La Samanna, A Belmond Hotel, St Martin

Situated on perhaps the prettiest beach on St. Maarten. Great beach service and complementary water sports. Great snorkeling right off the beach (against the cliff to your left as you face the sea). The only downside of the beach is that independent boats come close to shore for snorkeling as well as dropping anchor for late afternoon parties on certain days which can take away from the chill vibe. There are two pools. The smaller of which is beautifully situated and overlooks the sea. This was our second visit and on both occasions we had big, beautiful junior suites with tremendous views. There are two restaurants. Fine dining in the main building and a more casual restaurant down below which still needs to find its footing. The island has some wonderful restaurant options and the hotel will arrange taxis for you. Typically the same driver will offer to pick you up on the return. Since our last visit, Belmont invested in a larger and more well equipped gym. Has everything you need. Lovely and well maintained property. All the hype is true.

We had an incredible experience with our four month old daughter at La Samanna, for a 4 day/3 night stay. From the moment we arrived, the staff were so friendly and went out of their way to help with everything. They would help with the stroller, put us at tables with plenty of space, and even had a little toy for her. We couldn’t have been happier with the resort and the staff. Salome, Guy, Gio (I hope I got the names right) and all the rest made our trip unforgettable. The property is huge, so we took several walks around, and there is enough variety of restaurants and pool/beach areas that we felt like every day was different. We had one of the terrace suites with Jacuzzi which had incredible views of the sea for sunrise and sunset. The room was expensive, but the convenience of having all that private outdoor space was worth it. The food was very good - we mostly did room service for dinner because of the little one, but ate at L’Oursin on the last night which was a nice experience (and again, the wait staff were so so friendly). They even packaged up dessert for us to go since our daughter was starting to get tired. Overall outstanding property. We’ve stayed at other Belmonds before and were pleased that this was a similar level of quality.

Worth every $. Beds and pillows comfortable, quiet property (we usually need white noise but not here, beautiful decor and views of the ocean. Super clean, rich vibes - perfect for my husband and I. A much romantic getaway!