The Riu Palace St. Martin officially opened last December as the company's first property on the island and the only all-inclusive resort on the French side of the Dutch-French island. Caribbean editor Gay Nagle Myers visited the property, tried out her high-school French and sampled the culinary treats.
I've been here before. The 258-room resort has flown several flags, including Le Meridien and Radisson, before it joined the Riu family last year.
My French is no better on this visit than on my first visit years ago, but the property seems to have kept up with time better than I have.
Riu acquired the property set on the shoreline of the shallow cove of Anse Marcel in June 2014. It officially debuted as an all-inclusive resort last December after six months of redos and renovations.
It's a new ballgame for many of the long-time employees, who have weathered the ownership and management changes over the years.
Justin, a bellman for 23 years, told me that it's a learning curve, adapting from an EP (European Plan-room only resort) to all-inclusive resort.
"Guests expect more now. We're offering more, and we have to know it all," he said.
Royston, a room-service attendant who welcomed me with a platter of chocolate-covered strawberries, is a newbie.
"I've been here seven months. I love the guests here. They are jolly," he said.
I don't know from jolly, but I saw a wedding party in pre-wedding celebrations down at the beach this afternoon and they were most definitely in the jolly mode.
Paco Benito, general manager, joined Riu last June after a stint in other Riu properties, including Cuba and Paris, said it's all about "adapting to where you are living. I learned that early on. I've worked since I was 15, but I told my father, who worked for Melia Hotels for 40 hotels, that I wanted to be a general manager. I was 14 at the time."
Benito has come a long way since then. So has this resort.
I've already tested the lounge chairs at the beach and sampled the late-afternoon buffet at L'Ile. Three a la carte restaurants, a spa treatment, a hike around the property, a catamaran cruise and the markets of Marigot await.
Au revoir.