We are going back. Definitely. We loved the island, the hotel, the food, the people, the beaches...everything was great. Our worst experience was the "have you listened to the radio" people, and that was just a minor irritation. We were a little concerned about Hurricane Frances, which was headed our way later in the week. We left before she got within range, and she ended up heading north of the island a few days later. Anyway, hurricanes are just a risk that you take when you travel the Caribbean in August. We loved being there in low season...only a few things were closed, and there were no crowds other than in Phillipsburg, which we will avoid in the future. I hear that a LOT of stuff closes down on the French side in September. Next time we will bring a couple of inflatable floats and a collapsible cooler for use at Copecoy, since there is not much there in the line of beach service.
The island is a touch expensive. Meals in the nice French restaurants can set you back $60 to $75 for a couple, more if you start buying wine. But, man, is the food good. Click here for an article about dining in Grand Case. We found that we enjoyed eating a light breakfast, snacking for lunch, then going whole-hog (pun intended) for dinner. Drinks were expensive at the bar, but booze was cheap in the supermarkets. Bottom line, you can do this island on a budget, but you are going to have a lot more fun if you have some bucks to burn. And I didn't even mention the casinos...
