SAINT FRANCOIS, Saint Francois
The Crystal Beach residence is a secure luxury residence, benefiting from vast green areas, two swimming pools (one of which is for young children) and direct access to the beach of clear grapes. It is located not far from the center of the town of Saint-François, the night market, fishing and marinas and departures for the islands.
The rooms are air conditioned, the kitchen is equipped and open to the living room. Free access to collective Wi-Fi.
A bakery, a small supermarket and three restaurants are located at the entrance of the residence as well as tennis courts.
The golf course and an airfield are located 5 minutes by car.
I left very detailed reviews following our stays in 2019 and 2022, so this will be short. This was our fourth stay in Florence’s apartment. The apartment and the Crystal Beach Residence remain a wonderful place to spend time in the sun. Clean, quiet, well equipped, on the beach, two swimming pools, and walking distance to grocery stores (we spent five and a half weeks without a car this year), with a bakery, three restaurants and a convenience store just outside the complex gate. We were happy, and plan to return.
We spent five weeks in Florence’s apartment from mid-February to late March, our third stay here. We plan to return. It remains ideal for us – clean, first floor, parking spot right outside the door, a relaxing view as the apartment faces a large open green space with a pool, and next to a beach. The complex is quiet – this is not a party destination. The main sound you hear at night are the ocean waves. During the winter season, there is a constant ocean breeze that keeps you cool and chases away flying insects. With the front windows and the patio door open we did not need air conditioning, and only turned it on in the bedroom when we went to bed. (Summer and fall might be a different story.) Not sure if it belongs to this apartment or to another, but there is a bird feeder hanging from a tree in front of the patio. We put seeds in it to watch the birds. Our dealings with the property manager were good. The owner has installed a large 600 litre cistern to provide a backup water supply. This is vital in many parts of Grand Terre including St Francois as there will be rotating water outages until the aging distribution network is fixed. We like to walk, and most of the time we did not need a car – there is a convenience store, bakery and three restaurants just outside the gate, food trucks a ten minute walk away beside the beach with take-away food, and a small grocery store (Coliprix) about 15 minutes away. There is an excellent butcher shop across the street from the church about a twenty minute walk from the apartment. We also bought several home-made take-away meals from the ladies who set up on Saturday and Sunday mornings just outside the nearby gymnasium. The apartment and the location work for us. We will be back.
Second year in this apartment, and we are still pleased. If we return again, it would be our first choice.
A real nice area to live in and a great apartment. Nice pool area and a good beach. The apartment had everything we neded.
We enjoyed our stay. The condo was in excellent condition, the kitchen was well equipped, and the bed was comfortable. The condo property is gated for safety, and the grounds are well maintained. The children's swimming pool was perfect for when our three-year old granddaughter came to visit. While the adult pool was a bit small, it served the purpose. Almost everything you need to prepare your own meals is available within a twenty minute walk, and the onsite convenience store is well stocked. Parking for the condo was right in front of the door. One maintenance issue arose while we were there that the property manager quickly fixed even though it meant bringing in a worker on the weekend. Our daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter joined us for a week, and there was enough room for all of us to be comfortable. Aside from a couple of mosquitoes one night, insects were not a problem when we stayed in March. The complex was quiet at night - perfect for us, and perfect for anyone with children. The only negative was that the WIFI was slow. We spent three weeks here and wish we had booked for longer. We would definitely stay here again.