Sarafina Pastry Shop is open Update

[sbcatcher1]

Yesterday I I contacted Bernard's who I am taking a tour with in July, 2019 & he confirmed that Sarafina's is open at the new location 

 

 at Marina Port La Royale, Marigot.

 

If you take Bernards's tour (I booked #2) then you will stop in Marigot & can walk to Sarafina's.

[OceansOfTravels]

Oh this is such great news! Seems like a closer walk from where we usually get an Airbnb when we go to the island, so looks like it's even better for us. How great!

[Denali2003]

We will be on St. Maarten this December.  We are looking to "visit" French Pastry Shops.  Are they within walking distance from the cruise port (Princess Cruise Line) or do we need to take taxis?

[GimmeAdventure!]

On 5/21/2019 at 8:21 AM, sbcatcher1 said:

Yesterday I I contacted Bernard's who I am taking a tour with in July, 2019 & he confirmed that Sarafina's is open at the new location 

 

 at Marina Port La Royale, Marigot.

 

If you take Bernards's tour (I booked #2) then you will stop in Marigot & can walk to Sarafina's.

 

I was just looking at this last night, and am a bit on the fence about booking.  We were in St. Maarten last July and didn't see much because the island was in such bad shape at that point.  I really want to explore the French side a bit, and hopefully get a little bit of time to swim.  Would you mind doing a quick update after your trip?

[sbcatcher1]

1 hour ago, GimmeAdventure! said:

  Would you mind doing a quick update after your trip?

 

Yes I will, I travel next week.

[GimmeAdventure!]

2 hours ago, sbcatcher1 said:

 

Yes I will, I travel next week.

Have a great trip!

 

[Arzeena]

On 5/21/2019 at 8:21 AM, sbcatcher1 said:

Yesterday I I contacted Bernard's who I am taking a tour with in July, 2019 & he confirmed that Sarafina's is open at the new location 

 

 at Marina Port La Royale, Marigot.

 

If you take Bernards's tour (I booked #2) then you will stop in Marigot & can walk to Sarafina's.

I was also told that but was not able to find the new location. Can someone who has been there post walking directions from the vendors market, please?

[sbcatcher1]

I was in St. Martin last week. I took Bernard's tour #2. I inquired about Sarafina's and was told the driver didn't know if it was open or not & suggested that we go to L'Express on the corner by the parking lot near the local market. We only had about 30 mins at this stop. The croissant was very good. The other items we purchased were so so. The brownie was pretty but not much taste. A huge disappointment.  I would suggest you Google Sarafina's & call them, I think they are on Facebook.

[GimmeAdventure!]

36 minutes ago, sbcatcher1 said:

I was in St. Martin last week. I took Bernard's tour #2. I inquired about Sarafina's and was told the driver didn't know if it was open or not & suggested that we go to L'Express on the corner by the parking lot near the local market. We only had about 30 mins at this stop. The croissant was very good. The other items we purchased were so so. The brownie was pretty but not much taste. A huge disappointment.  I would suggest you Google Sarafina's & call them, I think they are on Facebook.

Thanks for the update. How was the rest of the tour,?

[sbcatcher1]

18 hours ago, GimmeAdventure! said:

Thanks for the update. How was the rest of the tour,?

 

I am writing a review and will post it under a separate post titled Bernard's review.

 

[amyj23]

So is it open or not? Their FB page has a picture from June 7th. The address shows as 14 rue de l'anguille. The OP said Marina Port La Royale, Marigot. I'm so confused. LOL

[Arzeena]

I was given the runaround by taxi drivers. I do know what the problem is but everyone there is sounding quite vague. Both times the lady I buy spices from at Marigot Market gave me directions: "walk to the second round about you see there, make a left and then right and keep walking towards the marina"......no I did not end up there! I asked several people there, I asked taxi drivers, the people at the info booth at the port, police, locals.....got different answers. Some say it is open, some say maybe, some just suggest another place. The taxi drivers do not know where it is and they just say they have closed down for good and take you to some other pastry places. NO no no....I want SARAFINA'S. I am determined to find them ....if they are open. The best news I recently heard from the spice ladies was that they are currently kind of a takeout( with 3 tables) and are in the process of rebuilding and expanding. She gave me the same directions again...."walk to the second round about you see there, make a left and then right and keep walking towards the marina" ......could not find it, third time!
If someone has been successful in locating them, please post.
Yes plenty of other pastry shops....but none as good as Sarafina's,  IMHO.

[amyj23]

21 hours ago, Arzeena said:

I was given the runaround by taxi drivers. I do know what the problem is but everyone there is sounding quite vague. Both times the lady I buy spices from at Marigot Market gave me directions: "walk to the second round about you see there, make a left and then right and keep walking towards the marina"......no I did not end up there! I asked several people there, I asked taxi drivers, the people at the info booth at the port, police, locals.....got different answers. Some say it is open, some say maybe, some just suggest another place. The taxi drivers do not know where it is and they just say they have closed down for good and take you to some other pastry places. NO no no....I want SARAFINA'S. I am determined to find them ....if they are open. The best news I recently heard from the spice ladies was that they are currently kind of a takeout( with 3 tables) and are in the process of rebuilding and expanding. She gave me the same directions again...."walk to the second round about you see there, make a left and then right and keep walking towards the marina" ......could not find it, third time!
If someone has been successful in locating them, please post.
Yes plenty of other pastry shops....but none as good as Sarafina's,  IMHO.

Thanks, Arzeena! I will not plan to seek them out next month. I don't want to chase our tail when our time there is brief. 

[Fairydust312]

We went to Sarafina’s during a Marigot port stop in March. It is open in the new marina location.  We found it fairly easily by following the google maps walking directions on my phone.

 

Edited to add that when we were there, some of the docking wood in the marina was in disrepair and would not have been suitable for strollers, wheelchairs, etc. I don't know if that has been fixed or whether there is a different way into the marina that would have avoided that area. 

Edited October 26, 2019 by Fairydust312