Hotel in St. thomas

[68camaro]

For spring breaking heading to St. thomas with wife and son, 17. We are looking at hotels/resort, any ideas of nice places on beach? We will be there in mid April, so any ideas of what to do or look out for greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Chuck

[LandLawMan]

Just in case you have not been there before....

Saint Thomas is the socio-exconomic island equivellent to rural Kentucky. With beaches.

You want Wal Mart? They got 'em. You want Home Depot, Kentucky Fried Chicken, K-Mart, and more cellulite and G.E.D.'s than you can shake a stick at? They got 'em.

The beaches are drop-dead gorgeous (just ask Corona beer) and the tourist shop owners are nice. BUT -- and I tell you this because there's nothing more important to a man than taking care of his family -- the crime rates outside the tourist areas are shockingly high when expressed as a percentage of population. And its safer to walk on broken glass, than it is to drive in St. T. It's not the locals... it's the bloody tourists who rent cars, "kick back a few", and then forget that we drive ON THE LEFT in St. T.

If you go shoping at the love boat ports at Charlotte Amalie, don't go when the big boats are there. Wait until they're gone. Then you've got WAY more leverage when making deals with the shop's purveyors. If they stay open, that is.

MOST IMPORTANT: Although you don't need a passport to go to St. T., you might find yourself at Red Hook and want to jump on the ferry to the B.V.I. And that activity DOES require passports.

As to accomodations, I have found that renting a Time Share -- of which there are thousands in St. T. -- is the best way to go.

All-in-all, I love St. T., but you should not be operating under a false assumption that it's a "foreign" paradise. It's BootLick, Mississippi, but with nice, white sand.

[wantonebad]

Originally Posted by LandLawMan

Just in case you have not been there before....

Saint Thomas is the socio-exconomic island equivellent to rural Kentucky. With beaches.

You want Wal Mart? They got 'em. You want Home Depot, Kentucky Fried Chicken, K-Mart, and more cellulite and G.E.D.'s than you can shake a stick at? They got 'em.

The beaches are drop-dead gorgeous (just ask Corona beer) and the tourist shop owners are nice. BUT -- and I tell you this because there's nothing more important to a man than taking care of his family -- the crime rates outside the tourist areas are shockingly high when expressed as a percentage of population. And its safer to walk on broken glass, than it is to drive in St. T. It's not the locals... it's the bloody tourists who rent cars, "kick back a few", and then forget that we drive ON THE LEFT in St. T.

If you go shoping at the love boat ports at Charlotte Amalie, don't go when the big boats are there. Wait until they're gone. Then you've got WAY more leverage when making deals with the shop's purveyors. If they stay open, that is.

MOST IMPORTANT: Although you don't need a passport to go to St. T., you might find yourself at Red Hook and want to jump on the ferry to the B.V.I. And that activity DOES require passports.

As to accomodations, I have found that renting a Time Share -- of which there are thousands in St. T. -- is the best way to go.

All-in-all, I love St. T., but you should not be operating under a false assumption that it's a "foreign" paradise. It's BootLick, Mississippi, but with nice, white sand.

You have some good info here but I'm not so sure our members from Mississippi or Kentucky are going to appreciate the liberties you've taken or the generalizations you've made about their states. I'm not trying to be politically correct, you may have a point, but you've arrived at that point in a less than flattering way. JMHO

[LandLawMan]

I'm from Tennessee. An S.E.C. boy for life. So perhaps I should have only referred to my home state.

You're right, of course: My S.E.C. bretheren might take issue with the fact that some Southern states lask the economic prosperity of a Vermont or a California. But a fact it is, nevertheless, and to deny the existence of that fact, is to deny that the sun shines during the day.

To all my brothers and sister in the South: I apologize. Now, as for those damned Canadians......

[wantonebad]

Dixie on Dixie crime, might have your sweet-tea permit pulled if you're not careful...

[mannyv11]

Originally Posted by wantonebad

Dixie on Dixie crime, might have your sweet-tea permit pulled if your not careful...

oooooh man I love me some sweet tea. Haven't had it in years since the girl I was seeing moved away and took the tea with her

Happy she moved away sad I lost the tea

[wantonebad]

OP sorry for the hijack, I have stayed at the Crystal Cove Hotel and the Ritz, I prefered the Ritz, little shock there!

Originally Posted by mannyv11

oooooh man I love me some sweet tea. Haven't had it in years since the girl I was seeing moved away and took the tea with her

Happy she moved away sad I lost the tea

Ahhh it is better to have loved and lost, than to have been murdered in your sleep... isn't that how the saying goes?

[mannyv11]

Originally Posted by wantonebad

Ahhh it is better to have loved and lost, than to have been murdered in your sleep... isn't that how the saying goes?

haha scary part is I was almost murdered in my sleep..... how the hell did you know?

