Sonesta Maho Beach Resort, Casino & Spa - All Inclusive

Customer Ratings & Reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

1601 reviews

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  Extremely disappointed’

  The resort staff was unfriendly and rude. The beach did not have enough chairs to accommodate guests. The food and alcohol were below average. The restaurants gave us a hard time seating a party of 8. A friends room had mold which caused an asthma exacerbation. Would NOT recommend!

  Mar 16, 2025
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  Disappointed at Sonesta Maho

  My girlfriend and I recently stayed at the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort from March 5-12th in St. Maarten. We are not new to traveling, we have stayed at all-inclusive’s throughout the Caribbean and Mexico. Sadly, the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort is not a resort I would refer people to go to. The overall culture of servers, hosts, bartenders, & reservationists was terribly disappointing. They all seemed tired, irritable, and in need of additional help. Something as simple as ordering a drink was never so simple. The attitude of the resort staff was that they were doing us a favor and it seemed they would have rather not been bothered with doing their job. The dining experience was a big disappointment. The Jing’s Kitchen restaurant does not sell upgraded wine selections. The food was decent, but we only ate there once due to not being able to order wine. We had a predetermined time meeting our group of eight people at the La Fontana restaurant. The two of us got there 30 minutes before the group, we ordered a $145 bottle of Caymus and were looking forward to having a drink by the ocean while we waited for our group to arrive. Seems simple enough, I had to go back up to the host two additional times to check on the status of the wine. We did get it, 50 minutes after it was ordered. Of all the restaurants this was the one we all enjoyed the most. The food was above average and enjoyable. With this being the only real choice to enjoy dinner, the waiting time to get a table for any size group was extraordinarily long. The buffet’s promote wine sales. On one occasion I had ordered a bottle of wine, and they said after minutes of floundering around that they could not get it for us. On a different evening, I ordered wine at the buffet and did not receive it until after our meal was finished. Interestingly, Sonesta promoted wine sales at the buffet and restaurants. It seems to me they should not bother with wine sales at all. The Village Tavern is promoted as a relaxed dining option with entertainment. I did not see any entertainment and their food selections were limited to just seven choices. The Mexican food at the Cantina Paradiso was not good at all. We ate there only one evening and did not return. When we asked the host if we could all sit together (8 people) we were told the tables could not be moved. There were empty tables of four everywhere and we ended up sitting right next to one another in two tables of four. The man serving pizza at Pizzeria Napoli was rude. He determined the number of slices people were allowed to take and if you were not standing in an exact spot predetermined by him, he would not take your order. Side note, when all of this happened, we were the only ones in line. He was not busy at all. Entertainment was non-existent in the evening. There was only one evening with entertainment, the singer and her group were good and it was robustly attended by the resort guests. The hotel did an excellent job of promoting the Juggler who performed at the Casino Royale across the street. He was great, the entertainment was free, the drinks were not. If you enjoy being in a smoke-filled casino, I suppose this was a “great night out.” The Maho Café was the only shining point. The coffee was very good, the food choices were delightful and appropriate. The staff, normally just one girl, did an impressive job, she was pleasant, but it always seemed like she could have used an extra set of hands. The Sonesta website claims that the resort has 420 rooms. The number of chairs at the pool, raised “beach area,” and the beach itself were inadequate for the number of guests. Some mornings all the chairs were taken as early as 645. There were many people looking for seats that did not exist. How these folks enjoyed their day is a mystery to me. When the eight of us arrived, it was clear from the beginning that we were in for an interesting week of not getting service. Being an optimist, I decided to just go with the flow and enjoy our long-awaited time together with friends ignoring all that was going on around me to the best of my ability. I doubt making complaints to hotel staff or to our travel agent while we were there would have changed a single thing. The current culture at Sonesta needs to be 100% changed.

  Mar 16, 2025
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  Glistening Blue Water & a Pina Colada

  Pros: All-inclusive Adult area - important to us Adult pool Rooms w/ splash pools Food is pretty good Beautiful views of the water & planes Room is spacious & modern Housekeeping is efficient & sweet Adult beverages are yummy Cons: They police you at restaurants asking your room number even after being bracelet scan. Waiting for restaurants I think most cons will revolve around the restaurants. Bottomline - if you drink 🍹 adult beverages, all-inclusives are the way to go. The rooms are very nice here (ocean view room w/ balcony). Would stay again.

  Mar 14, 2025
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  I am here for a work trip so didn’t pay for it myself. I would not come back on my own dollar.

  Pros: If it Sonesta you get great pools Rooms are nice Balcony is nice Housekeeping is nice Cons: Food quality and variety Restaurant service Public restrooms Long wait for restaurants Not enough sugar free options No “snacks” Outdated tv so you should bring your ipad Jet fuel smell LOUD planes landing nonstop gets old REAL fast

  Mar 12, 2025
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  1st but not last

  This was our first trip to St Maarten but not our last. There was a group of eight of us and we all had a great time. The resort is the perfect size for those that do not like walking a mile or two to get anywhere. The service was excellent on most days ( one day the pool side server was more interested in being discovered for his dance abilities then helping guests) BIG shout outs to Altoro ,Rose , Katherine, and Stacy (no E). They were by far there to make your vacation experience the best. The hotel itself was great. Rooms were great, food was great other then we did not care for the one outside the hotel I think called Village. Pizza station was amazing and they actually made to order one for my husband.Buffet always had a grand selection...just a little patience needed as they will serve you themselves, no self serve as they are trying to control viruses being spread...which is a good thing . Italian was probably our favourite for dinner and we LOVED the mexican for lunch. Only one couple got to experience mexican for supper and said it was good. Would definately return here. Went over to casino on Saturday night and watched Rick Price juggling show which was very entertaining. A member of our group helped assist him and it was fun! We rented cars from Hardy's and they were excellent , would deliver car right to hotel and much better price then hotel. Had fun touring island and stopping at beaches . Did the snorkeling at Mullet beach but was not impressed. Would not bother bringing my equipment next time.

  Mar 08, 2025