USVI-On-Line

We are planning a trip to STJ late June/early July.

I posted (and bit@hed) before about the awful flight times and even worse prices. Our dates are pretty much set in stone. (Yes, I could leave at 6am and arrive at 9pm for $300 dollars or drive 4 hours to a different airport but I don't want to.)

The morning, I got the brilliant idea to fly down to STT a day earlier.

Here is my thinking - No matter where we fly out of, if we want to arrive on STT at any decent hour, we need to go the airport the night before in order to catch an early morning flight.

Original idea - drive 3 or so hours to Philly Monday late afternoon, stay over night, take the first flight out Tuesday morning, get to STT between 1:30-3:30 pm.

(For reasons to long to explain, we can't leave before 11 am Monday morning.)

Today's idea - drive to Harrisburg Monday afternoon, take Delta through Atlanta, arrive STT at 9:22pm, spend the night on STT, go to STJ the next day.

So where to stay on STT Monday night? It doesn't need to be great but also I don't want a dump.

That Best Western next to the airport springs to mind. Does anyone have suggestions for other places?

We've done the one night STT stays before -we usually like walking around Charlotte Amalie so that sways our decision. Based on your timeframe you might have different ideas.

FYI, we were having the dilemma of plane schedules in July too; ended up booking on American's site-but when I searched I asked them to choose all carriers (similar to an orbitz/travelocity search). They offered more options and I saved a little bit more than other sites were showing for the same flights. Ended up with sharing Delta/Usair and American but I think I'll be fine.

Places:
the old Holiday Inn (now called the Windward Passage)
http://www.windwardpassage.com/st_thomas_hotel.html right downtown so it's convenient if you wanted to do anything the next morning around there

the Green Iguana
http://www.thegreeniguana.com/
If it's still run by the same people it was a lovely older couple; I think we were able to walk downtown too from here

Crystal Palace-
Nice views of the harbor, also can walk downtown; other people really like this place, we had some issues, but location was good and excellent views.

Malfolie
http://www.mafolie.com/
Outstanding views, great restaurant for dinner, but since you'll be arriving so late, probably not the best choice to enjoy it.

Have fun

We followed this practice our first time over. We stayed at the Green Iguana. www.thegreeniguana.com

It is a small hotel - clean, basic room with nice views from the balcony. It was reasonably priced and perfect for a 1 night stop over. We took a taxi that night to eat dinner at the Banana Tree and we were able to walk down to Charlotte Amalie the next morning for breakfast at Gumpa's. All in all a good experience.

Sounds like a good plan.

We're going to be heading to Jost for the first week of our trip in December and won't be able to catch the ferry until the next day.

We're using Marriott points to stay at Frenchmans Reef for free (YAY!). But honestly, I would probably be looking at some of the other options presented if I was paying out of pocket.

I too have heard good things about Crystal Palace.

My thought was to spend the next morning visiting Bluebeard's Castle, our son is obsessed with all things pirate and then head over to STJ after noon.

Access to snacks and a few drinks on arrival would be nice but not a must-have.

I am really starting to like this idea. I dislike spending the night at a hotel the night before because we never seem to get enough good sleep and I think gee, I could have gotten 3 hours of sleep at home and saved the money. (winter travel is a different story..)

last year we flew in on friday nite and stayed at the Emerald Beach BW. It worked out great with our 6y/o. our flight got in late around 10pm, the boy was wound up tight from being stuck in planes all day. we checked in and went down to the pool and beach, even though it was 11 o'clock at night, and let him run and swim for an hour before bed. even got free rum drinks from the beach bar. the beach was lighted up, so no problem. then he was happy, tired, and ready to crash. we're doing it again this year too. i think the summer rate is like $169.

have fun planning!
shelli

I have done this several times and will do it again on our next trip (haven't decided where to stay yet).

Its not very adventuresome, but I think our best overall experience was at Marriott Frenchmans Reef, as we had the nicest room there, with a good view of St. Thomas harbour. Second choice for us was Secret Harbour. I really liked the beach and restaurant and view at Secret Harbour, but to be honest, we had a lousy room that didn't look like it had been redecorated since 1972. Price was about the same as at Marriott. Also tried Bolongo Bay one time---fine--enjoyed dinner at Iggie's-- but not as nice as either Frenchman's Reef or Secret Harbour so I probably wouldn't return. Best Western Emerald Beach looks good but I haven't stayed there.

When did Delta add a night flight from ATL?? If so, this would be money for me next time I'm trying to get down there!

Bluebeard's Castle is not really a castle but you can spend the night there or at Blackbeards both have rooms. Bluebeards is in Charlotte Amalie not as close to the ferry and Blackbeards is up the hill from the ferry dock with a wonderful restaurant.

Sorry-

Blackbeard's web site

http://blackbeardscastle.com/hotel.html

Bluebeard's web site

http://www.extraholidays.com/eh/resorts ... t/index.go

lsugolfer wrote:When did Delta add a night flight from ATL?? If so, this would be money for me next time I'm trying to get down there!

Don't know when but most of the Delta flights offered on all the major sites show it as the cheapest option. It lands at 9:22am (or so they predict)

melwill530 wrote:Sorry-

Blackbeard's web site

http://blackbeardscastle.com/hotel.html

Bluebeard's web site

http://www.extraholidays.com/eh/resorts ... t/index.go

There are TWO piratey-castley-fort-type things on STT? Oh boy, this may seal the deal...

We've had time on STT almost every trip. We've stayed at Bluebeards-older room, great view, bar, pool was open late. It was the cheapest option for one night prior to STJ that trip.

Secret Harbour-we loved our 3 days there once prior to STJ, but for one night, I'd skip it because it's higher priced and you won't be enjoying what it offers. The snorkeling off the beach was great there though!

My go to place for the last two trips and here on out unless something changes is Best Wester Emerald Beach. I always find the cheapest rate on orbitz or travelocity, I'm talking 50.00/night cheaper depending on the site. Their rooms have been spotless, ocean front balconies, beach to swim if you have time and good pool. We like the Italian restaurant there too.

Have a great trip!