Divi Little Bay Beach Resort - Philipsburg, St Maarten (Dutch Sint Maarten)

NOTE: This resort IS part of the Global Resorts Network (GRN) and one of many available to members.

If you read our other review in this series (about our stay at Oyster Bay Beach Resort) in November 2009, you'll see that we decided on a 2 week vacation this time around. Again, this was particularly intriguing for us since we were able to sample 2 different resort holidays on St Maarten (Dutch Sint Maarten).

As mentioned in the other review, our first week was spent at the Oyster Bay Beach Resort (you can check out a thumbnail description of the resort at the Resort Registry page here at Fine Resort Vacation). We visited Divi Little Bay in Philipsburg for our second week.

Divi Little Bay Beach Resort is a member of the Divi Resorts family based in Chapel Hill, NC (USA). This resort is truly beautiful. We had a gorgeous 1-bedroom condo unit that was breath taking - I'm putting together a video to show it all. The unit was very large, by far the largest we have ever stayed in on any vacation.

One of the intriguing things was that our unit (#737) was the highest and most furthest away unit on the property. It was perfect!

<-- This picture is the view from our front entrance! I'll try to explain its orientation: If you enter the resort, and go towards the left up the hill towards Fort Amsterdam (an historic fort that is now owned by Divi), our unit was just below the fort itself - and on the top floor.

NOTE: If you are planning a resort holiday at Divi Little Bay Beach Resort in St. Maarten, I really feel it is critical to let reservations know if you are NOT able to walk uphill or distances with ease. We were fine with the walk, and quite enjoyed the exercise involved with going up and down; however, people who have mobility issues might find it difficult.

The resort DOES provide golf cart shuttles around the property, however, which is wonderful! When we first checked in, they were ready to drive us up, but we chose to walk (we only had hand carry luggage - if you read our pages about "Travel Packing Tips" for the practical traveler, you'll see we're a bit fanatical about traveling light.)

The Pools and Grounds
As you can see from the photo above - the overview of the resort - the grounds are gorgeous. Of course, being flanked on two sides by bay and ocean doesn't hurt either! :) The resort has several swimming pools that were very popular. In my view, they were quite heavy on the chlorine, so I didn't swim in them (I dislike the smell of chlorine). The most popular pool appears to be the one next to one of the bars (no surprise there!). There are 2 parts of the beach - and we spent a lot of time in the ocean at the resort. It was very clean, calm, and enjoyable - one of the nicer beaches associated with a resort (if you ever visit Orient Beach on French St Martin after being at one of the Dutch side beaches, you'll soon discover why people typically flock to Orient - it really is a superb beach - I'll talk about the island beaches on another page).

Again, I'll be putting together a video about Divi Little Bay Beach Resort in Philipsburg, St. Maarten - but the room was so lovely, and the views so outstanding, I just have to put a few here now!

Divi Little Bay Ammenities

Some of the ammenities at Divi Little Bay Beach Resort (at least the Divi in St. Maarten) included a small cafe/convenience grocer that had internet kiosks (pay by the session), and also a spa - which I used for a head & neck massage to help relieve a muscle pull. It was pure heaven! The staff at the spa is magnificent - from the warm welcome to the complementary robe and mimosa (or juice) to the foot soak in the flower petaled water basin to the massage itself - it was wonderful, and for me, well worth the money!

There was a hot tub and hammocks at one end of the property, which we did not use, but thought was a nice touch. These are situated in a quiet section of the resort, near one of the pools. A nice spot to bring a good book!

There are a few stores on the premises as well - a liquor store, jewelry store, and souvenir type of shop. The resort also has a nice fitness room.

We wound up visiting one of the resort bars - Gizmo's - which is an open air beachside set up. It was tastefully decorated, and the staff professional and friendly. Here is a picture of me with the resort mascot, Gizmo himself!

What about the On Site Restaurant?

There is a restaurant on the premises, and we did eat there one evening. I have to say that we were disappointed. I ordered the filet (beef), and I just couldn't eat it. It is hard to explain, but it truly did not taste like real steak. It tasted like it had some werid kind of "solution" or broth injected in, and had no grain. The baked potatoes seemed old. Veggies were ok... John had a fish platter. It, too, tasted old. The service was fine. We ordered a bottle of wine, which was nothing more than the bar's house wine. No real choices there.

As is the case with most resort based restaurants, it was quite pricey. It did look like they had a nice breakfast buffet - but we are typically content with our baguettes and tea! :) And for lunches and dinner out, well... we just prefer trying different restaurants around the island!

Any complaints? Suggestions?

We are truly trying to be as objective as possible when writing about our experiences at different resorts. Divi Little Bay Beach Resort is truly one of the more beautiful places we have stayed. Were there any problems? Well... there was one day where we completely lost water for about 12 hours, and then electricity later that day for about 6 hours. We got candles from the front desk (we made sure we got them before dark, since walking up the hill to our unit would have been a challenge at night without light). There really was no actual explanation given about the power outage. One guest - we wound up calling him "Angry Guy" privately - was so upset, and was just downright unkind to the front desk staff. John & I thought that the clerk handled herself beautifully (and we told her so after Angry Guy stormed off into the dark). Hey, it wasn't her fault that the power and water were out! We took our candles up to our room and hung around drinking wine and eating baguettes, apples, and cheese. What a great evening!

The only real complaint we have - and this is not just about Divi - is that trying to work and use the internet is a struggle. Most of the resorts we have stayed at simply do not provide internet. Sure, we could try mooching off the signall down near the office, but in this day and age, we believe that resorts should provide free or easily accessed internet just as they do a coffee maker.