St. Martin family getaway

Last spring, when Aron was wrapping up his residency, we took a quick trip to St. Martin. I didn’t post about it at the time, because we only left the hotel to go to dinner a couple of times. As was our intention, we passed our days reading by the sea, reading on our balcony, and bouncing Hudson in the water.



We flew Jet Blue directly from JFK and stayed at the Radisson Blu Marina & Spa in Anse Marcel. I had actually done a lot of looking around at all-inclusives all over the Caribbean, but settled on St. Martin because we knew the island’s coves and beaches pretty well since having driven around twice previously on cruise stops (in February of 2009 and 2011). And there were great deals to be found, because our visit fell in the start of the off-season (summer).






The hotel sits in a calm, shallow bay that was perfect for playing in with 10-month-old Hudson (who had just started walking!). They had someone on hand to set up chairs and umbrellas (and who would help us keep adding umbrellas if we needed more shade for the baby), and toys for check-out. And their pool was enormous, with lots of shallow areas that were equally ideal. I noted that there was babysitting available and a playspace off the lobby, but we didn’t use either. They also had a romantic looking restaurant only for adults, lest it sound like it was Club Bébé.

The Radisson Blu turned out to be perfect. We rented a car even though we only used it a few times, but you could even have a boat pick you up at the airport and take  you straight to the hotel. But a car is nice if you want to go anywhere else at all–which I imagine most people will.



As the hotel is on the French side of the island, everything is in euros and so it’s a bit expensive by our standards to eat at the hotel, but we were usually able to pass with a light lunch and dinner after filling up at the substantial breakfast buffet that was included with our room. We also paid a little extra for a fridge and went shopping at a nearby grocery store.

Many of the best restaurants on the island, as well as the inexpensive Lolos (barbecues) that we like to eat at, are on Grand Case beach–just over a mile away. (I ate my weight in garlic-butter shrimp skewers.) We had also enjoyed lunch at Friar’s Bay (a little further) on a previous visit–and the waters there are calm as well.


 










I had almost forgotten about this trip (so much has happened since!), but then Radisson contacted me about participating in their “50 Years, 50 Days, 50 Rooms” giveaway, and I remembered how much we enjoyed that stay with them.

In honor of their 50th anniversary, Radisson is giving away one free night’s stay at any Radisson Hotel in North America to a reader (once a day over 50 days)!

Enter to win a free night’s hotel stay! Leave a comment below, and share something from our travel section (this post or one of our travelogues) on Pinterest or Facebook or Twitter. Make sure that you leave a valid email address in the comment form (or within the comment itself) for me to get in touch with you should you win. Please note that the vouchers can only be redeemed within North America and have a one year expiration date.

The giveaway ends on Tuesday the 23rd at 11:59pm PST. Good luck!
(Full disclosure: they’re giving us a free night as well, for hosting the giveaway!)

Update: Congratulations to Isabelle! This giveaway is closed. 

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