Posted October 16, 2006
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Contributed by Laura Van Veen
My husband and I recently returned from our
honeymoon in Sint Maarten/Sint Martin. It was a wonderful week and he loves the
island so much he hopes that we move there someday. Unfortunately, without some
changes throughout the island, this will not be possible.
My husband, Marty, has Chronic Progressive
Multiple Sclerosis. What this means is that his Multiple Sclerosis symptoms will
continue to progress. Currently Marty uses a wheelchair all the time. This can
make some things difficult for travel.
Marty & Laura Van Veen. |
As anyone who has ever been to Sint Maarten/St.
Martin already knows, the local people are big hearted, extremely friendly, and
generous. Everyone that we ran into offered to help, whether it was to help
Marty get in or out of his wheelchair, enter a non-handicapped bathroom, get
into or out of a pool, or enter a business that was not 'handicap friendly'. We
were very fortunate that we were in Sint Maarten/St. Martin; don't know if we
would have been as fortunate (or should I say blessed) had we been any where
else.
Hotels. Sadly, Sint Maarten/St. Martin is not
an ideal island for the disabled. We stayed at the Pelican Resort; Marty could
not use the bathroom, since it was too small for him to enter in his wheelchair.
Luckily, I found a special shower wipe made for people who are bedridden and I
washed and conditioned his hair in the kitchen sink. We had a mirror for him to
use so he could shave there as well. The good news is that he was clean but he
was very happy to come home and take a real shower. Our stay at Pelican was due
to the generosity of friends; it was their wedding gift to us, a honeymoon. We
have since learned that Cap Caraibes and L'Hoste are wheelchair accessible; they
have wheelchair accommodations (rooms with large bathrooms and showers) and have
accessible areas throughout the premises (pathways with no stairs) and to the
beach edge.
Restaurants are another example. Turtle Pier
has a walkway that declines as you enter. That wasn't too bad; Marty just helped
me by holding on to the wheels. There is a step to get to the bar area and the
seating beyond; that was fine since Monica (the general manager, a really
giving, helpful person) volunteered the use of her staff to get Marty up and
down as needed. The only problem with Turtle Pier is the bathroom; it is
necessary to go up five steep stairs, meaning there is no way for anyone in a
wheelchair to use the facilities. I took Marty to the parking lot; a woman would
not have that option.
One restaurant that is completely wonderful for
those that need more accessibility is Ric's Place. Ric's had al fresco dining
facing the water and Marty was able to use the bathroom. Also, Ric is very kind.
His site is here.
Le Bar de la Mer on the waterfront in Marigot
also has al fresco dining and we had no problems there but we don't know about
the bathroom situation since Marty never needed to use the facilities.
Beaches are another obstacle. Regular
wheelchairs can not go on a beach. The only beach wheelchair on the island was
at Club Orient, a naturist resort. Luckily for us they were gracious and
permitted us to use the wheelchair and go on the club's beach. Had they not let
us use the beach wheelchair, Marty would not have had any beach time on the
island.
Boo Boo Jam is one of my favorite places. I had
not remembered that there were steps leading in, or two steps to the bathroom
level. Luckily, we met three very nice local men who carried Marty (wheelchair
and all) in and out and to the bathroom level. We could not have done it without
them.
These are the suggestions I have prior to
travel anywhere for people with disabilities:
As soon as you know you are going, start
surfing the net. Use a search engine, type in the name of the place where you
are going and then start 'digging' through the pages. This can be time-consuming
but this is how I found Jeff Berger's SXM site and it proved to be extremely
valuable to Marty and me.
Contact your resort by e-mail or phone to make
sure there are handicapped-accessible rooms and elevators. If not, make sure
they have ground level entrances. Plan how to deal with not having handicapped
features in the room. For example, I ordered portable urinals that we could take
with us for Marty's use in the room (since he could not get into the bathroom)
as well as to take with us around the island in case we ran into the same
problem elsewhere. I ordered from
AvShop Pilot Shop.
