If your flight coming to St. Martin has connections, be sure to pack your toothbrush, toothpaste, any medication (in their original packaging), and beach clothes in your hand luggage.

Occasionally you might make your connection when unfortunately your luggage doesn't; if this happens it will normally arrive within 24 hours and will be delivered directly to the hotel. Please ensure you complete a form with your airline before leaving the Grand Case Airport.

Check with your airline as to current regulations for baggage, as they do change, for both carry-on and checked items.

We do not operate a St. Martin airport shuttle, there are plenty of taxis outside of the arrivals exit, it is approximately $30.00 for two people with two bags each, additional people are normally charged $5.00 each and additional bags are $2.00 per bag. However, after 10:00 pm you will be charged an additional 15% on the regular taxi rate and after midnight it can go as high as 25%.

Some car rental companies organize collection at the Juliana Airport, if this is the case you will be picked up by the company at the airport and taken to their nearby office to collect the car and complete the paperwork. Some, but not all car rentals may have in-terminal booths.

If you are arriving during rush hour traffic (8am – 10am and 4:30pm – 7pm), we strongly suggest you do not drive through Cole Bay and instead drive along the west side of the island past Mullet Bay and Baie Nettle, this route is more scenic too.

If you would like directions on how to get to our hotel, pleasecontact us.

Our electricity is 220v here so a converter is advisable. Most electronic equipment e.g. cameras, cell phones etc. now a days have built in converters, which means you just need the American to European two-pin plug adapter.

Check the equipment you want to bring to see if this is the case, they should say Input: 110v – 240v. With equipment that needs a converter make a note of the wattage output before you go to buy one to ensure the converter has the wattage capacity for the equipment it will need to run. For example, do not buy a 50w converter if your curling iron produces an output of 1600w.

Curling irons and hair dryers tend to have very high watt age outputs, we do provide hair dryers in the rooms and we sometimes have a curling iron for loan, but please don’t rely on this. The general rule of thumb is, if you are not sure your converter will handle the piece of equipment, don’t bring the equipment as you risk destroying both items.

Please also note the wall sockets for our plugs are recessed so try to find a converter where the plug part does not sit flush to the converter itself but protrudes. Adaptor plugs and some converters are available for sale in our gift shop.

Unfortunately we can not guarantee any rooming or bedding requests, however please do let us know what your preferences are and we will endeavor to do our best to meet them. You can contact us via e-mail or call us at + 590 590 87 51 87.

Of course we can, please let us know which restaurants on which day and what time and we will confirm these with you upon check-in. Early booking is not always necessary except perhaps during some holidays (such as Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving) and even then for only a few of the restaurants on the Island. Some restaurants are requesting credit card numbers and/or deposits, as they are experiencing a large number of no-shows for prior reservations…please do inform them and us if your plans change so we can relay the information to the restaurants.

We do supply daily beach towels, so no need to bring them.

Also in the rooms is a fully equipped kitchenette, including a microwave, fridge, oven and coffeemaker (we do not supply coffee). There is a CD player in each room and all rooms are equipped with flat sreen TVs and American Cable. Irons and boards are provided as well.

You will also find a mini-bar in the room and a hair-dryer in the bathroom. In the one bedroom, two bedroom and studios with a loft, the sofa pulls out into an additional twin bed.

Irons and Ironing Boards conveniently placed in each room.

We have free wireless connection hotspots in the area of the Front Desk and Sunset Cafe, and are expanding to some other areas as well. We do not guarantee WiFi in rooms, though some may get limited reception.

Please ensure you know how to change your WiFi settings on your laptop before leaving home.

For those who do not wish to bring their laptops on vacation with them, you can use the internet computers provided at the front desk, connection cards are available for sale $15.00 for one hour connection time, this can be used over several occasions.

It is always best to review your email login details before traveling so you are familiar with your login name and password and can access your email provider from any computer.

Americans are very lucky, telephone calls from the States are very cheap, outside of the States we all pay a small fortune for our calls.

