Sonesto Maho Beach Resort... Anyone been there?

[rockindad]

Purchased a pair of day passes to the above resort.  From the description, details, & price it was a no brainer pick even from a 3rd party vendor.  Has anyone been there before that would like to share their experiences good or bad? 

 

I chose it because it is right next to the airport and even though we've been to St Maarten before, we haven't done the airport experience.  Also the unlimited food and drinks made the decision easy.    

[princeton123211]

4 hours ago, rockindad said:

Has anyone been there before that would like to share their experiences good or bad? 

Its a nice enough place-- it got pummeled in the storm and apparently rebuilt/restored so it should be relatively newish feeling now (was a little tatty when we were there several years ago-- renovation was needed anyway). You have to walk over a bit to really get the Maho beach experience with the planes above you-- they thankfully don't fly over the resort. 

 

I'm a bit partial to the little Sunset beach bar on the other side of the beach (cheap drinks, little lounge chairs, sort of like an outdoor dive bar with airplanes) but if you wanted something a little more organized you'll be happy with it. 

[rockindad]

16 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

Its a nice enough place-- it got pummeled in the storm and apparently rebuilt/restored so it should be relatively newish feeling now (was a little tatty when we were there several years ago-- renovation was needed anyway). You have to walk over a bit to really get the Maho beach experience with the planes above you-- they thankfully don't fly over the resort. 

 

I'm a bit partial to the little Sunset beach bar on the other side of the beach (cheap drinks, little lounge chairs, sort of like an outdoor dive bar with airplanes) but if you wanted something a little more organized you'll be happy with it. 

Thanks for the input.  We'll have almost 6 hours to roam about the area and explore off site.  It was the lure of unlimited food & drinks that sealed the deal.  

[morningstarme]

We will be visiting St.Maarten in March and were interested in spending the day at the resort.  I have read countless reviews that are not positive. What were your thoughts?  How was the service, food, drinks?  Anything we should be aware of?  Worth the visit?

[princeton123211]

On 1/12/2020 at 5:28 PM, morningstarme said:

I have read countless reviews that are not positive. What were your thoughts?  How was the service, food, drinks?  Anything we should be aware of?  Worth the visit?

My impression of it the time we were there was not favorable-- it wasn't bad but it wasn't great. It wasn't a tremendous value for money-- as I said in a previous post above, the little bars on Maho Beach are a little bit more fun and you don't need to pay a cover charge to go there. If having a pool is important, then this might not be a bad idea though. I'm willing to overspend for something thats really great (looking at you day pass at the Park Hyatt in St Kitts!) but this wasn't it. 

 

Food was okay, just okay. Drinks were fine but you could tell they were skimping (which isn't uncommon in a midrange all inclusive), and the service was indifferent even for the Caribbean. Would I pay money to stay here for a few days? No way possible. Was it fine for an afternoon? Sure, once they had our money we made the best of it and having a pool was nice. 

 

Next time we will go back to the beach bars though. 

[schinz2]

We visited this resort in November 2019.  The resort is beautiful and ocean water very pretty blue.  The ocean is a little challenging as it was a little rocky and a big drop off.  The beach area is kind of narrow but you are able to walk down the beach a little bit.  It was very cool to have the planes fly over but the day we were there not that many flew over.  The pool area is very nice with a swim up bar.  We did not feel they skimped on the drinks and the pool bartender was very accommodating with adding floaters etc.  We went to the restaurant that overlooks the beach and service was very good but we did go to  lunch just before the lunch rush.  The food was good, and our waitress was very good.  Also we found out just as we were leaving one of the little stores that serves fruit, water etc was also included in our all inclusive so we got bottled water to go and I think a danish or fruit.  They were very organized and had our wristbands waiting for us when we checked in.  We would definitely return to this resort for a day pass.  Also make sure you arrange for your return to the cruise ship and leave plenty of time as it did take us a lot longer to get back to the cruise area because of traffic.

[coconut telegraph]

Sunset Beach bar has a small pool after their reno as well.