It looks so nice!
Wondering if anyone has any feedback?
What's close by?
Does anyone hv any great dinner recommendations with something close?
Thank you for any suggestions!
-newbie poster

Which website did you find the house on?

http://www.bonairenet.com/mermaid/

Does anyone hv any feedback?

This looks pretty interseting. Where is the Belnam area?

JPA, Belnam is on the south west of the Island with dive sites all around and slave huts close by but that is it. The resturants are all north and too far to walk. You need a vehicle if you want this place. A beautiful area I have dived there (North Belnam) many times. The surf is light most of the time and the current can be tricky. Can't tell you about the house.. Hope I helped you... Ron

JPA and Jay, Belnam area is south of the airport and the only restaurant that I know of in the area is in The Great Escape Hotel. All the rest of the restaurants are north of the airport. You will need a car/truck to get to most of them. If you are walkers the Plaza resort is within walking distance but if not walkers it its to far.

Ooh, that looks wonderful! Easy access right into the water.

Unfortunately I don't have any personal experience with the property but it does look nice and reasonable, too. Looks like there is the "main" house and an apartment attached to it, too. Carole

62 E.E.G Boulevard would be very near to Bachelor's Beach. Belnem does have a restaurant, bar, DVD rental shop and Internet cafe, so there really isn't much of a need to go into town except for groceries and gas.

WOW!
Thank you for all the great tips!
You are all so nice to help.

We take off this weekend!
I will give a report if you like.

If you hv a favorite restaurant , pls let me know. I have gibbees on our list for Tuesday night (lobster night??) and Karl's for sunset and Mona Lisa.

I was looking for three more ; something wonderful and on the beach. Any suggestions?

This was a last minute, much deserved dream get away to relax and do nothing much else.

Try the Rib Factory, it is on the waterfront in town, upstairs over the little mall. It is open air and high enough that you don't get the exhaust fumes from the cars and motorcycles going by. You also get a great unobstructed view of the bag and sunset. And the food and staff are great.
Andy & Dave

Try Lion's Den and Chibi Chibi, Richards is always nice and romantic too. Also, always enjoyed going to Captn. Dons and looking out over the water eating, you can get the little pavillion tables right on the water. Chibi Chibi is right over the water too. So is Lion's Den. I heard Richards is really nice, haven't been for awhile. Think he has tables over the water too. So, there ya go, Choose away. Debbie

I can second the Rib Factory. We eat there several times during each trip.

I vote for Chibi Chibi and Richards also!

The apartment looks like a great deal--especially for a waterfront property. Great area! You'll be hard pressed to beat that deal anywhere on the island.

I think so too, Bill.
We're all packed and ready!
I've added the Rib Factory and Richard's to our list.
Thank you for all the great advice!

Hi JPA
We are looking to possibly book Mermaid house soon. Can you give us some feedback - did you have a good time? It looks great.
Thx

b

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i am trying to cut and paste this trip report fm word and cannot get through.
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Oh no! Not sure what to advise as I'm not really a computer bod. Maybe someone else could help?
To be going on with, could you give us a thumbs up or down. Just to help us decide whether to go ahead and make the reservation.
Thx
Joanna

I loved it! two thumbs up fm each of us! If you want me to send photos let me know ur email address. Hv a great time!

i blv it just may not be possible to cut and paste fm a word document.

not sure why??

Great News
Hope you had a super time.
love to see some photo's
Email address is
fitandfunctional@tiscali.co.uk

J

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Joanna, so sorry for the delay. Ive been hving difficulty trying to log on the board.

We loved it! I hv more descriptive house photos if you like to see.



We were wishing for a quick, relaxing vacation together and found the Mermaid House on line.



All of my emails re the beach house were with quick/friendly/helpful replies.



Most challenging part of the vacation wld be to get someone fm Bonaire Exel Res Dept. to answer the phone.

The flight was a breeze! Our contact person, Ria was waiting for us at the airport with a truck for our use. Our charming beach house, in Belnem was all that I hoped for and more! Ria introduced us to the house and toured us around. We had a small beach at our backdoor with a nice reef to teach our son to snorkel. It was in a safe and secure area not far from the airport. Someone had mentioned that maybe we wld be disturbed by the noise and this absolutely was not the case at all. The only sounds at our place were the waves on the sandy beach. For me a dream!



The price was sure right. For two couples there wld hv been plenty of room. Each bedrm has its own full bath. The only rooms not pictured on the website were the bedrms and I was prepared for the mismatched “camping” style; “very” basic; Bunk beds pulled apart and pushed together.



Funny thing when I had emailed Ria prior asking her specifically about the bed / sleeping arrangements, Ria did describe that twin beds being turned into one bed as a “French – term; “lits- jumeaux”. I replied with, “what does this mean, stay away from the middle”. She replied with, "Indeed".

The rooms were clean-ish and for the money who wld complain? Not me! The kitchen was equipped with a coffee maker, dbl door fridge, washer/dryer…. It cld hv used a good cleanup in the kitchen cabinets and floors / imo but nothing worth fussing over. When we return I will ask for a housekeeper to do an “extra” cleaning before we arrive.



On Sunday we bought a few grocery items and spent many breakfasts on the patio with pancakes and croissants and etcs.



We lunched on Baguettes at a French Bakery 2 x’. We lunched at the Chibi Chibi and my son went ga-ga over the dozens of enormous parrot fish which swam right by our table.



We enjoyed one fab- -icent French Lunch experience in a beautiful garden at Le Flamboyant. Imagine the charm of learning fm the owner that the restaurant was closed but she invited us in and served us a decadent lunch.

Most everyone we met greeted us with warm smiles and genuine hospitality.



All of our dinners were truly outstanding and I was way impressed with the dining options offered in Bonaire.



In order of our favorites;



It’s Raining Fishes – Outstanding! Wld return and did!

10 Meal

10 Service

10 Ambience





Salsa - Fabulous! Wld return!

10 Meal

8 + Service

10 Ambience



Rib Factory - Great!! Wld return!

10 Meal

8 Service



There was an Italian Restaurant whose name has escaped me (behind Salsa) no ambiance to speak of, with pasta cooked to perfection. Divine! What a chef!

Sorry guys! Cannot give thumbs up to the board favorite. Our one disappointment; Richard’s. We were met by tired and mumbling wait staff with the welcome, ”were out of fish” dragged a broken menu board to our table and expertly propped it up on a chair. We watched many diners make a quick exit. Also out of coke, diet coke and decaf coffee.

(i hv learned that this text box only takes a few lines at a time with the copy / paste method - pls hv patience with me)

Our dinners were fine but this together with breathtaking sunset ambiance quickly faded when my son revealed our table was full of bird droppings

We toured this charming island on our own and our son loved Sorobon where the kite surfers and wind surfers went wild and as we drove on our own more we visited the Indian Caves, Salt Ponds and toured the Flamingo Sanctuary, saw goats, donkeys, cacti and etc.



The other disappointment wld be when my husband had parked his car in an empty lot one afternoon to ck his emails. When he returned to the empty parking lot, he found our truck had been sideswiped. Worse, the person who swiped our parked truck got stuck to our bumper and dragged our truck across the empty lot and into a pole. No note. Nice.

One thing we wanted to do, but ran out of time was an organized tour of the Rincon Village with a retired school teacher which got rave reviews. Our son wld hv loved it; next time this will be on our list.

When we returned our flight was delayed one hour which was not a problem for us.

We rate our vacation a 10 out of 10!