# Caribbean Vacations Forums > St. Maarten/St. Martin Travel Forum >  >  3 nights in St. Martin -- Hotels? car rental?

## TPunch42

We are thinking about staying in St. Martin (french side) for 3 days before continuing on for a 10 days or so in SBH.  Any suggestions on where to stay? 

We loved Hotel Esplanade Caribe but that was a really long time ago. (10+years)  With its kitchens and loft set up it works great for a family with teens.  
Other thoughts are to stay at Grand Case Beach Hotel.  Don't really want a hotel on Orient Beach just cuz its so busy over there.

Or are there other recommendations we don't have on our radar. We are only looking at French side options.  

My other question is what is the best way for us to rent a car.  Dont relish the idea of driving from the airport to the french side.  Should we taxi to Grand Case Airport and rent our car there?  Might cut cost?  We will fly from Grand Case on SB Commuter on our way out to SBH.  So wondering if that is the easiest a least hassle way to go.
thoughts?

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## andynap

Le Petit Hotel on Grand Case beach is affiliated with Esplanade and they will pick you up at the airport and bring you back. You can get to SBH from the Grand Case airport. 
https://www.lepetithotel.com

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## PeterLynn

Sounds like our first trip. We stayed for three nights at the Karibuni (http://www.lekaribuni.com/en/). They have three buildings with 6 rooms. We were there in May and were the only guests. Very quiet and romantic. The owners also have a restaurant on Pinel and offer complementary chairs and a free boat ride out and back, starting at 9am. They commercial boats don't begin until 10, so you get an hour alone before the cruise ship people show up. For dinner, we ate at the nearby "Sol Y Luna" (very romantic) and Ocean 82 in Grand Case, about 15 minutes away. We rented from Avis at SXM as they have a drop-off at SFG (Grand Case) and we were able be on the early (8 or 9am) SBC flight.

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## TPunch42

Karibuni looks very nice but since we are traveling with teens, it doesn't work for us.  Any one know anything about Grand Case Beach Club.  Looks like have have fixed it up a bit with a new pool and some new flooring in some rooms etc.  Anyone eaten at the restaurant there?  Reviews on Trip advisor are pretty good, so curious what others have experienced.

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## andynap

We used to stay at the Beach Club every year until we found St Barts. It was a very nice place and the restaurant was fine for breakfast and lunch but dinner was always a walk  into town. The private beach is small but secluded and there was beach service. We liked the 2 bedroom beachfront. I don't know about the upgrades but I would stay there again.

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## jayhawkgirl

> We used to stay at the Beach Club every year until we found St Barts. It was a very nice place and the restaurant was fine for breakfast and lunch but dinner was always a walk  into town. The private beach is small but secluded and there was beach service. We liked the 2 bedroom beachfront. I don't know about the upgrades but I would stay there again.



We have also stayed at the Grand Case Beach Club, and second Andynap's comments.  It should have plenty of room for you and teenagers.  I thought that the beach was a little small, but they took good care of us.  We also stayed in a 2 bedroom beachfront.  The rooms were large, but I thought the furnishings were a bit sparse.  Nice deck though.

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