Sonesta Great Bay Beach Resort and Casino

When I first arrived I said...... this is it? When checking in the service was horrible I was not told of any policy.....I was not given a safe key I had to asked for it......I also had to ask about calling out..... Staff..... some were rude some were fun...... ;-) Room::::: When I got to the room the frige was empty, the room was to humid when you turn the bathroom light the vent made too much noise...... Food::::: For meat eaters it was good.....I am a vegetarian and I was only able to eat french fries which by the way were good and plain pasta..... I wanted a bottle of water and I had to pay $3.75....... anfter I paid the lady told me I could go to the gift shop and get the water for $1.00.....For an all inclusive hotel is not good they dont keep people entertain and they dont have food for those who dont eat by schedule because food is only until 10:30 pm anything else you have to get it from the street....or pay extra...... and thats all I have to say about the hotel...I will only recommend this hotel for one day...

We really enjoyed our stay, staff is excellent food very good,the entire staff in all areas very good.

Our whole experience was partially spoiled by the careless staff and the annoying homeless local who was often at the beach. He was hostile and cursed at the beachgoers, especially in the morning. We had to share his company until 9:00 every day of the stay.

This hotel needs renovation… The rooms were very uncomfortable; you can not turn the bathroom light without noisy exhaust fan and mold smell was unbearable. We did not spend much time in the room anyway. Hotel staff was unfriendly except who serves food at the Bay View buffet area specially FABIO and Florine were excellent managers. Check-in and check out were very easy but they do not accommodate any of your wishes or requests. It was our 25th anniversary and I request ocean view room they told me that they are booked. Service is very slow but you have to remember that you are in Caribbean…Food were OK. Nothing special it was plenty of food but should not expect anything elegant. Also, Internet was not working almost 5 days out of 7 days that we stayed in this hotel... Hotel is located at the beautiful great bay..Sea is not shallow.. after 2 steps you can not touch bottom

The hotel was not what the internet pic look like. The rooms were below par. The hallways had water leaks from the ceiling. The staff was not helpful and it was hard to get service. Their is no massage or internet service at the hotel. The internet advised that they do. They do offer all inclusive package that is not offered on the internet. The.island is safe and we still had flood time. Stay somewhere else.

My stay at the Sonesta Great Bay Beach Resort & Casino was a gift from a co-worker who is a member of a time share club. When we first walked into the lobby we were greeted with a beautiful view of the beach and clear, blue water beyond. We expected the rest of the hotel would live up to this initial impression. The front desk staff pointed us to a long hallway that leads to the time share section. The hallway was hot, damp, littered with insects, and carpeted (why they placed carpet in a hallway that has open windows in the Caribbean I still don't understand). We finally reached our room and instantly began sweating in the sweltering heat of the room. We looked for the air conditioner, only to find that it was on and at the coldest setting, which only blew hot air into the room. We wanted to open the door to the balcony, but the balcony was coated with mosquitos (I had never seen mosquitos clump together before, but that is what occurs when there are a lot of them). We looked for the bed in this "1-bedroom", only to find that it was a murphy bed we had to pull down from the wall. We tried to make the best of the situation, repeating the mantra "We are staying here for free, we can stick it out!" We tried staying out all day, hoping that the room would cool down by that evening. The hotel advertised having a swim up bar, so we went out to the pool only to find that the bar had not been built. Instead you are free to swim in the pool while construction workers look on. On the other side of the pool was a drainage canal that drains sewage from the rest of the island. The restaurants in the area were not terribly expensive, but clearly catered to the crowds from cruise ships looking for a quick bite before they jump back on their boat and return to the buffet line. It was even hotter when we returned to the room at 6pm. We spent exactly 1 night in this room; we slept with the refrigerator and freezer doors open to help reduce the heat. The following morning my fiance and I both woke up at 6am feeling nauseous and dizzy. We went online (using the wifi they charged us $50 for) and booked a room at the Grand Case Beach Club for the rest of our stay. As I was checking out I expected the front desk staff to ask why we were checking out after 1 night when we were scheduled for 5 nights (or at least to ask how our stay was). They never asked. I think they knew why we left. The Grand Case Beach Club is on the French side of the island. The room we got was air conditioned, had no mosquitos (we actually did not run into any more mosquitos once we left the Sonesta Great Bay Beach Resort) , and was close to delicious French restaurants that have a wonderful Caribbean influence. We preferred to pay to have a better stay at a different hotel than to put up with a free stay at the Sonesta Great Bay Beach Resort (aside from the $50 charge to use their wifi).

My hotel stay was wonderful. The staff were very helpful and friendly. My immaculate room had a fantastic view of the ocean. I didn't spend a lot of time there because the ocean and pools were my favorite places to be.

It certainly needs pool and pool bar restoration. They played 70's american music all day (was expecting caribbean music). They only played one night show on thursday night. The location is good, it's near Phillisburg duty free shops. If you are planning a vacation for just rest, it's a good place.But, if you want fun, music and night life search for another place.

OUR EXPERIENCE WAS GREAT , ALL INCLUSIVE IS THE WAY TO GO.THERE WAS ONE DRAWBACK WHILE GETTING FRIENDLY WITH MUCH OF THE STAFF - WAITERS - BARTENDERS - HOUSECLEANING - MAINTAINANCE ETC. WE FOUND OUT THAT THE GRATUITY SECTION WHICH STATES ALL GRATUITYS INCLUDED 15% ARE ADDED TO OUR BILL.BUT AFTER SPEAKING WITH THE SERVERS WHO WE THOUGHT WERE GETTING THIS TIP WE FOUND OUT THAT THEY RECEIVE NOT ONE PENNEY OF THE INCLUDED TIP. I THINK THIS IS MISLEADING AND SHOULD BE ILIMINATED OR CHANGED IT MAKES US CONSUMERS LOOK CHEAP WHEN REALLY WE ARE BEING MISLED.I SINCERELY HOPE THIS WILL BE ADDRESSED. OTHER THAN THAT IT WAS A VERY WONDERFULL EXPERIENCE AND WE WLL DEFINATELY RECOMEND IT AND WE WILL GO AGAIN

Sonesta is one of the few "affordable" options in St Maarten, but lacks good service and rooms are very standard.