St. Maarten Private Eye

My own opinion is that the beach is never really going to come back in anyway like it used to be. The loss of the pond and the manner in which Westn raised the ground by about 2 meters with rock and dirt led to lots of flooding, washing that dirt and debris further out onto the sands. Then there is the 3ft 'embedded' road that they put on the beach too, which the sea now washes up against, again washing stones and dirt into the sand.

If you recall, Dawn Beach was a fine soft white sand beach, the only way Westin could restore it is to truck in similar sand, there is not enough nor would it be wise to try to dredge. Soft fine sand is expensive and would have to be shipped in or ground down specially, the other alternative is to use sand from the harbor, which is coarse and not fine.

At the end of the day though, Westin should NEVER have been on the beach at all, nor should they have damaged it in such a way that it needs to be restored. As for traquillity, with 400+ hotel rooms and condos in such a cramped setting, plus staff, I think the chances are slim. Construction will still be going on in Jan and probably Feb and March too. Oh, and everytime it rains heavy the sea will turn brown. Just my thoughts....

Flipper