Hotels in Oranjestad

Oranjestad: Fort Oranje and the First Salute

Oranjestad is the capital of Sint Eustatius (Statia), a 21 km² Dutch Caribbean island in the northeastern Leeward Islands, roughly 60 km south of Sint Maarten. The town sits on a narrow coastal shelf below the dormant The Quill volcano, whose crater rim reaches 601 m. On 16 November 1776, Fort Oranje fired the first foreign salute to an American flag, a moment commemorated annually as Statia-America Day. That single fact draws historians and heritage travelers to an island most Caribbean itineraries skip entirely.

Where to Stay and Getting Around

Accommodation in Lower Town puts guests within walking distance of the black-sand waterfront and the 18th-century warehouses once central to one of the Atlantic world's busiest free ports. Upper Town properties sit near Fort Oranje and the St. Eustatius Historical Foundation Museum, housed in a 1775 building. The island has no mass-market resorts; properties run to small guesthouses and dive-oriented lodges, most within a 10-minute drive of F.D. Roosevelt Airport (EUX).

Practical Tips

• Getting there: EUX receives daily turboprop flights from Sint Maarten (SXM), roughly 20 minutes; no direct transatlantic service.
• Diving: The protected marine park surrounds the entire island; registration fees apply at check-in.
• Currency: US dollar is the official currency since 2011, when the Netherlands Antilles dissolved.