One night in St Thomas

[ScottB]

Hello all,

Well after a 2 year vacation drought, I'm finally booked for a week in St John next June. We are staying in villa for the week (first villa), but are looking to stay one night in St Thomas so we aren't rushing around the next morning for our flight back home. Right now we are considering the Marriot Frenchmans Reef or Wyndham Sugar Bay. Both seem close to the airport, and both are priced about the same.

Can someone please give me some feedback on these places. Is one better than the other? A good restaurant near by won't hurt.

Thank you for any help.
-Scott

[Bill in Va]

Yo Buddy...Can we say "YIPPEE" that you are going back. Sandie and I stayed at Frenchmans Reef in June with the company. It is a nice property. I once got it for a night on priceline.com for $75 I think a few years ago! It will work for you....call me if you want more info...God bless..Bill

[California Girl]

Scott - It's not fancy, but it's nice & clean, so I'm told. Give the Inn at Villa Olga a try. It's in Frenchtown, close to restaurants & bars. You could easily get a taxi to the airport.

http://www.bolongobay.com/VillaOlga.htm

[loria]

i will be staying at the VIlla olga on the evening of the 3rd of January--if you can wait i can give you a first hand account (though the TA site has reviews as well)

[Gromit]

If you want to splurge give the Ritz Carlton a try. In this economy they might be offering some good deals...

[ScottB]

Thanks all for the replies.

Gromit, I thought about the Ritz, but just don't feel the price tag is worth it. It was $600+ on Expedia. That's out of my league for sure.

Bill, I think we are leaning towards Freenchman's Reef. I will talk to you about it when you get back. have a safe trip my friend.

[Gromit]

That seems high-- try their web site directly.

They frequently offer packages that include $100 or more in resort credit (which would cover most of dinner) plus breakfast included. When you factor that in it's actually more affordable when you consider total costs involved. Plus the service is out of this world.

The only reason I suggest it is because most people just assume that the ritz is completely out of their price range. Sometimes it is and sometimes based upon availability and demand they can have some spectacular deals.

I look at the consolidating sites too, but they don't always reflect specials offered directly thru the hotels web site.

We can often get a room at the Ritz here in the DC area for $129 a night, breakfast included.

Just sayin...

[ScottB]

Believe me, I'd love to stay at the Ritz (never have), but it would need to be around $200. I will definitely check their website and a couple others and see if I can find a deal....Thank you very much!!

[Gromit]

If you can't swing it, Wyndham and Frenchman's Reef are decent choices as well.

LOTS of googly-eyed honeymooners that time of year so just be prepared for that.

[Exit Zero]

Just so you realize - neither the Frenchman's Reef or Wyndham are 'close by the airport' -- FR is through town and all the way out on the point by the harbor entrance -- the Wyndham is much farther - all the way on the East end of STT.
If there was no traffic - F.Reef - 20 min. to airport --- Wyndham 40 min.

[RonUSVI]

Au contraire Exit. The driver for the AA flight crew that fly in at night says it's better for them to stay at the Windham that Marriott because of traffic! Nevertheless, neither are close to the airport!

[California Girl]

And speaking of RonUSVI.... Scott, did you know Ronnie owns the Crystal Palace? A wonderful place to stay, so I'm told. I didn't book there because I need to be close to CYOA, but from what I hear, Ronnie will welcome you with a rum punch and can even arrange transportation to the airport for you!

[nothintolose]

We have stayed at the Holiday Inn, The Mafolie Hotel, and are booked at the Best Western Emerald Beach for one night this summer but may change it. We usually just go for a place to crash because we get in late and head over to STJ the next morning.

We are gonna look into that Olga place Margo mentioned as we usually end up eating in Frenchtown since everything seems to be closed by the time we get in.

[mcpenguin5]

We are here in St. John right now, and stayed our first night in St. Thomas. My daughter-in-law got us rooms at the Point Pleasant Resort, near the Windham Sugar Bay, for $125/night. It was soooo nice, 3 great pools, spectacular views, nicest and most helpful staff you could ever want. The rooms were really great, and they gave us a bottle of rum in both of our rooms along with some Coke in the fridge as a welcome gift. They have a free courtesy drive that will take you anywhere around on the resort at the drop of a hat, and two great restaurants. We loved Fungie's down on the water, Reggae music and Carribean food, good prices. They treated us like royalty when we ate there Friday night last week. Whenm we packed to leave for the ferry, I forgot to pack my husbands leather coat which I had hung in the closet. When I realized it, we were in the middle of a 24 hour blackout, and couldn't get through to them. Hubby emailed them as soon as the power came back on, and they offered to mail it back to us at home, free of charge! I was so thrilled with them, they will definitely be our first-night stay next time we come down. Our grandson said he wants to go over there for lunch on our way out on Saturday. We all thought that was a great idea. I strongly recommend you check them out.
Kris

[nothintolose]

mcpenguin = thanks for the post - always like hearing about different places - gonna check into that one now.