The house itself is lovely, 4 good sized bedrooms, very clean, well equipped and with a layout that works well. The location is good too, 15 mins walk from the centre of St Martin.

The major problem is that the house is currently in the middle of a major construction site as a house is being built on what was the lawn, as shown on the second photo on the booking.com listing.  Despite assurances from the owner that there would be a pause in the building work while we were there the builders were there 9am til c 4pm Monday to Friday, using a cement mixer, digger etc. The resulting noise meant it was impossible to have a lie in, open the windows or use the terrace while they were there due to the noise.  Clearly the new house will be finished eventually and the noise will cease. That said the new house starts literally where the terrace of the existing house stops, so either there will be no privacy whatsoever or they will have to build a surrounding wall which will make the terrace feel claustrophobic. Suffice to say the second photo showing the terrace overlooking the lawn bears zero relationship to current reality as the terrace now faces onto a massive grey breeze block wall.  I have little doubt the owner will respond saying the listing details terrace not garden which is totally true, however it shows a terrace overlooking a lawn not a terrace facing a brick wall, accompanied by the noise of builders, a digger and cement mixer!!!

The house is perfectly located a 12-15 minute walk into the centre of Saint Martin. There's a bike hire shop and two large supermarkets a 3 minute walk in the other direction which is very handy as well. Spotlessly clean and our host was very accommodating.

Due to the on-going construction in the neighbours garden there is very little privacy and a lot of noise in the morning. The builders were very respectful and tried to keep noise to a minimum, however, when they're literally 2 metres away and there's nothing but a low see through bamboo fence in between you there's not a lot you can do. We cut short our booking and cancelled for a partial refund