• Local Calls (French Side) - $1 per minute
• Local Calls (Dutch Side) - $2 per minute
• Calls to the USA - $4 per minute
• Calls to other International Countries - $5 per minute

Please note our telephone system does not support free phone numbers these are charged $1 per minute.

We do have some fees for other services we provide, please see the list below:

• Crib - $10 per night
• Roll-away Bed - $15 per night
• Cleaning of the Barbeque Grill - $10 per usage
• VCR and DVD - $10 per night

Yes, we installed a fitness room in December of 2008! It has 2 treadmills, an elliptical trainer, a recumbent bike, dumbbells, a universal station and a few accessories to complement your work-out..which will probably be welcomed after a few Grand Case nights! There is a daily $5. per person fee for this facility.

In today’s times it is recommended to travel with a passport although this is not necessary for some nationalities to enter St. Maarten. Please check with your airline for the entry requirements for your nationality.

Most passengers visiting our Island will be arriving at St. Julianna Airport, SXM, this is on the Netherlands Antilles part of the Island but the hotel itself is on the French side of St. Martin. There is no border patrol or immigration between the two parts so you will have no trouble accessing the whole Island once you have entered.

If you plan to visit any of the surrounding Islands such as St Barths, Anguilla or Saba, even just for a day trip, please check the entry requirements before arriving here in case you need a visa for any.

For the most part if you are an American with a passport or a European Community passport holder you should not have any problems entering any of the Islands.

You have chosen a very unique place to visit, St. Maarten/ St. Martin might be small but we are confusing when it comes to currency. In a nutshell, on the Dutch side they take US Dollars and Guilders, on French side we take Euros, however we are also accustomed to US Dollars and all Restaurants and shops will accept US dollars.

Some restaurants take US$ on a one for one basis or at a very favorable exchange rate if you pay in cash, but have Euro credit card machines. Most shops and supermarkets take dollars but at an exchange rate, most tend to work on a daily exchange rate basis or thereabouts. It is to your advantage to bring US Dollars with you and bring as much as you need because if you want more you either have to go to the Dutch side to get cash from an ATM or use one on the French side and then exchange Euros to Dollars.

Travelers Cheques are accepted Island wide so they are a handy form of currency to use. We told you it was confusing, if you would like any further clarification please ask at the front desk when you are here, or give us a call on 011 590 590 87 51 87.

Please note these times are approximate and vary from shop to shop.

On the whole, Sunday is not a good day for shopping as many of the stores are closed.

The Market in Marigot is open every day but the main Market days are Wednesday and Saturday. The market opens early in the morning approximately 08:00 and stalls are normally start packing up between 14:00 and 15:00. For fish and meat we advise you visit the market very early on Wednesday and Saturday as this part of the market is normally over by 09:30.

If you plan to visit Philipsburg for a day shopping, we advise you come to the Front Desk on the morning you intend to go, to find out how many cruise ships will be in port that day, especially if you do not like crowds and traffic and parking can be troublesome.

Before traveling to St. Martin/ St. Maarten, please check with your customs office and airline for the latest information of what you can bring home with you. Remember, the requirements do and have recently changed for what you may bring on a flight, both in carry on and checked luggage.

Some of the products that St. Martin offers, which are commonly purchased as souvenirs and gifts are:

• Herbs and Spices
• Shells
• Fruit Flavored Rums

Many countries do not allow the personal import of either shells or food items, so it is best to know your customs regulations.

In many countries the Fruit Flavored Rums that are for sale here are not included within the alcohol allowance on your return as they are considered “Artisan”. This is because the rum itself is not made on our Island but imported and flavored prior to re-sale.

These are very popular gifts, again please check with your customs officials for the applicable allowances.

When leaving our lovely Island, to return home fully refreshed and relaxed, there is a departure tax you will have to pay at the airport. This is $30 per person excluding children under two years of age.

Please note, some airlines include this tax in the price of the tickets, but some do not. This fee may increase without notice.

Some of the off Island activities may require a departure tax, our Activities desk will advise you of this at the time of the reservation, in general, the tax incurred for these are approximately $9 per person.