all works because of process and staff brought in by its GM Stephen Wright and his lovely wife who runs the gift store. A French paradise that works because GM Wright has 'Americanized" services, standards and marketing so everything runs much more smoothly than anywhere else in the Caribbean, while maintaining the beauty of the French side of this island. We were deeply saddened to learn from staff and then confirmed by GM Wright that this December, after 27 years of loyally building (and re-building post Irma) this property to be one of the most favorite destinations anywhere to stay, they will exit in December! Over the years we have personally introduced 37 family and friends to this property and they in-turn others. I worry under its new management (none of whom came by to introduce themselves although on the property.there was a get together scheduled but possible rain interfered), there may be staff changes (please keep the front office and anyone else mentioned) , changes to quality of services, friendliness, standards ..that will affect the superb reputation this property has enjoyed. I hope the Board will try and keep the Wrights on in some capacity (if the Wrights are willing) so that for so many of us his presence will ensure continuation of excellence. Although we had not seen GM Wright for 2 years, on our last day we met and he knew which room number we occupied even though we had moved rooms. That in itself is a display of the superb quality of service so rare to see elsewhere.

Finally a word to my fellow guests and it involves gratuity. It pains me to see so many having the front desk make reservations every day and although not required, not showing your appreciation. Given the many blessings we received from Housekeeping I could tell the $10 we left each and every day was appreciated. For the size of suite and deep cleaning every day, that should be a minimum. Security and staff who helped out the same. Just think of a family being able to walk securely to the town any night and if each family gave $1 to the guard, it would be such a kind gesture. The café includes the gratuity.so remember the staff who make your visit so memorable.

I leave every review with a highly recommend because I knew who was running the property. It gets a 5 based on our stay however I will be interested to look at reviews after GM Wright exits. We wish him and his family the best for always giving of themselves to make all of stays so wonderful. And of course to the local staff who do the same.

The mark of a really good Hotel/Resort is when the GM is away it runs like clockwork, continuing to provide great service by super friendly employees. Nowhere has this been more evident that in our first return trip to this property in over 4 years. This year we brought 3 additional families ( we have recommended many more friends and family to stay before) at the time when GM Stephen Wright was on annual home leave and little did I know when he placed me in the hands of Laura Pikullik, who is in charge of Marketing/Reservations and to Lynn Taylor, Rooms Manager, along with their colleagues, how well we would all be...

Grand Case Beach Club was not on our list of places to stay, but we decided at the last minute to "splurge" for a one-bedroom loft for the final two nights of our 10-day stay in St. Martin. Check-in was easy with the only hiccups being that our room keys did not work when we arrived at our room, and then there was a gecko on the ceiling when we finally entered. There are no elevators, so you must be prepared to carry your luggage up the stairs or have their security guards assist.

The room was cleaned with bleach and the scent was overwhelming until the room was able to air out. The USB plugs beside our bed did not work, so it was necessary to have an adapter to charge anything. There was a free bottle of white wine available in the room, which was a nice welcome.

Our view of the ocean was great, but the hotel needs a little bit of updating to make it pleasant from the balcony. There was an air conditioning unit attached to the ceiling on the balcony directly above the chaise lounges. The AC unit was rusted and dripping over your head, so we didn't spend any time on the balcony.

To me, the bathrooms are too dark with the dark stones and tile and the low lighting. It feels like you're bathing in a cave and the bathroom lighting is inadequate if you'd like to do your makeup.

The beaches were very calm and serene. The surrounding grounds are well-kept, and the trail that goes around alongside the beach is phenomenal. There are various cozy nooks to sit and lounge in the shade overlooking the beach and relax. The pool was smaller than expected, but the view is unmatched. The attendants at the beach who provide the umbrellas were very friendly and accommodating.

For a hotel of this caliber, they do seem to charge extra for basic in-room things like coffee or bottled water. They say their tap water is safe to drink, but I would never risk ruining my trip by drinking tap water. They did provide an initial round of Nespresso coffee pods (approximately one morning worth), but there is an extra charge if you needed more.

There is a shuttle that takes you into town in the evening to the other local restaurants. There is a fee to use the service which can be paid in cash or billed to the room. Otherwise, it is an easy 5-minute or so walk. We took the shuttle to the restaurants and walked back.

