Divi Little Bay Beach Resort or Westin Hotel

We will be in St. Marten on the Miracle on 1 April 2009. I am wondering whether the Divi Little Bay Beach Resort or the Westin Hotel is better for a day pass. Has anyone been to these resorts? What did you like or dislike about them? After a not so great experience at Meagan's Bay in St. Thomas in Nov., we are looking for a beach at a hotel that is not too crowded; water sports would be a plus, but not a requirement.

Thanks for any advice!

We did Divi Little Bay Resort in June '07.

It was a nice beach, very near the cruise port, and not too crowded even though (I think) there were several ships in port that day.

I don't remember much in the way of water sports going on, but we were mostly there to lay out and swim a bit so I may just not be remembering that because we weren't interested in it that day.

Overall we had a good time with it.

We will be in St. Marten on the Miracle on 1 April 2009. I am wondering whether the Divi Little Bay Beach Resort or the Westin Hotel is better for a day pass. Has anyone been to these resorts? What did you like or dislike about them? After a not so great experience at Meagan's Bay in St. Thomas in Nov., we are looking for a beach at a hotel that is not too crowded; water sports would be a plus, but not a requirement.

 

Thanks for any advice!

The Westin at Dawn Beach

We were in St. Marten on our cruise two weeks ago. I was traveling with my family, my sister's family, and our parents. My sister did not want her kids to see any nudity. This wasn't a big deal to us because we had been to Orient Beach before on a previous cruise and weren't impressed (disgusting bathrooms, crowded beach, vendors). I heard that nudity was rare at Dawn Beach and booked us two day rooms at the Westin (9 people total). The Westin doesn't offer day passes, you just book a day room which is equal to 1/2 the normal room rate.

We loved the Westin. The hotel is beautiful with a nice lobby, casino, great gift shop, and very nice/clean bathrooms.

Outside is a large pool with plenty of lounge chairs. There's a swim-up pool bar and a regular pool bar. Waitresses will take your order and bring you drinks. There is a small, but good pool restaurant with a limited menu, but tasty food. You can eat at a table or they will deliver it to your lounge chair. My parents and my sister's family pretty much stayed by the pool.

My family went to the beach because my son is an avid sandcastle builder. It was empty and we had the whole place to ourselves. We did have waitress service on the beach. There were no umbrellsa, but they did have cabanas (I'm not sure if those were an additional charge). It was a windy day (more so than normal). There were huge white caps on the water. The surf was a rough, but was okay to play in if you were right by the beach. It would not have been okay for younger children to really swim. I don't know what the water would have been like without the wind. I didn't see any water sports. Overall, we really enjoyed the beach.

Our entire group agreed that it was a great day and would definitely return to the Westin.

The Westin at Dawn Beach

 

We were in St. Marten on our cruise two weeks ago. I was traveling with my family, my sister's family, and our parents. My sister did not want her kids to see any nudity. This wasn't a big deal to us because we had been to Orient Beach before on a previous cruise and weren't impressed (disgusting bathrooms, crowded beach, vendors). I heard that nudity was rare at Dawn Beach and booked us two day rooms at the Westin (9 people total). The Westin doesn't offer day passes, you just book a day room which is equal to 1/2 the normal room rate.

 

We loved the Westin. The hotel is beautiful with a nice lobby, casino, great gift shop, and very nice/clean bathrooms.

 

Outside is a large pool with plenty of lounge chairs. There's a swim-up pool bar and a regular pool bar. Waitresses will take your order and bring you drinks. There is a small, but good pool restaurant with a limited menu, but tasty food. You can eat at a table or they will deliver it to your lounge chair. My parents and my sister's family pretty much stayed by the pool.

 

My family went to the beach because my son is an avid sandcastle builder. It was empty and we had the whole place to ourselves. We did have waitress service on the beach. There were no umbrellsa, but they did have cabanas (I'm not sure if those were an additional charge). It was a windy day (more so than normal). There were huge white caps on the water. The surf was a rough, but was okay to play in if you were right by the beach. It would not have been okay for younger children to really swim. I don't know what the water would have been like without the wind. I didn't see any water sports. Overall, we really enjoyed the beach.

 

Our entire group agreed that it was a great day and would definitely return to the Westin.

This sounds like a great way to spend the day. How did you go about booking a "day" room?

I went on Westin's website and called the hotel directly in St. Marten. (Central Reservations for Westin won't book day rooms). I simply explained that I was visiting for the day on a cruise ship and wanted a day room.

When we checked in, they gave us room keys. We never went to the rooms, but did need the keys to pay for drinks at the bar and restaurant. That's how they know you're supposed to be there.

Let me know if you have any other questions!:)

The obvious question would be "how much did it cost?".

