By the Caribbean Journal staff

Two of St Maarten’s preeminent resorts are finally planning to make their return following last year’s storms.

The Sonesta Ocean Point resort and the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort will reopening for the winter tourist season, the company announced this week.

The Sonesta Ocean Point will reopen Nov. 15, while the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort will reopen Feb. 1, 2018.

The revamped entrance to the Ocean Point.

Both properties are all-inclusive resorts, with the Sonesta Ocean Point an adults-only property and the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort geared toward families.

Sonesta Maho’s transformation will be headlined by the total overhaul of the property’s Sky Tower, which sustained heavy damage from Hurricane Irma. The tower will be built with a new technology that can sustain winds of more than 200 mph, according to Sonesta.

Design + Positif is responsible for the overall architectural and interior redesign of Sonesta Maho Beach Resort, with the property set to receive a new clean, contemporary look.

The transformed Maho lobby.

The Ocean Point, which sustained less damage than its sister property, will see an entirely redesigned lobby and the addition of a new Spanish-style tapas restaurant, among other changes.

Ocean Point’s conventino center will be completely reconstructed and redesigned, with updates to all 24,000 square feet of meeting space.

The nearby Maho Village, which includes popular shopping and nightlife spots, is undergoing a massive transformation of its own, with plans to reopen this summer that will include the 21,000-square-foot Casino Royale.

Sonesta has announced bookings will launch June 1.

The announcement comes after another another of the island’s top resorts, the Divi Little Bay, officially reopened earlier this month.

— CJ