Dec 6th, 2007
Hotel L’Esplanade
After about a 30-minute drive through Saint Martin, we miraculously arrived at L’Esplanade and I sort of held my breath as we drove up the steep incline that lead to the hotel’s reception area.
I was holding my breath because I was not entirely sure what to expect from the place. Sure, Trip Advisor had ranked it as the top hotel in Saint Martin and had awarded it the Traveler’s Choice award in both 2005 and 2006. Sure, it had a snazzy Web site and an amazing photo gallery.
I was still nervous that we were driving into a dump.
My fears instantly disappated the moment we parked and entered the reception area and were presented with this view:
“Your room will be ready in just a few minutes, would you like a drink while you wait? Perhaps a Carib?”the receptionist asked.
“You had me at Carib,” I thought to myself and nodded affirmatively.
After a few minutes of basking in the Saint Martin afternoon, our room was ready and we were delighted to see that the pictures from the Web site were not all smoke and mirrors.
The owners, Kristen and Marc, had really paid attention to the little things - the fixtures in the kitchenette, a painting on acrylic tiles in the patio, and small flowers sprinkled throughout the room.
There was even a little kitchenette that would come in handy after we discovered the French market near Marigot.
The pièce de résistance however was clearly the view from the patio. As far as things to wake up to in the morning, you could do worse:
After the long trip it was nice to catch our breath for a few minutes while gazing out over Grand Case.