Their price was reasonable and we received the order in a timely fashion. Also,
don't be shy about asking that someone measure the doorway into your room, into
the bathroom, and into the dining area, and then measure the wheelchair you plan
to use.
See if you can find any chat rooms or forums
for your destination. I found two (thanks to Jeff and his friends!) and the
people involved were a big help, too. For example, this is how I found out that
Club Orient had beach wheelchairs. For Sint Maarten/St. Martin travel I
recommend either
http://www.traveltalkonline.com or
http://www.thedailyherald.com/forums. Those are among the busiest. The Daily
Herald site is exclusively St. Maarten; Travel Talk covers the entire Caribbean
basin and, to a lesser extent, the rest of the world.
Contact the airline and make them aware that
you have a disability and the equipment you will need to have with you. If you
use a wheelchair, notify them that you will need an aisle chair. The aisle chair
is very narrow, to fit into the aisle of an airplane. Don't be surprised when
arriving in St. Maarten; you will be carried down the airplane steps to the
tarmac as there are currently no 'gates' that open to the plane door.
Read up on the restaurants, casinos, museums,
etc. that you think you will want to visit during your trip. Contact, either by
phone or computer, to make sure they can accommodate you. Finding out beforehand
that something will not work is a lot less frustrating then finding it out at
the entrance when you're there!
There are definite improvements that need to be
made for Sint Maarten to be handicap 'friendly'. For example, where in
Philipsburg have you noticed a ramp into any of the businesses? There is an
Italian Restaurant, Tutta Pasta, that is supposed to be fabulous but there are
too many steps -- it's on a second floor and there is no elevator.
The bathroom facilities in different resorts
and some other businesses need to have wider doorways and at least one
handicapped stall added. Although Pelican was able to put us in a 'ground level'
room, there was still a huge step that Marty had to be wheeled up to get to the
room. I am barely 5 feet tall so I could not do this...thank GOD for friends!
Speaking of friends, they are the best thing to
have with you in case an unforeseen situation arises. Our best friends
celebrated their third anniversary in SXM while we celebrated our marriage.
Still, Pelican might see more of my husband and I if they added some basic
cement ramps leading to these rooms and also made the bathrooms handicap
accessible.
Another major change: beach access is needed
for the disabled! I can't say it enough...for an island that has that many
beaches to only have two beach wheelchairs is a travesty. Not to mention, even
if Pelican had been able to provide beach wheelchairs, there was no access to
the beach for someone with a disability. Again, thank God for Orient Beach and
Club Orient!
Remember to research as much as you can prior
to going and once you get there, enjoy!
SINT MAARTEN TOURIST OFFICES
(Info of value to you):
St. Maarten
St. Maarten Tourist Bureau
Vineyard Office Park
WG Buncamper Rd. #33
St. Maarten N.A.
Tel: 5995-22337
Fax: 5995-22734
Canada
St. Maarten Tourist Office
703 Evans Avenue
Suite 106
Toronto, Ontario
M9C 5E9 Canada
Phone: 416-622-4300
Brazil
St. Maarten Tourist Office
Av. Ipiranga 318 bl A - 5 Andar
Sao Paulo - SP- CEP 01046-010
Brazil
Phone: 55-11-214-5588
Fax: 55-11-258-3575
USA
St. Maarten Tourist Office
675 Third Avenue, Suite 1806
New York, NY 10017
Tel: (212) 953-2084
Fax: (212) 953-2145
Toll Free: (800) 786-2278 (1 800 STMAARTEN)
Argentina
St. Maarten Tourist Office
Rodriguez Pena, 2025-9th Floor, A
1021 Buenos Aires, CF
Argentina
Phone: 54 11 4816 1881
Fax: 54 11 4816 2100
Italy
St. Maarten Tourist Office
Via Durini 2
20122 Milano
Italy
Phone: 30 02 76 02 12 03
Fax: 39 02 76 00 32 17
--Laura Van Veen
