After the excitement of our trip to Philipsberg yesterday, we decided to stay at La Samanna today. We relaxed by the pool, did some exercise, had a nice lunch in the Beach Bar.

I started the day as I do everyday, sitting on the balcony, enjoying the sounds and the view.

You access your accommodations by walking down a path through a garden, with the main building and restaurants at one end and our suite at the other end. It’s quite a long walk! But it’s very nicely landscaped, and is usually mostly shaded, so it’s a pleasant walk.

I mentioned that La Samanna is designed so that every room faces the beach and the Caribbean. This is accomplished with a series of buildings that stretch the length of the property, each housing from 1 to a dozen of the ~80 rooms, suites and villas. The buildings are each two stories. The first floor units have patios that allow access directly to the beach, but also allow anyone walking by on the beach to see in unless you keep the curtains drawn. We chose second floor units for the privacy. They all have balconies where you can sit outside and enjoy the sight, the sound and the smell of the beach in complete privacy.

This was Zelda and Mateo’s last night, so we went back to Maho for dinner at a steakhouse. The food was good, but I have to say that I was disappointed by the watered down bourbon they served me. I didn’t make anything of it, because we were all having a nice time. Overall, we’ve been pleased with both the food and especially the service everywhere we went this week.

And just for fun, one more shot of the beach in front of our hotel. All of the lounges appeared to be in use.