The Westin is beautiful. I have photos posted over in my PhotoBucket.

gary

Cruisewmn - Thanks for the response. I will put a call in to the Westin directly. :)

gtaylor - thanks for the link to your photos - what a beautiful place! :D You're right - the obvious question is how much did it cost - I'm going to find out. :)

For us, the Westin day room was $219 per room. We were a party of 9 and had to get two rooms. Cost was $48 per person. We found that to be reasonable for the high quality experience we had.

I'm sorry, but I must be way out of touch here. We spend a lot of time on the island.

We've visted, but never stayed at the Westin, or really spent any time there at the pool or at their beach, but I just cannot imagine that if a party (of 9) showed up and wanted to spend the day eating and drinking at their restaurants and bars while spending the day by the pool or on the beach, that the party would be denied any services.

I would expect to be comp'ed for drinks and snacks just to visit their casino.

When I first read this, I figured that having rooms to change in, perhaps to take a short nap, take showers, blow dry hair, re-apply makeup, etc. could justify paying for a 'day room'. But to read that the poster 'never went to the rooms', then I can't comprehend what they thought they were paying for with their 'day room' that they never visited.

gary

I'm sorry, but I must be way out of touch here. We spend a lot of time on the island.

 

We've visted, but never stayed at the Westin, or really spent any time there at the pool or at their beach, but I just cannot imagine that if a party (of 9) showed up and wanted to spend the day eating and drinking at their restaurants and bars while spending the day by the pool or on the beach, that the party would be denied any services.

 

I would expect to be comp'ed for drinks and snacks just to visit their casino.

 

When I first read this, I figured that having rooms to change in, perhaps to take a short nap, take showers, blow dry hair, re-apply makeup, etc. could justify paying for a 'day room'. But to read that the poster 'never went to the rooms', then I can't comprehend what they thought they were paying for with their 'day room' that they never visited.

 

gary

Actually, you will be asked to leave if you do not have a room key and are using their pool and lounge chairs.

All of the beaches in St. Marten are public, so they can not remove you from the beach, however, you will not have use of any lounge chairs or cabanas on the beach.

You are free to eat in any of their restaurants without a room key, but that is it.

While there, you are using their towels, chairs, pool, facilities, etc. Are you saying that they should provide you with this free of charge? Obviously, some people will use the rooms for changing; we did not. Nor did we visit the casino. Regardless, I paid the Westin for their services. This really isn't out of the norm. Some hotels charge a "day pass" which I've seen priced from $30 and up per person. Essentially, this is the same thing.

OK, I guess that I'll just have to try this on my next visit.

gary

The bigger question is Why TWO rooms? Seems to me is all you would need is room key cards for the adults.

The bigger question is Why TWO rooms? Seems to me is all you would need is room key cards for the adults.

They will assign up to four people in a room. We lied and said we only had eight. (We actually had 6 adults and 3 children).

Think of it like a day pass. Instead of paying per person, you're paying per room. It's obviously more economical for a family of four vs. two adults.

If someone wants to sneak in or not play by the rules, that's up to them. I'm just the messenger. We enjoyed our time at the Westin and thought it was worth the money. We spent about $10 less per person on our last trip to St. Marten when we went to Orient Beach. We had a much better time at the Westin.

For those looking for day passes, be advised that Divi Little Bay does not offer day passes unless you take their "60-90 minute tour" which is of course a sales presentation. If you do that you get use of their facilities for the day, $50 meal credit, and two beach chairs (and they also pay for your taxi fare).

We decided not to do that because we hate those presentations. We went to Divi anyway, just on our own dime and we LOVED the beach. Snorkeling was great. The food was good. Rentals were pretty inexpensive. We didn't really end up needing the hotel facilities so a day pass wasn't that big a deal.

But if you really want a pool and hotel facilities, there is no option to pay for them, you have to do the presentation.

Planning to visit Little divi on our upcoming cruise - I wrote to them and here is the response:

Thank you for your email. We do not charge a fee for day use at Divi Little Bay Beach Resort. The beach is open to public access as well as the restaurants and water sports department. The beach chairs and umbrellas are available for rent daily at the activities hut. The cost is $5.00* for each item. Only guests staying at the resort are allowed to use the pools and hot tubs.

Parking is $10* per vehicle, per day for guests not staying at the resort.

Please be sure to “check-in” with the Front Desk upon arrival at the resort.

Kind Regards,

Guest Relations

Divi Resorts

Planning to visit Little divi on our upcoming cruise - I wrote to them and here is the response:

 

Thank you for your email. We do not charge a fee for day use at Divi Little Bay Beach Resort. The beach is open to public access as well as the restaurants and water sports department. The beach chairs and umbrellas are available for rent daily at the activities hut. The cost is $5.00* for each item. Only guests staying at the resort are allowed to use the pools and hot tubs.

