My husband and I celebrated part of our honeymoon at L'Esplanade last year and decided to again stay at the property for our first anniversary, 27-30 April 2008. Everything was as wonderful as we'd remembered it - breathtaking views, lush gardens, pleasant staff. As honeymooners we had received a complimentary bottle of champagne and this year we received a compilmentary bottle of wine for being repeat guests, which was a nice surprise. We had to change rooms after the first night (we knew this ahead of time - it was due to limited availability) and the staff made the transition seamless. They even transported our refrigerated goods for us and kept our valuables locked in the office while we were at the beach for the day. Alain the bartender once again made a delicious Planter's Punch.

We just loved eating breakfast and having evening glasses of wine out on the balcony, overlooking Grand Case. Though there is no restaurant on-site (but we did have a cheeseburger and a fish burger at the pool bar one afternoon - both were excellent) it would be silly to not take advantage of the fantastic restaurants (Le Cottage is our #1 pick) or the local lolos (we prefer Sky's the Limit).

L'Esplanade allows you to fully enjoy the local flavor of the island, unlike a resort, but still makes you feel safe and secure. We adore the French side of the island for its wonderful food and beautiful beaches. In fact, if we could get a direct flight from the US to Grand Case's airport, we wouldn't go on the Dutch side at all! Though we doubt we'll be able to make the trip for our 2 year anniversary, we're already saving up for our 5 year! And of course we'll stay at L'Esplanade!

After much research (mostly on tripadvisor) we selected L'espanade mostly for the great reviews and oversized rooms. We have two teens and would have to book two rooms just about anywhere else. Since we are hotel snobs...this can get pricey!!!! The oversized loft with the private second floor, left the kids with a comfy pull out and roll-away with their own 1/2 bath on the first.

Not very impressed with the island and it's beaches as a whole, but the hotel and it's staff was just as lovely as you can find anywhere for twice the price. You do pass on some ammenities (no gym, tennis, restaurant) but truth is you adjust very quick. went to much raved about "orient beach" ...think CLUB MED with interruptions every 2-3 minutes to buy a plastic puca shell necklace...PASS for the smaller beaches! Only real disappoinment was the distance between the L'esplanade and it's larger sister hotel the "Petit Hotel". It was a substantial walk all the way down the tretcherous for strolling, restaurant row road. Not "just down the path away" by any means.

Alan at the bar (open only until 6:00pm so not good for happy hour, pre dinner drinks) is THE MAN. I asked him if he knew he was famous thanks to tripadvisor...he said he hadn't read the reviews, but most everyone comments on them!

Don't get freaked out by the skimpy (really narrow) patch of sand on restaurant row that makes up the part of "Grand case beach"
closest to the hotel, take a right at the paths end to the "petit Plage" for an uber nice quiet beach expereince with a great restauarant and ammenities (Sunset Grill). Hotel pool is lovely and quiet. No problem securing chairs n such.

Food is best BY FAR of any Caribbean island. We didn't make any reservations and never were denied a plum seat any any restauarant. The two LOLO (beach front bar-b-que) places on restaurant row had great local fare for a steal, were very quick (with one euro= 1 $...can't beat em). We also had an excellent meal at the Auberge something (traditonal french). Don't miss Thursday and Sunday "band night" at the Calmos cafe.

Liquor was also a bargain in Grand Case, nice name beers $3/4
wine for the same price. Lotta bang for your buck.

EXCEPT shopping. Everything is in Euros and can be found much cheaper state side.

Disappointed with the casino scene. Called the biggest one on the island who assured us they had craps tables, just to get us there (suckered into playing black jack) as no craps tables were open on a busy friday night.

A great holiday we all enjoyed immensely. Book with confidence, there's not a better hotel on the island!

My husband and I returned just last week from a most enjoyable week at L'Esplanade.
All of the reviews are right on, friendly and helpful staff, Beautiful rooms with balconies, very private and relaxing pool and just a few steps away from dining on "Restaurant Row". The restaurant that we liked best was Le ti Provencal, very good seafood on the porch overlooking the dinghy dock in the harbor. We also enjoyed the very casual "Talk of the Town" for barbeque one night.
I particularly liked the hillside location of L'Esplanade because of the almost constant breeze. It was very warm of course, and the breezes made sitting on the balcony or at the pool comfortable at all times. You may want to bring a pashmina,sweater or light jacket for the evenings, as the breezes tend to pick up then. We took a St. Barth Commuter flight to St. Barth for a day of shopping, lunch and just driving around. The flights are only 14 minutes each way and you have a lovely view of St. Martin and the neighboring islands.The Grand Case airport is within walking distance from the hotel. We did rent a car as we like to get around easily. I say easily, except that the traffic at just about all times of day and night is just horrendous. We traveled to Phillipsburg, but could do without it as the shopping, except for jewelry, is just as good in nearby Marigot. Try to avoid traveling to Marigot when the school busses are picking up the children at the various schools, it is a bit quicker at other times. We had a lovely dinner in Marigot at La Grand Cuopole on the marina, very good food and a really lively atmosphere. L'Esplanade was a delightful, peaceful and lovely place to spend a relaxing week and we definitely will return.

Hotel L'Esplanade was the perfect place for our honeymoon, the only regret I had was not staying there the whole time we were on the Island. We had stayed at another hotel for the second half of our trip to be right on the beach.

We went with high expectations and was not disappointed. There is a lot to say for that. We were always skeptical with the pictures shown on websites, in this case we felt we were walking right into the picture. Pictures we took looks just like the ones on the website, so we won't bother posting ours.

Booking directly with the hotel over email was easy, our loft was clean and comfortable, beautiful balcony view, short walk to the restaurants.

There were a few minor inconveniences, but it was not crucial to us. Such as the phone did not work for a day, one of the afternoon receptionist staff was not as knowledgeable as others, our balcony lounger was broken and never fixed though we brought it to the hotel's attention.

The sum of the overall experience would still be a pleasant, relaxing, and enjoyable stay. We would definitely come back in the future. In fact I recommended it to my boss and she will be going there with her family too.