By Alexander Britell and Guy Britton

After a meal of fresh local snapper and white wine, you walk past the brilliant blue view and the striking cliffs beneath your feet and it’s very easy to forget you’re staying at an all-inclusive resort.

It’s only the absence of the bill that gives any clue, here at the Sonesta Ocean Point in St Maarten, a revamped resort that is quietly redefining the all-inclusive experience.

Perched high above St Maarten’s iconic Maho Beach, there’s a rarefied air up here, where sleek, crisp design makes for a very different, very welcome, experience.

And yes, it’s a beautiful property, set on a cliffside that makes for a very different vantage point of St Maarten, where the views often take over, concocting a wonderful feeling that you’re halfway between St Maarten and somewhere in the Mediterranean.

You’ll never tire of the blue.

But it’s the details that take what would already be a cool all-inclusive resort and turn it into something more.

Because luxury is always in the details.

It’s in the Molton Brown amenities in the bathrooms, in the Pellegrino the Acqua Panna you get at the restaurants, in the Nespresso machines that are in every room.

Splurge for the swim-up rooms.

Or the nightly, comprehensive turndown service or the (optional) candle-lit clifftop dinners.

Or the smart swim-up rooms, some of which come with the aforementioned sweeping cliffside views.

It’s a resort where you get the feeling that you’re cared for, that your indulgences are indulged, a place that knows you’re here on vacation and wants to give you the little touches to make your stay that much sweeter.

St Maarten is in the midst of a renaissance of its own, and the transformed Sonesta Ocean Point (along with its similarly reimagined Sonesta Maho next door) are at the forefront, offering a new, next-level experience for St Maarten’s loyal visitors — and those who are discovering the island for the first time.

They’ll be very happy with what they find.

For more, visit the Sonesta Ocean Point.