Budget: the Pasanggrahan Royal Guest House (00 599 542 3588, www.pasanhotel.com) is gently fading and friendly, on the beachfront in Philipsburg. Once the Dutch governor’s residence, it has antiques and four-poster beds. The bijou Sydney Greenstreet bar echoes with the cavorting of long-since departed jet-setters. B&B doubles start at £45: the Queen’s room, where Queen Beatrix stayed on her last visit, is terrific value at £64.

BEST BEACHES

Orient Beach is a stunning 2km-long scythe of sand that sees big crowds at weekends. They’re drawn by the beautiful bathers, buzzing beach bars and welter of watersports, and some by bathing sans trunks at the southern tip.

A more chilled option is Friar’s Bay, backed by hills and fronted with bathtub-calm water, plus Kali’s place serving the perfect beach-bar vibe.

In the southwest are Long Bay, Mullet Bay and Cupecoy, all beautiful sandy stretches with calm, clear water. Also, there’s tiny Maho beach, which is like a little open bracket at the end of the airport runway. It attracts a knot of adrenaline junkies, watching the aircraft lumber in to land just a few dozen feet above the sand.

BEYOND THE BEACHES

The pretty French capital of Marigot has top-end-brand boutiques and a homely little museum with displays on sugar and slavery — that should occupy a morning or so.

The views from the summit of Pic Paradis, St Martin’s mountain, are pretty good, but the main reason for venturing into the interior is for an evocative mountainside walk through Lotterie Farm, in the footsteps of the original plantation slaves (£2.50).

You can also jump island. Regular ferries make the 25-minute crossing from Marigot to the super-relaxed Anguilla, for £5 each way. Or Winair (www.fly-winair.com) has day-return fares from £26 — the views are worth the price of the ticket alone. It also connects Saba and St Barts.

EAT AND DRINK

It’s a cosmopolitan crowd that calls St Martin home — more than 70 nationalities — so there’s a feed in every flavour. But it’s the French side’s fare that really counts.

L’Auberge Gourmande (00 590 590 877337) is the most French-feeling, housed in a 120-year-old stone dwelling, with a good wine selection and imaginatively presented dishes such as baked mahi mahi with asparagus, tomato risotto and saffron fish sauce (£12). At the other end of the scale, there’s a cluster of traditional lolo shacks serving fish, chicken and crab Caribbean-style for about £2. Also call in at the little bar-lined marina in Marigot.

The Dutch side’s capital, Philipsburg, shuts down at night, when attention shifts to the fringes of Maho Bay — go to the Sunset Bar for a beer, a Boeing, and then a trendy eatery such as Bliss (00 599 545 3996), later a nightclub.

TRAVEL BRIEF

Other St Martin operators include: Complete Caribbean (01423 531031, www.completecaribbean.co.uk), Elegant Resorts (01244 897999, www.elegantresorts.co.uk), and Carrier (01625 547020, www.carrier.co.uk).

Getting there: Opodo (0870 241 7056, www.opodo.co.uk) has fares from Heathrow, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Bristol and 10 other UK airports from £495, via Amsterdam with KLM. Or try Travelocity (0870 111 7061, www.travelocity.co.uk)

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