La Playa Orient Bay — Hotel in Saint Martin (France)

One of the Worst Hotel Experiences – Do Not Stay at La Playa Orient Bay

I’ve traveled a fair amount, including to several Caribbean islands, and I’ve never had an experience remotely this bad before.

We found four cockroaches in our room over the course of our stay, which immediately made the whole environment feel unhygienic and unsettling. We repacked our personal belongings in the suitcase and zipped it up in fear of bringing roaches home. Additionally, the shower in our room turned cold after 5–10 minutes every time it was used. Inversely, the fridge did not stay cold, spoiling all the groceries we bought within 2 days.

We asked for a power converter to use for our hairdryer—they gave us the wrong one without warning, which led to the hairdryer sparking and nearly exploding in our hands.

I am generally not picky at all when it comes to mattresses— but this was truly one of the most uncomfortable beds I have ever slept on. We asked for a mattress topper, which was extremely flimsy and did nothing to help. Housekeeping also tried to shove us out of the room early in the morning and visibly rolled her eyes at us when we asked her to come back in 20 minutes. The beach was a major disappointment as well, since it was covered in 2–3 foot high walls of seaweed, which began to smell after a few hours in the sun. We were told it’s “cleaned daily”, which was clearly not the case as it hadn’t been touched in days. Other hotels next door, who actually cleaned the seaweed daily, did not have nearly the buildup. We were also kicked off the beach before 5pm every day—because why let guests enjoy a beach resort that they paid for?

The attached beach restaurant/bar was not bad, especially the bartenders Karl and GP. But even there, the kitchen would randomly close early because the staff just... didn’t feel like working, claiming that the seaweed was creating “uninhabitable work conditions.” Which is a little comical considering guests are paying for this expensive beach vacation. Likewise, the resort has a policy that you are not allowed to bring your own food/drinks to the beach - this would normally be a fine policy, but given that the restaurant closed at random times throughout the day, and we were still prohibited from bringing any other outside food to the beach, it became a huge annoyance. There was a woman working at the restaurant - who we later found out to be the manager - that was also extremely rude to us, especially to my girlfriend.

At the end of the stay, we talked to the hotel Manager, Katy, about these concerns - who turned out to be one of the most disrespectful people I have ever met in my life. Rather than listening or trying to understand what went wrong to improve for the future, she repeatedly interrupted us, dismissed our feedback, made condescending remarks, and made it clear through her tone and body language that she didn’t take anything we said seriously. She offered excuses for every issue we brought up—blaming us for the shower and roach problems, downplaying the seaweed buildup, and denying that the restaurant ever closed early. At no point did she acknowledge our experience or take any responsibility. The entire conversation felt combative and unprofessional.

La Playa may look decent in photos, but it is run-down, roach-infested, mismanaged, and led by a manager who seems better suited for arguing on Facebook than running a hotel. If you care about basic comfort, cleanliness, or not being treated like a nuisance, do yourself a favor: book literally...

