USVI-On-Line

Hi kids. I'm new around here. We just booked a trip to the Westin this July for our 5th anniversary (thanks Hotwire and your awesome $79 rate). Anyway, at this deep discount price I'm expecting the ongoing construction will be pretty bad. Can anyone speak to that?

This will be our first trip (we spent around two hours there once on a cruise stop, but I don't really count that. Just enough to whet my appetite before going back to that bloated, floating monstrosity) and we're excited. We've been going to St. Martin for a few years now and are excited to try somewhere new.

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Thanks for the welcome Jorge. We've done villas on St. Martin many times before, so I certainly understand how wonderful the privacy and roominess can be. However, my husband really loves resorts. We try to split our trips - on one we'll do a villa, the other a resort, and back and forth we go.

Just wondering if anyone has been to the Westin lately and can tell me how bad (or not) the construction is.

We spent 2 nights last week at the Westin and the construction noise is not bad at all. Request a room near the Tennis courts and you will not hear a thing.
Also request a second floor as I found first floors musty smelling. $79 is a great rate, love hotwire and their rates!

Hijacking the post here Betty, but I think you owe us a trip report

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alw1977,
If you have a room on St. John for $79.00 a night and you are not staying in a tent, pat yourself on the back, rent a car and COME ON DOWN!
You will love it!
-Ruth

Oh, and whatever "Hotwire" is, I bet it's a very active site this evening!

LOL Ruth! You are so right!

$79 a night at the Westin !

I'd just paint my toenails red, grab my Honey and hop on the next flight! Congrats and have fun!

SJfromNJ - yes, I do have a question. Do all rooms have refrigerators, including standard rooms?

To everyone else, I realize $79 is a great rate for ANY place on STJ that is not a tent. We're really stoked. I'll be happy as a clam so long as the Westin doesn't put me in the broom closet!

Congrats on that $79 rate!

I want to believe that the Westin has no 'bad' rooms. But I gotta tell you, we have burnt the last few times we booked thru hotwire and will not use them anymore. Our last experience was so bad the desk clerk asked me, "Well you booked through hotwire, what did you expect? With the rate you paid, you will get whatever we have leftover" (I think this was a smoking vs nonsmoking situation in Philly) Had a bad experience in South Beach also.

With all that being said, we also have gotten FANTASTIC rooms and rates with Hyatt, Hilton and Westin. So I believe it was a hotel issue and not a hotwire issue, I seriously doubt Westin has any 'bad' rooms.

Have a great trip!

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Good, glad to know we will have a refrigerator for the basics (you know: beer, mixers, wine - all the necessities)

About Hotwire and Priceline rooms... we've stayed in some really nice places for a fraction of the price using these sites. Luckily, the Westin is non-smoking, so I don't have to fight that battle. I've found that if you visit during off-season, it's easier to get a nicer room because occupancies are lower. We've gotten great rooms in Grand Bahama (the Sheraton - ocean view), Puerto Rico, etc using these services. Truth be told, I'd rather stay in the worst room in a better hotel than the best room in a budget hotel.

I'll definitely post info about our room after our trip. Oh, who am I kidding, this site will probably become a second home until our trip. I know NOTHING about STJ... so I'll be looking on info for where to eat, where to find inexpensive art, what beaches to visit, how to best see the Baths and Jost Van Dyke, etc, etc

By the way, are all beaches on St. John public? I have dreams of visiting the Caneel Bay beaches I keep hearing so much about.