USVI-On-Line

....and I am so excited!!

My husband and I will be flying out of Syracuse, NY in November '09. This is our first trip to the USVIs.
I've been looking at air for a while now, and today found what I feel is a good deal (1 connection ) using Continental.

Now to decide where to stay...
St. Thomas or St. John?

Patti if you are looking for commercialization stay at STT if you are looking for paradise STJ! STT is nice but if you are looking for laid back, beautiful beaches, people and fine customs St John has it all. We will be returning to STJ for our third trip the end of October and absolutely fell in love with the island from the moment we set foot on it! check out Best St John experiences from Linwood on the forum and you will see the effect it has on most everyone who visits.
Good luck in your decision and I wish you a fantastic vacation no matter which island you chose

ciao

CB

Thank you, CB!!

I am definitely leaning towards staying on St. John....the only research I've done is re: St. John accomodations.

Not sure if we'll be renting a car. We've never driven on the "wrong side" of the road.

I'm looking at the Estate Lindholm.
Gallows Point would be nice, but may not be good for our budget.

Patti I suggest renting, preferably a jeep if you want to really enjoy the island. They do have great taxi and shuttle services but they are limited to getting them in cruz bay for the most part. If you stay at the gallows they would probably be more accomodating. We typically stay in a villa and they are not known to my experience to visit a villa for a pick up. There are several rental agencies on the island, I have had decent luck with L&L Jeep rentals but as I say there are quite a few available. Good luck and if you do decide to stay in St.John you will absolutely Love it!

ciao

CB

I'm relatively new here, but it seems that the suggestions you will get will be overwhelmingly slanted in favor of St. John. And that's my choice as well - we just came back from our 4th trip there, and hope to make it an annual destination.

But, it may not necessarily be for everyone. I have been raving about St. John for years to my family and my folks are about to book a trip there. They, however, may not be as keen on packing the car and heading out to a new beach everyday as we are - it may not be for everyone. Some people would rather stay mostly at a resort and hang by the pool/beach and relax with lunch options a short stones throw away. Not better or worse, just a different approach. If that's what you prefer, St. Thomas may have better options. You certainly can have that type of holiday at the Westin or Caneel on St. John, but some people may find that the extra shlep isn't necessary.

Having said that, like most others here, we found St. John and immediately fell in love with it. Based on my opinion (with knowing nothing about your vacation predilictions), I'd recommend St. John, no matter where you stay.

crasherino you are correct in your post I guess most of us that love the island are a bit bias.

CB

The only thing I find better in St. Thomas is the shopping and you only want to do that on a day when there are no cruise ships at port. Other than that, my advice is to stay on St. John. By the way, you will get used to driving on the oposite side of the road pretty quick. I agree with the rest of the posts that to really see the island and explore, you will want to get a jeep. I also purchased a book on the beaches of St. John and how to get to them.

Patti - congrats on booking your first trip... very exciting!
If you do decide on STJ (which I highly recommend as well), as far as jeep rental vs. no jeep rental goes, I can speak from experience.
On our first trip to STJ (11 yrs ago), my husband and I were too young to rent a car so we walked or taxied everywhere for a week. We were staying at Cinnamon Bay Campground, so there were always taxis (open backed pick-up trucks) available to get to town. We also took a taxi to Salt Pond Bay and to the trail to Waterlemon (although we never found a taxi for the trip back, so that was a long, hot trek). We walked to most of the North Shore beaches (that water felt really good after a long hike!). Not having a car really made the island seem remote and undeveloped to us - more adventurous!
Two years ago we finally returned with our two children and we did rent a jeep. It's amazing how many more wonderful things we were able to discover about STJ! It made things a lot easier (especially with kids) and we had more flexibility. The island has so many treasures that you really need your own jeep to discover.
All that being said, we fell in love with STJ without a jeep. Walking is such a great way to truly appreciate your surroundings and I am glad that we were able to (forced to ) see the island in that way the first time we were there.
Just my perspective on it... you'll have a great vacation either way!

Patti - Lucky you on booking your trip - you will love it no matter where you stay - but like the others I too am partial to STJ - samoka

coolbreeze - I see you are also from NH and you mention Linwood - are you from the Lincoln-Woodstock area? - samoka

And as far as accomodations on St. John, you don't read much about the Westin Villas, but we stayed there this time for the first time and we loved it.

This was the first real vacation we spent with our son (he's just about 2 yrs old) and having the pools and facilities as options was great for us. We spent most mornings at various beaches, either packed a lunch or went out and spent the afternoons by the pool.

We stayed at Caneel once, which was beautiful, but we love a nice pool almost as much as we love the beach, so having the Westin pool as an afternoon option was great.

You can find villas on the rental market for considerably less than the Hotel prices them. May be something to check out.

Welcome!!! We are also from the Syracuse area.
Your post made me look at the airfare with Continental (we usually fly USair). Great prices! When are you going in November?

We are looking at around Thanksgiving again this year.
You will love ST JOHN!!!

hi onthelake....that wouldn't be Lake Ontario, would it? We're from Oswego.

We'll be traveling 11/2-9/09.

thanks everyone, for your replies.
My hubby laughed at me last night when he said "of course we'll rent a car"...I have a hard time w/his driving here...can't imagine him there. LOL! He said he'll get me a blindfold and tell me when we're there.

Hey Patti,

I'm on Oneida Lake (near Brewerton) and the ice fisherman are still out there.

We've been going to St John since 1998 ... the last 5 years - end of November or Beginning of December.

We stay at Cruz Views mostly or Concordia Studios both a great and reasonable. If you have a bigger group (more than 2) I'd go for a villa.

I'm still working on this year ... alot of thing up in the air.

Happy Planning!!!!
Pam

Thanks, Pam!
No more ice on our lake.
Best wishes w/your planning too!
~patti