St. Martin Beach Resort

The Secrets St-Martin occupies Anse Marcel, a horseshoe cove on the north of the French side of the island, closed off by two rocky headlands and sheltered from the open sea. You reach it by a winding mountain road, and that is exactly what makes the place so quiet. Two hundred and fifty-eight adults-only suites, a fifteen hundred cubic metre infinity pool hanging above the bay, six restaurants and five bars, on the Unlimited-Luxury plan.

The house speciality is its dining: the à la carte restaurants are open without reservations and without a quota. You eat where you want, when you want. On an island where gastronomy is a religion, that counts.

This property has a turbulent history and we are going to tell it straight, because it explains both what people love and what they hold against this hotel. Call 1 866 628-6241 and we will tell you whether it is your address.

Where is Anse Marcel, and how do you get there?

On the north of the French side, in a steep-sided bay the road reaches by crossing the hills. Allow about thirty-five minutes from Princess Juliana airport on the Dutch side, where flights from Montreal land. Local signage is discreet, so the transfer driver beats the GPS, and the transfer is usually included in the package.

A geographic curiosity: the Grand-Case airfield is under two kilometres away as the crow flies, but the road goes around the massif. On this island distance means nothing; topography decides.

Anse Marcel also holds a marina with a hundred and twenty-five berths and a gallery of about a dozen shops. You are not in the middle of nowhere, you are in a quiet dead end.

Is the hotel adults only?

Yes. That is the Secrets concept, and our own file confirms it. No kids club, no shouting in the pool, no family of six at the next table. The exact minimum age is confirmed at the time of booking, and we verify it with the supplier for your file rather than leaving you with an assumption.

What is the beach like?

It is the best argument this place has, and it deserves to be described accurately. Anse Marcel bay is a white sand cove closed by two headlands, where the water stays as calm as a lake and shallow. You walk into the sea without thinking about it, and the snorkelling along the rocky edges of the bay is good.

Now the nuance. The kilometre of sand you sometimes read about belongs to the whole bay, shared with the neighbours. The stretch in front of the hotel is narrower than that. And guests have complained that seaweed was not always cleared with the same diligence as next door. It is a lovely beach, it is not an endless one.

Which suites, and which one is worth the upgrade?

Two hundred and fifty-eight suites, from Junior, Garden, Mountain and Partial Ocean categories up to Swim Out suites with direct pool access, and a two storey presidential suite of over two hundred square metres.

The Preferred Club adds a private terrace and access to the reserved lounge, and it is what opens the Swim Out suites. If you are coming as a couple and you want the stay this place promises, that is where the upgrade earns its keep. On a standard category, ask for a sea view instead: the bay seen from above is the main event.

Where do you eat, and do you need reservations?

Six restaurants, and the answer to the second question is no. The à la carte restaurants open without reservations and without a quota of evenings, which is rare in the all-inclusive world and which genuinely changes a week.

The Market Café handles the international buffet while working in local cooking. The Barefoot Grill holds the poolside, the Coco Café the coffees and bites. For the evening: Himitsu for pan-Asian with teppanyaki, Portofino for Italian, and Olio for Mediterranean on a terrace facing the ocean. Five bars, including a swim-up and a sports lounge, plus a private wine cellar. Room service runs day and night.

The evening dress code is not published, and Secrets properties usually ask for long trousers and closed shoes for men. We confirm it with the supplier before you pack.

What is included?

The Unlimited-Luxury plan covers meals, unlimited access to the restaurants, premium spirits, room service and concierge around the clock, internet and entertainment. The return airport transfer is usually included, and at an address this isolated that is a real advantage. So is the introductory dive in the pool.

The Pevonia spa is extra. Boat, jet ski, kayak and paddleboard rentals at the neighbouring marina are run by independent operators, so extra as well. Have your specific package confirmed: it is not the same from one tour operator to the next.

Do you need a rental car?

The question is worth pausing on, because it decides your stay. Anse Marcel is at the end of a mountain road. No corner store, no restaurant next door, no walking out in the evening. Taxis exist, but they cost and they have to be planned.

