Bernard's In St Maarten....Can Anybody Recommend?

[dacsmom]

I loved Bernard's Tours and had a wonderful time. 

[mhafod]

On 4/5/2019 at 10:13 PM, A2Mich said:

Was just thinking of one bit of trivia that Mailman told us.....as you drive around, you will see many houses that are occupied, but have portions of the house that are unfinished, and have been for a long time.  Was told that if a house isn’t completely built and painted, then the owners are not assessed property tax, so homeowners will leave a wall unfinished or unpainted, or an addition only built with block supports, but no walls, etc. 

very true! but the added bonus is that they will say they are unsure whether to complete the whole house because of the hurricanes. The taxman knows it is not true ...

[A2Mich]

1 hour ago, mhafod said:

very true! but the added bonus is that they will say they are unsure whether to complete the whole house because of the hurricanes. The taxman knows it is not true ...

 

Good point, but their laws are the laws.  However, I mostly noticed this on the French side.  Curious if the same holds true on the Dutch side.

[mhafod]

26 minutes ago, A2Mich said:

 

Good point, but their laws are the laws.  However, I mostly noticed this on the French side.  Curious if the same holds true on the Dutch side.

I don't think the same holds on the Dutch side. Houses on the dutch side are well maintained. Even after the hurricane of last year, the dutch side was up and running in a couple of months while the french side was still in shambles (we were there in july 2018 almost a year after the hurricane). From what I understood, the french side has a lot of red tape which makes people try to evade taxes as much as they can.

[A2Mich]

29 minutes ago, mhafod said:

I don't think the same holds on the Dutch side. Houses on the dutch side are well maintained. Even after the hurricane of last year, the dutch side was up and running in a couple of months while the french side was still in shambles (we were there in july 2018 almost a year after the hurricane). From what I understood, the french side has a lot of red tape which makes people try to evade taxes as much as they can.

 

Thats very possible.  We also thought that in general, while the French side was quaint and charming, the Dutch side is more cosmopolitan and seemed to be better cared for in general.  That may simply be a matter of Philipsburg being the tourism and financial hub of the island, with Marigot to a lesser extent.  May also have to do with funding from the Netherlands and France possibly being very unequal.