[crew]

I was there in January. I stayed at the Ritz Carlton and enjoyed it very much.
The beach at the Ritz is nice but it's short. If you're looking for a long beach to take walks on this isn't for you. The only other beach I visited on St. Thomas was Magen's Bay and there are no hotels there. The best beaches that I saw were on St. John's. They were beautiful and pristine. It's a 15 minute ferry ride from Red Hook. It's worth a consideration.

[68camaro]

Thanks, I grew up in Albany and the NYC crowd was convinced we were all rednecks (ask Mayor Koch - it is big reason he never was governor).

Living in Central Virginia for last 8 years, and Atlanta for previous 14, I get the Dixie comparison, but I am what they call down here a "damn yankee" because I am not moving back North...ever:)

The Ritz is on our short list as is visiting the beaches at St. John's, thanks for heads up on crime and commercialization.

[hdrazor251]

Check out sites like vrbo.com for condo rentals. In the past few years, I have used them in Kawai, Honolulu, St. Thomas, Bahamas, Grand Cayman, and Maui. The best way to go IMHO.

[Jewild]

Just been there 2 weeks ago, Crew gave me advice to eat at the Banana Tree Grill,
Food was awesome.
Best beach I ever been to was on St. John's Trunk Bay.
Voted One of Top 10 Beaches in the World.
Ferry from Red Hook to Cruz Bay was I think 14.00 rt.
Taxi after shopping to Trunk Bay 10.00 ?
Admission to beach 4.00,
snorkel rental 3.00,
Corona's 4.00.
Snorkeled to the far left rocks, AWESOME.
Stayed at Sugar Bay Resort, not the best place we ever been to, food not so good !!
Small beach, very rocky (buy beach shoes it helps.
Wife cut foot on rocks first day, and had issues all week after (walking in water and sand)
So we ate at a few other place's in Red Hook, 5/person from resort.
But I cant complain, wife's boss took us, free gratis.

[crew]

Originally Posted by Jewild

Just been there 2 weeks ago, Crew gave me advice to eat at the Banana Tree Grill,
Food was awesome.
Best beach I ever been to was on St. John's Trunk Bay.
Voted One of Top 10 Beaches in the World.

Jewild:
Glad you tried & enjoyed the Banana Tree Grill!
My dinner there was memorable, both for the food as well as the spectacular view.
I'm considering a return trip to the VI's and at the top of my "to do" list is exploring the beaches on St. John's.

[Dr.Brian]

I have been several times and stay at the Marriott Frenchman's Reef or it's sister resort the Morningstar.
Decent food, private beach, ferry to Charlotte Amalie.
I also got married there. :)

Get the harbor view, the city lights at night are lovely. I prefer it to the ocean view. They have 2 story suites which might work well for you and your older daughter. They don't break the bank either.
I'm afraid to drive there. Really. It's nuts. I just get a cab, which is usually a minivan. And I buckle up tight.

[LandLawMan]

Originally Posted by 68camaro

For spring breaking heading to St. thomas with wife and son, 17. We are looking at hotels/resort, any ideas of nice places on beach? We will be there in mid April, so any ideas of what to do or look out for greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Chuck

If you want to go with a couple of other families, my business associate has an enormous beach-front home there which he rents to people he knows or to recommended people. Let me know by PM if interested. Around $7k a week, which isn't bad considering it sleeps 18.

Marriott Feenchman's is ok I stayed there my first trip to St. T. I ended up sleeping and eating there, but spending almost all my beach time at Magen's.

No, this pic has nothing to do with the post. It's just my favorite pic.

[68camaro]

Originally Posted by LandLawMan

Let me know by PM if interested. Around $7k a week, which isn't bad considering it sleeps 18.

Thank you for offer, there will only be three of us so your friends place will be a bit too big. Nice bike bye the way

Thanks all for ideas, I need to focus on accommodations this week and will look into places mentioned here.

[Tripp11]

Originally Posted by Dr.Brian

I have been several times and stay at the Marriott Frenchman's Reef or it's sister resort the Morningstar.
Decent food, private beach, ferry to Charlotte Amalie.
I also got married there. :)

Get the harbor view, the city lights at night are lovely. I prefer it to the ocean view. They have 2 story suites which might work well for you and your older daughter. They don't break the bank either.
I'm afraid to drive there. Really. It's nuts. I just get a cab, which is usually a minivan. And I buckle up tight.

My wife and I were also married in St. Thomas in the Frenchman's Reef gazebo.

We stayed for three weeks in the MorningStar property, which we found quite relaxing and enjoyable. While the room was not what I would consider exceptional for US (the states) standards, one has to understand when traveling to the USVI that things are just different. Our room was a little worn down, but having the beach just steps from your suite at that price point was wonderful.

The dining options throughout St. Thomas seemed to be endless, and we enjoyed most of our meals; however, there are some restaurants that we would not return to.

It was difficult for me to adapt to "island time", but after three weeks, I was warming up to it. Everyone just moves at a slower pace.

If I were ever to go back, I would think about renting a house and would check out VRBO.