If your idea of a holiday is dinner at the lolos of Grand-Case three nights out of seven and a drive around the island, rent a car without hesitating. If your idea is never leaving the bay for seven days, keep your money. There is no right answer, there is yours, and we talk it through on the phone.

What should you know about the building's history?

The Anse Marcel site carried several names before this one. Hurricane Irma, in September 2017, destroyed the property that stood here. The hotel reopened under the Secrets banner on 1 March 2020, a few weeks before the pandemic closed it again, then once more on 1 April 2021. It closed in May 2024 for major works and reopened on 13 November 2024.

Here is the key to the whole file: that renovation was carried out in two phases. Travellers who stayed in spring 2025 were in a partly renovated hotel, and their comments on the state of the building reflect it. That is something we verify with the supplier before every booking, because the answer changes with the date.

In other words: the location is exceptional, the staff are praised by nearly everyone, and the execution has been uneven. We tell you where things stand on the day you book, not on the day the hotel posted its last photo.

Two countries on one island: what difference does it make?

Saint-Martin is split between a French side and a Dutch side, and you drive from one to the other with no border post. It changes nothing about your day and everything about your wallet.

On the French side the currency is the euro. On the Dutch side, the Netherlands Antillean guilder has been replaced by the Caribbean guilder, pegged to the US dollar. The useful point: the US dollar is accepted on both sides, and on the French side it is frequently taken at parity, which works clearly in your favour compared with paying by card, processed in euros with the conversion fees that come with it. Travel with US dollars in cash.

The other difference is electrical, and it catches everyone out. The French side runs on two hundred and twenty volts with European sockets, the Dutch side on one hundred and ten volts with North American sockets. Two standards on an island of eighty-seven square kilometres. Many French side hotels have fitted North American outlets for their clientele, but travel with an adapter, and remember that an adapter changes the shape of the plug, not the voltage: a heating appliance that is not dual voltage will burn out on two hundred and twenty volts. We check this point for your room before you leave.

Is Grand-Case worth the trip?

Grand-Case carries the title of culinary capital of the Caribbean, and for once the nickname holds up. The village stretches along a seafront boulevard, and two worlds coexist there rather well.

On one side the lolos, open-air grill shacks with their brightly painted picnic tables: ribs, chicken, lobster, fish, plantain, rice and peas and johnnycakes. On the other, serious French cooking, at tables such as Le Pressoir, L'Auberge Gourmande, Bistrot Caraïbes, Le Cottage and Ocean 82, with Calmos right on the sand.

The village is laid out so that you swim in the afternoon and eat in the evening without getting back in the car. It is the outing to make at least twice during the week. Our Saint-Martin travel page says more about the island.

When should you go?

December to April, the dry season, the Caribbean high season and the most reliable window. There is a nonstop service between Montreal and Saint-Martin of about five hours, stronger in winter: in that period the nonstop choice is wide, while in summer the nonstop offering narrows considerably and a connection is often required.

Hurricane season runs June to November, and this island knows what that means. Irma left marks that are still visible in places, seven years on. Cancellation insurance is not an extra we sell you, it is a conversation we have with you.

Who is this hotel for, and who is it less suited to?

It suits the couple who want a calm bay, flat water, a table chosen each evening without booking, and silence. The kind who think the finest moment of a day is the morning coffee on a terrace hanging over the water. Guests rate the location higher than anything else, and the staff just after.

It suits less the traveller who wants to walk out every evening, the one who wants continuous entertainment, and the one who demands a flawless building. The criticisms are real and they recur: uneven upkeep, short staffing at certain periods, seaweed clearing that could be better. On review sites, its value-for-service score is the lowest of all its scores. If you want the same concept in a property whose execution is steadier, look at Secrets The Vine Cancún.

For other addresses on the island, see our Saint-Martin all inclusive page.

Why go through an advisor?

Because on this particular file, the question is not the hotel, it is the date. The state of the building, the staff on hand, the beach: all of it has moved from one season to the next since the reopening. An advisor who calls the supplier on the day you book is worth more than a review written eight months ago.

Call 1 866 628-6241. You will reach someone who knows this address and who has time for you. We look together at what is actually free on your dates, we pick the right room, and we stay a phone call away while you are there. That is the difference between booking alone in front of a screen and leaving with someone behind you.