Saint Martin Hotels
Numerous tourists like to have a vacation in Saint Martin. Some may want to see the culture, history and tourist attractions Saint Martin. Some may want a hotel that has good parking facilities and decent access to the tourist attractions. Some may want to see the beaches in St Martin. Some may want a hotel that has good prices. Some may want a cheap hotel or a luxury hotel. Some may want a hotel that has good access to culture and to entertainment. Some may want a hotel that is well known and has good status. Some may want a hotel in town or in rural area of the island. Some may want a hotel near a town or in a town.
Saint Martin is a tropical island in the northeast Caribbean, approximately 300 km east of Puerto Rico. The 87 km² island is divided roughly in half between France and the Netherlands Antilles; it is the smallest inhabited sea island divided between two nations. The southern Dutch half comprises the Eilandgebied Sint Maarten (Island area of St. Martin) and is part of the Netherlands Antilles. The northern French half comprises the Collectivité de Saint-Martin (Collectivity of St. Martin) and is an overseas collectivity of France.
Collectively, the two territories are known as St-Martin/St. Maarten. Sometimes SXM, the IATA identifier for Princess Juliana International Airport (the island's main airport), is used to refer to the island.
Sint Maarten, the Dutch side, is known for its festive nightlife, beaches, jewelry, exotic drinks made with native rum-based guavaberry liquors, and plentiful casinos, while Saint-Martin, the French side, is known more for its nude beaches, clothes, shopping (including outdoor markets), and rich French and Indian Caribbean cuisine.
Sint Maarten/Saint-Martin is home to several world-class accommodations, including hotels, villas, and timeshares, many of which are privately available for rent or sale. Some properties have over 200 rooms, while others have fewer than twenty. Many are located directly on beaches and in upscale shopping districts. Villas pepper the coast, boasting private beaches. Some are private residences, while others are available to affluent renters.
Rental cars are the primary mode of transportation for visitors staying on island. The island is served by several well-known agencies. If any driving is expected off the major roads (such as to some of the more secluded beaches), a 4-wheel drive is recommended. Traffic on the island, however, has become a major problem; long traffic jams between Marigot, Philipsburg and the airport are common.
Because the island is located along the intertropical convergence zone, it is occasionally menaced by tropical storm activity in the late summer and early fall. It is important to monitor local weather information during this time.
The island is widely known for its hundreds of gourmet (and more moderately priced) restaurants on both sides of the island.
Neighbouring islands include Saint-Barthélemy (French), Anguilla (British), Saba (Dutch), Sint Eustatius "Statia" (Dutch), Saint Kitts and Nevis (Independent, formerly British). With the exception of Nevis, all of these islands are easily visible on a clear day from St. Maarten.
The main towns are Philipsburg (Dutch side) and Marigot (French side).
The highest hilltop is the Pic Paradis (424 m) on center of a hill chain (French side). There is no river on the island, but many dry guts. Hiking trails give access to the dry forest covering tops and slopes.
In
1493, Christopher Columbus embarked on his second voyage to the New World. According
to legend, Columbus sighted and perhaps anchored at the island of Saint Martin
on November 11, 1493, the feast day of Saint Martin of Tours. In his honor, Columbus
named the island San Martin. This name was translated to Sint Maarten (Dutch),
Saint Martin (French and English).
Flags flying in Marigot harbor, Saint-Martin.
When Columbus sailed these seas, St. Martin was populated, if populated at all, by Carib amerindians. The former Arawaks had been chased by the warlike Caribs coming from the North coast of South America a short time before the arrival of the Spaniards who followed in Columbus' wake. The English word cannibal is derived from an Arawak word which referred to the Caribs. The Arawaks were a relatively cultured, agricultural people who fashioned pottery and whose social organization was headed by hereditary chieftains who derived their power from personal deities called zemis. The Caribs, on the other hand, concentrated on warfare. They killed and, allegedly, ate the Arawak men, then "married" the Arawak women.
The Caribs' territory was not completely conquered until the mid-17th century when most of them perished in the struggle between the French, English, Dutch, Danes and Spanish for control of the West Indies. The Dutch first began to ply the island's ponds for salt in the 1620s. Despite the Dutch presence on the island, the Spaniards recaptured St. Martin in 1633 and, one year later, built a fort (now Fort. Amsterdam) and another artillery battery at Pointe Blanche to assert their claim and control access to Great bay salt pond. The Spaniards introduced the first African slaves to the area in the 16th century but the main influx of African slaves took place in the 18th century with the development of Sugarcane plantations by the French protestants and some Dutch jews. Slavery was abolished in the first half of the 19th century, whereupon on some of their territories the British imported Chinese and East Indians to take the place of slaves. Thus, St. Martin and the other islands are populated by a mixture of Amerindian, European, African, Indians and Asian peoples. West Indian cultures such as in St. Martin are, consequently, exceedingly rich and varied.
On March 23, 1648, France and the Dutch Republic agreed to divide the island between
their two nations, so they signed the Treaty of Concordia.
Since 1975, several
versions of a legend about the division have become popular, especially in tourism
publications. An often repeated story is that the island was divided into two
sections through a race; the French dominated community chose one person for the
race and the Dutch dominated community chose another, a man named Menno Versteeg.
The two representatives were put back to back at one extreme point of the island
(the stories vary as to where exactly), and made to walk along the coast in opposite
directions. They were not allowed to run. At the point where they eventually met,
a line was drawn across the island, connecting their starting point with their
meeting point. This became the frontier which divides Saint-Martin from Sint Maarten.
The reason why the French side of the island covers more territory was said to
be that the French representative moved faster than the Dutch.
In one version,
the explanation for the French walker's quicker pace is that he drank wine beforehand,
while the Dutch walker drank beer. This is used to support the claim that wine
has restorative effects and that it was the French drink of choice that enabled
the French walker to move faster.
Marigot is the main town and capital on the French side of the Caribbean island of Saint Martin.
Originally a fishing village on a swamp for which it was named, Marigot was made capital during the reign of King Louis XVI, who built Fort St. Louis on a hill near Marigot Bay. Today, that building is the most important in Marigot.
Marigot
is typical of Caribbean towns, with gingerbread houses and sidewalk bistros. Market
days are every Wednesday and Saturday morning, where one can find everything from
coconuts, avocados, sweet potatoes and plenty of other tropical fruits & vegetables,
all kinds of spices and fresh fish, to fine batik wraps, local arts, crafts and
paintings. Philipsburg is the main town on the Dutch side of the Netherlands Antilles
island of Sint Maarten, on a narrow stretch of land between Great Bay and the
Great Salt Pond. It is also the capital of all of Sint Maarten. It was discovered
by Christopher Columbus on 11 November 1493 but there was already an Arawak settlement
there before he made the discovery. Philipsburg was founded in 1763 by John Philips,
a Scottish captain in the Dutch navy, and soon became a bustling center of international
trade. Two historic forts bear witness to Philipsburg's strategic importance in
St. Maarten's history: Fort Amsterdam and Fort Willem.
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