Parking is $10* per vehicle, per day for guests not staying at the resort.

Please be sure to “check-in” with the Front Desk upon arrival at the resort.

 

Kind Regards,

Guest Relations

Divi Resorts

We were just there while on our cruise last month and really enjoyed it. What was very nice was that it wasn't crowded. It was just DH and I, and our total was $15.00 (two loungers, one umbrella). We had a drink from the bar (a rum punch) that was comparable in price to the rum drinks on the ship. My DH said the total was about $17.00 for both. Does sound expensive, but again, that's what we pay on the ship and the drinks were also strong, they don't skimp on the rum. The restrooms were nice and very clean. Another plus, it's only a few minutes from port via taxi and the fare wasn't very expensive. I forget the exact cost. There are also cabs outside waiting when you want to return to the ship. I really liked it and would go back.

We were just there while on our cruise last month and really enjoyed it. What was very nice was that it wasn't crowded. It was just DH and I, and our total was $15.00 (two loungers, one umbrella). We had a drink from the bar (a rum punch) that was comparable in price to the rum drinks on the ship. My DH said the total was about $17.00 for both. Does sound expensive, but again, that's what we pay on the ship and the drinks were also strong, they don't skimp on the rum. The restrooms were nice and very clean. Another plus, it's only a few minutes from port via taxi and the fare wasn't very expensive. I forget the exact cost. There are also cabs outside waiting when you want to return to the ship. I really liked it and would go back.

Thanks for the great info and 'review' - I know there is currently some 'construction' going on at Orient - and frankly we were all getting tired of the Orient/Maho experience so will be trying this out! :)

Will be in St. Marteen in Nov. Has anyone been to Divi Little Bay Resort recently? Is it free? How much would a taxi be from the port? Do you have to do the "time share" thing?

We were planning on going to Mullet Bay but Divi Little Bay may be another option. Have been to Orient/Dawn/Maho.

Will be in St. Marteen in Nov. Has anyone been to Divi Little Bay Resort recently? Is it free? How much would a taxi be from the port? Do you have to do the "time share" thing?

 

We were planning on going to Mullet Bay but Divi Little Bay may be another option. Have been to Orient/Dawn/Maho.

We went to paddle board in May. Drove in and explained what we planned to do. Parked the car and went to the sports rental booth. It was too late to rent them as it was around 4. We left as its an ok beach but we went specifically to paddle board.

I think the view is very nice but this is a relatively small beach with 2 timeshare resorts on it. The sand is not as fine as at many other beaches on the island IMO. I think its a great beach for a short visit in combination with an excursion or lunch in town.

Thanks for the great info and 'review' - I know there is currently some 'construction' going on at Orient - and frankly we were all getting tired of the Orient/Maho experience so will be trying this out! :)

You are quite welcome. If you'd like a few "spoilers" (pictures), I'd be happy to share.

Will be in St. Marteen in Nov. Has anyone been to Divi Little Bay Resort recently? Is it free? How much would a taxi be from the port? Do you have to do the "time share" thing?

 

We were planning on going to Mullet Bay but Divi Little Bay may be another option. Have been to Orient/Dawn/Maho.

Yes, very recently. Just last month (end of September 2015). I replied, above, to Froufie's post. She was able to get the actual prices and posted them. I posted that I wasn't sure of the exact cost of a taxi, but it was around $10.00 each way. I don't know if that's exactly correct, but it was right around that amount.

I wanted to add to this thread that the Westin Dawn Beach resort was FABULOUS for a resort for the day. Friendly staff, clean and the room was amazing. Beach was perfect and it wasn't crowded at all. Pool was great too. We were there last week.

...and we visited Little Divi bay resort a couple of weeks ago - lovely and very enjoyable.

Short cab ride from port (I think it was $4 pp?)- out to the beach where we were greeted and assigned 4 loungers and 2 umbrellas for $30.

Clean and lovely washrooms (part of the resort) and a beachside patio/restaurant - where we had lunch and drinks - also a fresh water shower nearby to rinse off as required.

Would highly recommend this and would definitely return....

I sound like such a prude, but were there any topless bathers at little divi? I would like to avoid it if possible..

I sound like such a prude, but were there any topless bathers at little divi? I would like to avoid it if possible..

...don't think so - at least I didn't see any? (unless you count the 'bathing suit malfunction' that happened to one woman after being hit by a giant wave? :D:D)

...don't think so - at least I didn't see any? (unless you count the 'bathing suit malfunction' that happened to one woman after being hit by a giant wave? :D:D)

Little Bay was wavy? It is generally calm when I have visited. I find Dawn beach on the Atlantic side to be rougher.