Located on a thin sandy spit near Marigot, this is a good middle-grade operation and one of the few hotels actually on the seaside of the road.
Friendly and funky, this three-story group-oriented resort is given nominal West Indian flavor with gingerbread eaves, flower boxes and lattice accents. North Americans are more likely to bunk here or at the new Radisson than some of the smaller operations with more French flavor.
The open-air lobby, however, is crowned with a bevy of witty contemporary design schemes: undulating half-walls, clear acrylic pillars streaming with water and a Plexiglas walkway passing over a babbling brook.
Guests can enjoy their sea views while reclining in a wrought-iron daybed or plump rattan seating. To one side is the restaurant with bar, which sits above the pool and offers lovely sea views. The continental menu and atmosphere is surprisingly innovative and energetic. A full breakfast buffet is included in most rates. A pianist croons nightly in the bar.
Sunbathing is the primary occupation here: on the chaise lounges crowded around the pool, on the small sandy beach or out on a concrete pier seemingly built for maximum exposure to ultraviolet rays.
An underwhelming fitness room boasts a few machines. Up to 80 people can gather in the hotel's sole meeting room, and wireless high speed Internet signals 
are available in the public areas. Parking is ample and free.
The standardized, commercially-tinged accommodations blend tropical and plantation accents with art on the walls, tile floors, hardwood furniture and large furnished balconies facing either the sea or the ugly road and vacant lots.
Fabrics are fading fast, but the fresh paint on walls is appealing. Air conditioning, phones, full-length mirrors, wireless Internet (for a daily surcharge), TVs, minibars, safes and clean, tiled combination baths with hair dryers, small vanities and makeup mirrors are standard; six suites add kitchenettes and sofa beds.
Nearly half the units are Seaview (the preferred choice), and so-called Island units survey the road, Marigot and the lagoon.
Only small pets are permitted, and room service delivers during meal times. When guests are lucky enough to grab hold of one, the staffers prove friendly, accommodating and English-speaking. Soundproofing is noticeably weak especially on the lower floors overlooking the road.
Oriented to French nationals, the Beach Plaza will satisfy anyone free of unrealistic expectations.
