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Grand Case Beach Club
Grand Case 97150
Saint Martin, French West Indies
Looking out to the island of Anguilla, the Sunset Café serves Continental Breakfast (complimentary for all guests), lunch and dinner.
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ACCOMMODATIONS
A wide variety of accommodations
- all larger than standard hotel rooms and suites and all newly redecorated -
are featured at the Grand Case Beach Club in St Martin. Enjoy your stay in any
of the apartments and townhouses. They all have either oceanfront or garden view
ambiance.
Every unit has a fully equipped kitchen, balcony or terrace, and such amenities as a hair dryer, satellite TV, in room safe, cd/stereo, complementary continental breakfast, bottle of French wine, and of course, is fully air conditioned.
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GRAND CASE BEACH CLUB FEATURES DIVING PROGRAM
The Grand Case Beach Club is now offering a PADI (Professional Association of Dive Instructors) program for divers ranging from the inexperienced to expert. The program focuses on single and double dives, canyons, wrecks, reefs and nearby Creole Rock. There is also a dive package ranging from three to seven nights.
Also available are rebreathers, which enable divers to stay submerged longer and avoid the noise and bubbles of a conventional Scuba system, according to Paul Sun, one of the founders of 02Limits, which operates the dive program.
The flexible program includes single and double tank dives, beginner, technical and advanced courses with mixed gases. A wide variety of sites is available, some just minutes away.
Depending on their degree of skill, divers can visit the five most popular sites. These include HMS Proselyte, an 1801 shipwreck with cannons and anchors encrusted in the coral. It is now an artificial reef.
The Maze is a series of beautiful mountain reefs of coral with swim throughs, ledges and extensive marine life Carib Cargo is a 70-foot long cargo ship whose pilothouse and engine room are in fairly shallow water. It's an easy dive for beginners.
Hens & Chicks Moonhole resembles a moonscape because large rocks protruding from the water form a huge crater. Unlike the moon, though, this site is filled with sponges and corals. Along the swim through corridors are moray eels and lobsters. Gregory II is an upside down 200 foot long Panamanian barge. The scenic reef is a popular night dive.
For those who want a dive package, options, include three or seven nights, or a flexible three-night package with optional days.
The three-night package includes two days of diving with two tank dives daily. The seven night package features four days of diving, with two tank dives daily; tanks, weights and weight belts.
Also included in both the three and seven-night packages are continental breakfast daily; non-motorized watersports; bottle of wine, welcome cocktail on arrival and Grand Case beach bag.
GRAND CASE VILLAGE - A GOURMET'S PARADISE
Want to forget about the cholesterol and feast on some of the finest cuisine this side of Paris? If the answer is yes, you'll find it in Grand Case Village, only a few hundred yards from the Grand Case Beach Club.
For many years, Grand Case was a sleepy little village, with a road barely wide enough for one car. It really was nothing more than cotton plantations, shrimping and salt ponds. Cotton was shipped to England and salt to Guadeloupe, Martinique and then Europe. Weather beaten wooden homes straddled the road in Grand Case, a Creole word meaning Big House. As the village became known for its culinary excellence, these homes were gradually transformed into restaurants, some world-class.
However, even the best homes, which were completely renovated inside, still retain their yesteryear exterior look. Grand Case is a microcosm of the world's cuisines, with restaurants featuring American, Caribbean, Italian, Mexican, Oriental, seafood, and of course, French. There are even Lolos, shacks on stilts where local Ladies barbeque fresh lobsters and chicken as well as spare ribs.
Some of the best known include the Fish Pot, L'Escapade, Le Cottage, Le Restaurant du Soled, Hevea, Chez Martine, Sebastiano, Rainbow CafŽ, Le Pressoir, L'Auberge Gourmand, Le Tastevin, La California, and of course Our own Sunset Cafe, operated by the owner of L'Auberge Gourmand.
Marigot also has some excellent restaurants, many of them at the Port La Royale Marina. These include Le Tropicana, Le Gallon, Le Chanteclair, Le St. Germain, La Belle Epoque, La Main a la Pate, La Brasserie de la Gare, and Les Foufounes.
General Manager Steve Wright has dined at most of them, so if you want some personal recommendations, talk-to him.
GRAND CASE REACH CLUB - AN OASIS IN THE CARIBBEAN
Why is the Grand Case Beach Club's repeat business over 25 per cent? Professional management and friendly, service-oriented staff, many (if whom have been with resort for years, are major reasons.