My biggest complaint is the apparent disconnect between the Beach Club and the Sunset Cafe. The Sunset Cafe is not part of the hotel and operates independently. It is simply located on the property. We dined at the cafe on our first night, and the server asked for our room number which we provided when we first sat down. The server provided our bill when we were finished, and my husband asked if he needed to sign anything. She said no and told us to have a good evening. The next morning, we went to the cafe to get coffee. The cafe owner made our coffee and we asked to bill it to our room. The owner proceeded to tell us that we could not bill to our room and had left without paying the night before. How?! They had asked for our room number and told us we did not need to sign the bill. She then explained that the cafe is not part of the hotel and that we should have been given paperwork at check-in if we'd like to bill to our room from the cafe. We paid the bill with a credit card right then since we apparently did not have proper authorization to bill to our room. She offered to set up the room billing by filling out a form at the bar with all of our credit card information, but we declined. Who wants to hand write all of their card information on a random form at a bar? It was our last day on the property so we opted to open a tab and close out at the end of the day.

The room billing needs to be better explained upon arrival versus guests being made to feel like criminals in a foreign country. The poor communication is on both the hotel and the restaurant itself since both had opportunities to collect payment, and neither mentioned it until we "walked out...

Let me start with the great things about this resort...The location is amazing! It's right along the Grand Case strip and also a central location for traveling to other popular areas of the French side (Marigot, Oriental Bay, Cul de Sac, etc.). There was also a large Super U and pharmacy only a few minutes from the hotel which was very convenient. -The beach that the resort is located on is beautiful and very calm which is great for swimming. The location of the hotel also allows guests to watch the most beautiful sunset on the water. -Most of the rooms are located right on the beach so you only have to take a few steps from your patio to the sand which not many other resorts we looked at on the island offered. -Very pleasant staff -We arrived around 11:30 (check in is at 4) and were planning on giving our luggage over to the front desk to store while we explored the island but they said our room was ready and we were able to check in at the time which was incredible and well appreciated. -We had a rental car on the island (highly recommend by the way) and we were able to park our car under a shaded cover right in front of our room.

So this is where I want to mention that if you are looking for a resort that has great views and a great location and that's all you need for a good vacation, then this is the place for you! But if you're like my husband and myself and expect higher quality services and amenities when paying for a nice beach resort, then this is where I advise some caution.

Our biggest complaint was that everything seemed to come with an added fee. A large water bottle was provided to the room on arrival but extra bottles came with a fee. The hotel states their tap water is filtered and safe to drink but my husband and I preferred to only drink bottled water on our trip (call us boujee if you want but we just didn't want to even risk our vacation getting ruined by some stomach virus). You also were provided with only 2 beach/pool towels per day. Want extra?? It was an added fee. You also had to personally exchange the pool towels yourself each morning at the front desk. Water sports were included with our stay so we decided to go snorkeling. The equipment was free but the mouth piece for the snorkel…5 euro. You want some fresh brewed coffee in the morning? Great! They’ll provide you some complimentary packets but don’t go through them too quickly because restocking them will cost you. It just seemed that around every corner, there was a fee for some of the most basic amenities a resort normally supplies. I had a big issue the way the beach bar worked but maybe this won’t be an issue to others. The Sunset Cafe and bar are public to any beachgoer but they are attached to the Grand Case Beach Club Resort. I went up to order a drink at the bar and told them our room number to charge the drink to and they said you had to fill out a form separately with your room information and credit card details to give to the bartender and then had to settle your tab at the bar at the end of your stay. When they gave me the piece of paper, I was in the process of writing down my credit card number, expiration date, CVV on this piece of paper to hand over to the bartender and I just had this bad feeling that one strong wind would have this paper flying out of their hands and down the beach for anyone to pick up. I decided not to fill it out and just pay for the drink then and there. I want to be clear that I am not implying any intentional misuse of this information by the bartending staff, but I just got a bad feeling about filling out a piece of paper at a beach bar that had such personal information on it when this information had already been provided to the resort staff on arrival.

Overall, I didn’t feel like we were pampered guest staying at a tropical beach resort, but instead were staying at an Airbnb with a hefty price tag. There were pluses and minuses to this place and it’s just based on what’s important to you and your expectations for...