Dawn Beach Club???

I was just able to Etrade into a 3 bedroom at the Dawn Beach Club for Thanksgiving but I can't find much about the resort. It is attached to the Westin but doesn't appear branded with the Westin. Anyone know the property?

The Dawn Beach property is made up of two separate "buildings" on one parcel of land. There is the hotel (which is a Westin) and the Dawn Beach Resort, which is the timeshare. Do a search here and in the Marketplace to get more info. We stayed at the hotel in November and the property is really nice. Wrote a review in the Marketplace that has more information. You will like it a lot; if I remember correctly, all the timeshare rooms are ocean front and really nice.

It's a very nice resort, with a beautiful oceanfront location, just next door to the Westin. The Westin hotel offers on-site restaurants and a casino, I believe, though I've read that the casino is dead. Not sure if they share amenities. There is a long sandy beach, with lounge chairs that you can rent, but because it's on the East side of the island, it is the rougher (windier and rougher surf) side of the island, certainly too rough when we traveled there in Jan/Feb '14.

I'll also warn you that it's rather remote, so a rental car is a must. A few restaurants are located in the Oyster Bay Marina, but if you want to venture to Philipsburg or Simpson Bay, the hot spots of the island, it's going to take you awhile to drive there.

FYI, it's about 15-20 minutes to the Philipsburg/Salt Pond area (grocery stores/restaurants) and another 10-15 minutes to Simpson Bay, which is the "hot spot" of the island and very near the airport. The good thing is that it's centrally located, so not too far to the French beaches. Our personal favorite was Friar's Beach, about a 20 minute drive.

Dawn Beach Club is a timeshare (but not affiliated with the Starwood Vacation Network) and they market it aggressively (they have people stationed on the road, flagging people down under the guise of winning something), so be prepared for a hard timeshare push.

Just in case... do not buy DBC from DBC. There was a thread on this topic where someone bought from DBC and were told outright lies (eg. DBC was part of SVO/SVN) - the OP refused to believe he was lied to and was quite touchy (defensive). Never heard back...

We stayed at Dawn Beach for 2 weeks last July. It is a really nice resort but I highly recommend a rental care. The beach at the Westin is on the Atlantic and rough. St Marteen has so many fabulous Carribean beaches to visit but all require a car to go. I would definitely stay there again as long as I had a car. In 2 weeks we logged 500 plus miles on the rental car.

Try a new beach each day. If you have it bring snorkel gear.

I just got a trade into here last night for my daughters honeymoon. Read the 3 reviews on here. Does anyone know if the 3 bdrm timeshares are Ocean Front? Is this a fairly easy trade, since we just started searching, she really wants Alexandra Turks and Caicos or a couple others were her first choices.

Thanks

Lee

Dawn Beach has only 3 bdrm and only building A is ocean front.
http://www.dawnbeachclub.com/residence_details.php

what is an Etrade? Is that a different site from RCI or II?

joanncanary said:

what is an Etrade? Is that a different site from RCI or II?

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Thru II Its called e-plus You can pay an extra fee and have 3 times to re-trade into another resort, another week

lee

hefleycatz said:

I just got a trade into here last night for my daughters honeymoon. Read the 3 reviews on here. Does anyone know if the 3 bdrm timeshares are Ocean Front? Is this a fairly easy trade, since we just started searching, she really wants Alexandra Turks and Caicos or a couple others were her first choices.

Thanks

Lee

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As an exchanger, I wouldn't expect an ocean front unit. I wouldn't set their expectations up too high.

This is a resort that I hope to visit one day. We have been to St Maarten a few times on cruises. It just seems that airfare to there is high enough to prohibit us from going on a land based trip. Other options tend to be cheaper.

winnipiseogee said:

I was just able to Etrade into a 3 bedroom at the Dawn Beach Club for Thanksgiving but I can't find much about the resort. It is attached to the Westin but doesn't appear branded with the Westin. Anyone know the property?

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My family and I will be there that week, let's hope it a great trade...Being wanting to go there for some time.
KT

Keep Traveling said:

My family and I will be there that week, let's hope it a great trade...Being wanting to go there for some time.
KT

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Please post about it when you return. My daughter did take the trade and is very excited. Have a great time.

Lee

We are at DBC this week. Not all rooms have a good view. Ask if you want something better. They will do their best.

Rooms are large and well equipped. Beach is nice. Umbrellas are free. We like the beach here since it's the Atlantic. You can charge to your room if you buy lunch or drinks at the pool, or dinner at the hotel. No limit on beach towels which is unusual and really nice here on SXM.

We are disappointed with wifi (really BAD) and too many live bugs in unit. We bought RAID the second day here. We just came from a week at LaVista and NO bugs at all. At DBC you must walk to the hotel for the free newspaper, which is a hike. No reason not to have a pile of them at the TS office.

Overall we are comparing to other stays on SXM over the years and we prefer the other resorts even if they are not as new or fancy. Just our opinion. If the room interior decor and hotel next door is important, this TS will please you.

normab said:

We are at DBC this week. Not all rooms have a good view. Ask if you want something better. They will do their best.

Rooms are large and well equipped. Beach is nice. Umbrellas are free. We like the beach here since it's the Atlantic. You can charge to your room if you buy lunch or drinks at the pool, or dinner at the hotel. No limit on beach towels which is unusual and really nice here on SXM.

We are disappointed with wifi (really BAD) and too many live bugs in unit. We bought RAID the second day here. We just came from a week at LaVista and NO bugs at all. At DBC you must walk to the hotel for the free newspaper, which is a hike. No reason not to have a pile of them at the TS office.

Overall we are comparing to other stays on SXM over the years and we prefer the other resorts even if they are not as new or fancy. Just our opinion. If the room interior decor and hotel next door is important, this TS will please you.

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Thanks, would you have pictures to show of your view. Did you have to ask for a different room? And if you have any tips to share regarding the trip, they would be appreciated.

Thanks

Lee

I own here....All units are ocean front.....but some have better views...ask for a 3rd floor unit with an odd number unit number.

I have been there 4 years in a row and never has there been bugs in the unit....if there was a simply call to house keeping would see some one there in minutes. You will need a car but there is free private parking. All amenities of the Westin are yours to use, including the pool with the swim up bar!

Rent a car from a local as you get better service and cheaper rates.

Here is a great link for you.

http://www.traveltalkonline.com/foru...Board=stmartin


There is a facebook page as well called SMX or bust that you can join that has so much info and lots of members.

Enjoy as these are great units....with everything you need including a washer and Dryer.

Based on the number of bugs we saw it was no a fluke. They were not doing preventive spraying, clearly.

We certainly hope that they took care of it after we left as we informed the manager of the problem. For anyone, it is not pleasant to see multiples roaches and other crawling insects on a daily basis.

I shared this comment because we vacation only in warm climates, both US and international. Typically we might find a dead bug once a year, but these were all live bugs. That indicates no preventive insecticides. If they are spraying you would only find an odd dead bug.

I'm happy that you have never seen this but it did happen to us so it's fair to share it.