But there's more. Very popular with guests are the rooms, which are oversize and much larger than any standard rooms on the island. All of them have full service kitchens and satellite TV. Depending on your preference and pocketbook - the resort offers guests a choice, of oceanfront or gardenview apartments, either studios, one or two bedroom units.
There are also many personal touches, which appeal to guests, such as the birdhouses which attract hummingbirds, banana quits and other species. There's also an art gallery with paintings by some of the island's best-known artists.
The Grand Case Beach Club prides itself on being laid back, with enough facilities for guests to enjoy, but without the constant activity found elsewhere. There is a lighted tennis court and watersports center, besides the swimming pool and restaurant.
"We basically appeal to those who want to relax, enjoy the beach and the convenience of fine restaurants nearby," said General Manager Steve Wright. "For those who want to do that as well as well as shop, sightsee, party, golf and gamble, that is available on the island too."
The mountains and ocean create a unique ambience at the resort, with its sparkling white buildings and dark red roofs. There are two beaches, one on each side of a promontory, the site of the swimming pool and the Sunset Cafe, where breakfast, lunch and dinner are served. The mountains sloping to the sea form a picturesque background. Come see for yourself and we think you'll agree that, if anything, we are understating the ambience.
Christophe Henocq, curator and president of the Arawak Indian Museum in Marigot, and a well-known archeologist, personally leads tours to a major site at the former Hope Estate plantation. Cost is $30 per person, and is available daily. Tour bookings can be confirmed after arrival.
Excavations at Hope Estate, which grew sugar cane and cotton between 1750 and 1850, have been on-going since 1993. Artifacts some over 3,800 years old and skeletal remains of some of the inhabitants, are on exhibit at the Arawak Museum, -which is included in the three-hour tour. The Arawak Museum's displays trace the history of the Indians, who first arrived on St. Martin around 2000 BC, to the arrival of the Spanish in the 17th century.
Also on display at Hope Estate is a replica of a thatched roof Arawak hut, which is open on the sides. Close to the hut are two rock carvings, which date from the early Amerindian/Arawak period.
According to Henocq, Hope Estate is the only archeological site on either the French or the Dutch sides.
There's an interesting story about how the island was divided. Two families, one French and the other Dutch, both claimed the island for their respective countries. The French sent troops, and to avoid war, the French and Dutch agreed to divide the island.
Since then, it changed hands frequently. Once it was all French, then all Dutch then English, who abandoned it, and finally it reverted to its present French/Dutch government.
During Prohibition in the U. S., the French side was wet and the Dutch dry. A border guard was stationed on the only main road, but the Dutch were too smart. They bought their booze on the French side, then used secret trails to return. The border guard never confiscated the first quart.
The Grand Case Beach Club is a magnet for honeymooners, that's why the "Honeymoon Magic" package is so popular year after year. It also offers newlyweds the flexibility of three or seven-night packages, with options for extra nights.
Besides accommodations included in the package are continental breakfast daily, one day car rental (plus gas and Insurance); island floral bouquet in room on arrival-, picnic basket for two (one day); match play casino voucher-, non-motorized watersports; bottle of wine; day and night tennis; welcome cocktail on arrival; and a Grand Case beach bag. 9
A big hit with guests is the Water sports Program, which is complimentary for all non-motorized equipment. This includes float mats, snorkel gear, kids' sand toys, kayaks, paddleboats, and sunfish sailboats. Other activities include a daily snorkel trip to nearby Creole Rock.
Staff will assist guests who would like to parasail, sky dive, windsurf, or rent wave runners, hobie cats and powerboats. They will also make arrangements for boat trips to Anguilla, Prickley Pear island, St. Barts and Saba.
GUESTS TRAVEL ON THEIR STOMACHS
The Sunset Cafe's cuisine matches that of some of the best restaurants in nearby Grand Case village, as well as a view of one of the resort's two beaches. The restaurant features many seafood dishes, plus steaks and chops. But there's much more, at very moderate prices.
Some of the delicacies include escargots in a bleu cheese sauce, fish soup from southern France, vol au vent, a fine pastry stuffed with shrimp, calamari and mussels in a light, creamy tomato sauce. Besides the six fish dishes, guests enjoy grilled filet mignon with mushroom sauce flamed with cognac and red wine; duck breast calvados and chicken with Creole sauce. Seven desserts are highlighted by crème brulee and tiramisu.
Lunch can be as light or heavy as you want. Salads, sandwiches, hamburgers and pasta are available daily.
Sunset Cafe is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week.
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