Frommer's Portable St. Maarten/St. Martin, Anguilla & St. Barts

I agree that it's got great info, but if you already have the thicker Frommer's Caribbean guide, this might not be quite a deal since it looks like most of the info is already in the thicker guide. Of course, this is smaller, which might appeal to those who want to pack light and only have Anguilla, St. Martin, etc. as their specific destinations.

I am going to St. Maarten in October! Gave tons of tips and ideas!

This was our 3rd trip to St. Martin & the best. We checked out some of the beaches, restaurants, and clubs from the guide and had a blast!

I was looking for guide books for St. Martin in late 2006 but wasn't able to find one that I sufficiently liked. It was either one of those guide books for whole Carribean and would gloss over this small island in less than 10 pages; or concentrate solely on the outdoorsy/adventure aspect of things, which is not something I wanted. Fortunately, this book was published about a month before my trip to St. Martin and I was able to get a copy of it before then. This is the most complete and comprehensive guide book for St. Martin that's out there, so I really liked it. I enjoyed reading about the island's history and it has helpful facts to help you prepare for your trip. The book doesn't list and review even half of the accomodation or the restaurants on this small island. For that, you should consult the internet, eg. Tripadvisor and such. Rather, the book highlights for readers what restaurants they shouldn't miss or which hotel they should book in different price ranges. I wish that there was a price guideline for rental cars that tell you what the average compact car rental would cost. I also wish there were more restaurant review but that's just the foodie in me talking. Overall, the maps of the towns were quite good and helpful but the overall map of the island is not that great to refer to when driving. You can just get a better island road map when you're there anyway. Nevertheless, the book still offers helpful tidbits such as preparing your own medicines/sunscreen and other pharmaceutical needs because it can get tricky to find a complete pharmacy. The Anguilla/St. Barths section looks rather small but I'm not sure of its helpfulness or usefulness because I didn't go there.