I’ve traveled a fair amount, including to several Caribbean islands, and I’ve never had an experience remotely this bad before. ||||We found four cockroaches in our room over the course of our stay, which immediately made the whole environment feel unhygienic and unsettling. We repacked our personal belongings in the suitcase and zipped it up in fear of bringing roaches home. Additionally, the shower in our room turned cold after 5–10 minutes every time it was used. Inversely, the fridge did not stay cold, spoiling all the groceries we bought within 2 days.||||We asked for a power converter to use for our hairdryer—they gave us the wrong one without warning, which led to the hairdryer sparking and nearly exploding in our hands.||||I am generally not picky at all when it comes to mattresses— but this was truly one of the most uncomfortable beds I have ever slept on. We asked for a mattress topper, which was extremely flimsy and did nothing to help. Housekeeping also tried to shove us out of the room early in the morning and visibly rolled her eyes at us when we asked her to come back in 20 minutes.||||The beach was a major disappointment as well, since it was covered in 2–3 foot high walls of seaweed, which began to smell after a few hours in the sun. We were told it’s “cleaned daily”, which was clearly not the case as it hadn’t been touched in days. Other hotels next door, who actually cleaned the seaweed daily, did not have nearly the same buildup. We were also kicked off the beach before 5pm every day—because why let guests enjoy a beach resort that they paid for?||||The attached beach restaurant/bar was not bad, especially the bartenders Karl and GP. But even there, the kitchen would randomly close early because the staff just... didn’t feel like working, claiming that the seaweed was creating “uninhabitable work conditions.” Which is a little comical considering guests are paying for this expensive beach vacation. Likewise, the resort has a policy that you are not allowed to bring your own food/drinks to the beach - this would normally be a fine policy, but given that the restaurant closed at random times throughout the day, and we were still prohibited from bringing any other outside food to the beach, it became a huge annoyance. There was a woman working at the restaurant - who we later found out to be the manager - that was also extremely rude to us, especially to my girlfriend.||||At the end of the stay, we talked to the hotel Manager, Katy, about these concerns - who turned out to be one of the most disrespectful people I have ever met in my life. Rather than listening or trying to understand what went wrong to improve for the future, she repeatedly interrupted us, dismissed our feedback, made condescending remarks, and made it clear through her tone and body language that she didn’t take anything we said seriously. She offered excuses for every issue we brought up—blaming us for the shower and roach problems, downplaying the seaweed buildup, and denying that the restaurant ever closed early. At no point did she acknowledge our experience or take any responsibility. The entire conversation felt combative and unprofessional.||||La Playa may look decent in photos, but it is run-down, roach-infested, mismanaged, and led by a manager who seems better suited for arguing on Facebook than running a hotel. If you care about basic comfort, cleanliness, or not being treated like a nuisance, do yourself a favor: book literally...

I’ve traveled a fair amount, including to several Caribbean islands, and I’ve never had an experience remotely this bad before. ||We found four cockroaches in our room over the course of our stay, which immediately made the whole environment feel unhygienic and unsettling. We repacked our personal belongings in the suitcase and zipped it up in fear of bringing roaches home. Additionally, the shower in our room turned cold after 5–10 minutes every time it was used. Inversely, the fridge did not stay cold, spoiling all the groceries we bought within 2 days.||We asked for a power converter to use for our hairdryer—they gave us the wrong one without warning, which led to the hairdryer sparking and nearly exploding in our hands.||I am generally not picky at all when it comes to mattresses— but this was truly one of the most uncomfortable beds I have ever slept on. We asked for a mattress topper, which was extremely flimsy and did nothing to help. Housekeeping also tried to shove us out of the room early in the morning and visibly rolled her eyes at us when we asked her to come back in 20 minutes.||The beach was a major disappointment as well, since it was covered in 2–3 foot high walls of seaweed, which began to smell after a few hours in the sun. We were told it’s “cleaned daily”, which was clearly not the case as it hadn’t been touched in days. Other hotels next door, who actually cleaned the seaweed daily, did not have nearly the same buildup. We were also kicked off the beach before 5pm every day—because why let guests enjoy a beach resort that they paid for?||The attached beach restaurant/bar was not bad, especially the bartenders Karl and GP. But even there, the kitchen would randomly close early because the staff just... didn’t feel like working, claiming that the seaweed was creating “uninhabitable work conditions.” Which is a little comical considering guests are paying for this expensive beach vacation. Likewise, the resort has a policy that you are not allowed to bring your own food/drinks to the beach - this would normally be a fine policy, but given that the restaurant closed at random times throughout the day, and we were still prohibited from bringing any other outside food to the beach, it became a huge annoyance. There was a woman working at the restaurant - who we later found out to be the manager - that was also extremely rude to us, especially to my girlfriend.||At the end of the stay, we talked to the hotel Manager, Katy, about these concerns - who turned out to be one of the most disrespectful people I have ever met in my life. Rather than listening or trying to understand what went wrong to improve for the future, she repeatedly interrupted us, dismissed our feedback, made condescending remarks, and made it clear through her tone and body language that she didn’t take anything we said seriously. She offered excuses for every issue we brought up—blaming us for the shower and roach problems, downplaying the seaweed buildup, and denying that the restaurant ever closed early. At no point did she acknowledge our experience or take any responsibility. The entire conversation felt combative and unprofessional.||La Playa may look decent in photos, but it is run-down, roach-infested, mismanaged, and led by a manager who seems better suited for arguing on Facebook than running a hotel. If you care about basic comfort, cleanliness, or not being treated like a nuisance, do yourself a favor: book literally...