Hilton Vacation Club Royal Palm St Maarten

I’ve stayed at this hotel a few times. It’s in close proximity to everything really. Restaurants, casinos, grocery store, bars are all very close. Beautiful beach with lots of umbrellas, beach chairs etc.. Rooms are well laid out with great views of Simpson Bay. BBQs on site if you want cook outside.. One downside of this hotel, Cabana ( the only restaurant on site) is not very good. I don’t recommend it. Good news is there are piles of great restaurants in walking distance from the hotel. If you’re sleeping in the back room of your condo, late night noise from the bar “Nowhere Special” can be quite loud… Doesn’t personally bother me but I totally understand why people complain about it. I found all the staff quite friendly and accommodating. The system for exchanging towels is a little ridiculous at times.. Sometimes the guy is sleeping in the towel shack. Sometimes nobody is there.. Other times people are keeping track of returns when other days they’re not.. Overall, I recommend this hotel and I plan on returning myself in the future..

We went as a family with 3 adult children,first holiday together in 29 years.We stayed in 2 bed apartment with our timeshare. This was very well appointed,kitchen with lots of cupboards containing everything you could need. Both bedrooms had large queen size beds,very comfortable and large walkin showers .One of my sons slept on couch in lounge.All his bedding was kept in one of large cupboards out of way.Dining table inside as well as on balcony.All rooms have view of sea which is really nice.You can watch the huge motor yachts come in next to hotel up the intercoastal through to harbour behind. There are not much of gardens but hotel is right on beach.Plenty of sunbeds and new umbrellas recently purchased.Sandy beach to the left where you can walk around bayTo the right towards intercoastal is a small bay made from breakwater.It has more stones and shoes make it easier to enter but if you like snorkeling it was great around the rocks.We paid for an all day trip and saw hardly anyfish where here there were many. Shopping ,there is a large well stocked supermarket 5 min walk,small shop at hotel or if you have a car visit Carrefour which was much cheaper There are many bars and restaurants in walking distance The Palms up the rd was our favourite.The hotel restaurant was ok.We had one meal which was very good another not so.The 3 men ordered a fish soup main course and it came in a small bowl the size for a starter ! In total there were 6 out of 9 mussels that had not opened.The waitress was not around ,there was only one other couple dining that evening ,when she came to collect plates we said about the mussels and was quite nasty and just said we should have complained before.Well we would have if she was around or asked how it was ! My chicken dish was very nice as was soup just not enough of it and a chef that served closed mussels ? !! Burgers at lunch were good but expensive .Drinks expensive compared to other bars. We found the staff were either really nice or very rude as above.Another older lady serving in restaurant at lunch time was lovely. All reception staff were friendly and helpful especially Santa. The guys doing the towels also not good while the guy doing sunbeds very friendly,again he was older.I think the attutude comes from the younger members Worst staff member encountered ,young lady with massive eyelashes serving in the bar.She never smiles ever, where as young man was ok.One afternoon at swim up bar she took my cup when it had a 3rd of white wine left in it.Bearing in mind how expensive it is ,I said you have taken my drink which I have not finished.She just looked at me and said nothing.She then sat there staring at me with a scowl for ages.When the guy came back,I was quite upset and said what had happened.He immeadiatley asked if I wanted another drink and apologised as she should have. I said to him to look at her face because she was still staring at me with with loathing ! Never had any person anywhere behave like this She definatley should not be working front of house! Yes there is a problem with the bar opposite and very loud music that does not stop till 1.30am but we did not mind as we were up too.I can see if you were older this may not be the place for you.Ask to be at other end of hotel away from it as we did and it is not that evident when inside. Some people complain about lack of cleaning ,there were 5 of us and I was quite happy.We stayed 14 nights and they only cleaned once and replaced bedding.I asked for some clean sheets for my son on sofa and they brought straight away.I think system is ok as they were very good on front desk as you ask them to empty bins etc it was done quickly.There is a brush and dustpan which we used daily. As we were doing this stuff ourselves I do think the service fees per night are rather steep ! All in all I would recomend this hotel and would have given it five stars if it wasn't for the attitude of a few staff.

My wife and I are enjoying this lovely resort in active Simpson Bay, within minutes of both Philipsburg (Dutchside capital) and Marigot (Frenchside capital). We appreciated Jessica’s assistance in honoring our room request so we immediately felt at home as soon as we checked in. Most of the rooms are 2 bedroom suites and are fully equipped with everything one needs. We spend a lot of our time exploring and enjoying the island, and this resort is a perfect base from which to do so. Many thanks to Jessica and her team for being so welcoming and helpful! We will be back! Richard