La Playa Orient Bay

Visitted St Marten in February with my freind, stayed in the La Playa Hotel, very nice and cozy room, clean and very well decorated. Beach location was amazing. Wanted to take an oprtunity and say a big thanks and apreciation to Elena at reception, she was the best welcoming person from the hotel staff, always had a warm smil,e assisted us with almost anything we needed. Elena was very helpful,attentive to our taste, she assisted us with booking to a few beatifull and delicious restaurants in St Marten, reccomended places to visit so our stay was very memorable and pleasant. Elena she is a go person at La Playa Orient Bay hotel, and Elena thank you for hospitality and very professionall guests reception.

Very nice location near Orient Village.
The included breakfast was good.
Beach was nice but orient is super windy with high surf.
The room was clean.
Staff were helpful.
I found the bed to be hard but that’s just me.
You do have to log into WiFi every time you use it which was a bit annoying .
Pool area was nice.

La Playa was very clean, quiet and we really loved being close to the beach. The
Breakfast was very nice as well, only wish we had full sized croissants instead of the mini ones. :) the staff were very friendly and helpful with any questions we had. We would definitely return.

Beware of booking this hotel on line. You might think you are booking an available room, but the system appears to be that they will email you three days later to say the hotel is booked. They do this even if management is fully aware that the hotel is full.

I spent three nights at La Playa and had an enjoyable time. This was my first time to St. Maarten/Martin and staying on the French side was the right choice! My room was very spacious and even came equipped with a kitchenette. While there was an ocean view, it was in the distance.

La Playa has a good-sized pool near reception, but the main attraction was Orient Bay Beach. This was one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. Guests of the hotel receive complimentary beach chairs each day.

My primary reason for giving 4* instead 5* was the food. The complimentary breakfast was adequate, but I wish they provided a bit more variety. Choices included scrambled eggs, mini pancakes, pastries, fruit, and yogurt. I ordered a burger from the beach one day, and it was just OK. The salmon dish I tried the next day was much better.

Employees at reception were very friendly and helpful. Twice they arranged taxis for me. I felt bad for the guys taking food/drink orders at the beach as they seemed to be understaffed. Housekeeping did an excellent job cleaning the room. Every staff member I encountered was fully bilingual (French and English).

La Playa's location is superb, as Orient Bay Village is a 2 minute walk away. You have access to a mini-supermarket plus nearly 10 restaurants.

While nearly 700 Euros/night was pricey, January is high season in the Caribbean. Overall, I had a great time and would recommend La Playa, especially if the food could be improved just a little bit.

La Playa is directly on a lovely stretch of Orient Bay. It is a smaller resort, which really suited us.

Our room had a convenient kitchenette - tiny stovetop, microwave, kettle, Nespresso machine. Fairly well stocked with dishes, but FYI no oven or toaster. Get your own coffee and tea because they (teabags and pods) may not come by every day.

The place was well kept and clean. The room was cheerfully and simply furnished, with a patio.
Included breakfast was good, fresh and satisfying, pretty much what we expected.

Overall, a very enjoyable, relaxing experience.

A big plus, especially if you don’t plan to rent a car:
- a good array of excellent restaurants, a grocery store, convenience stores and cafes just behind the resort

There were some minor negatives in the resort:
- no table, only a small desk, and uncomfortable chairs
- small pool
- only breakfast and lunch served; no dinner
- staff is not overly forthcoming

And at Orient Bay:
- very windy (great for wind-dependent sports)
- ocean is wild and may not be suitable for small kids

Recommended for couples

Great location for the beach and restaurants. Nice clean rooms

Excellent location, close to Orient Beach, shops & restaurants.

Gorgeous weather, extraordinary French food at extraordinary French restaurants in Orient Bay and Grand Cas, just down the road. Beautiful relaxing beaches with abundant sunshine and temperatures in the 80s..most food prices lower than in North America and I always felt safe on this island. Added bonus: Great French -inspired shopping in Marigot also. As close to France as you can get.

We had a garden view room that was spacious, VERY quiet and had a nice big refrigerator, cooktop and microwave. The beach is beautiful and chairs and umbrellas are plentiful.
The staff were friendly and very helpful.
A 5 rating would have been given if the breakfast was better. It was mediocre, at best. Price point for the resort was on the high end as compared to many other Caribbean island resorts we have stayed at.
We had dinner at the restaurant one night and it was excellent.
Great bakery right outside the resort gates.
We would return!

Tout était bien.

Everything

La piscine trop sympa
Làcces à la plage
Le personnel plus que gentil et disponible

Booked this St Maarten hotel for a five night stay in celebration of my husband's 50th birthday. At the end of the second night, we returned from dinner to find a HUGE roach in the bathroom. Upon closer inspection, there was also a baby roach.It was after hours and the front desk we were told at check in was open 24 hrs was not staffed.By the time security arrived, another one crawled into plain view in the sitting area. We were disgusted and insisted that our room be switched. Security obliged but this was short-lived. I emailed the Concierge immediately and did not get a reply. The next day we went to Reception to explain but they already knew because a staff member acknowledged getting my email and expressed no concern other to say forcefully "you cannot stay in that room, wait for the manager." We waited and met with the manager (Katy) who tried to tell us it's an island and bugs come with the territory. Her attitude was quite condescending and it was clear she was aware they had roaches to even insult our intelligence by saying that. We were informed that they were at capacity and we could not keep the new room. The only solution offered was to give us the original roach infested room. When we pushed back, her next resolve was to say if you don't want to stay here then leave. At this point, it was clear we were no longer wanted or welcomed. I do wonder if the treatment we received from Katy would differ if we were French or Caucasian. My husband and I are well traveled and have never had an issue with roaches during a stay. That is a clear lack of cleanliness and disregard to treat the problem. The only good thing that came out of this was the remainder of our stay was refunded. However, the lack of courtesy and professionalism was in bad taste.
We ending up booking another stay and left. Bottom line is looks are deceiving and trust those few bad reviews. I went back and saw another guest in June 2025 had roaches as well. If I saw that prior, I would never have booked this establishment.

The rooms were modern and well-equipped. Very short walk to the very good buffet breakfast with your toes in the sand. Beach staff were exceptional. Actually all of the staff were exceptional. It is next to the square with all of the restaurants yet still feels secluded.

The room was great! Very spacious. The staff was very nice and answered all my questions. They are beachfront, and they provided the chairs, umbrellas and towels. They are also a short walk to all the eateries for dinner.

Great location right on the beach