Trip report from last week of July! Days 1 - 3
Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 3:09 pm
So we just got back last night at 2am from our 5th stay on STJ. This trip we stayed 9 nights. As usual we had a wonderful time. There were 4 of us: my sister, her husband and my husband.
Day 1: Travel day. My sister and her DH had an earlier flight thus they arrived to STT earlier than us...around 1 I think and got to STJ at around 330 and checked in for a two night stay at the st john inn. I had told my sister about the inn, I had seen some good reviews about the st john boutique hotel and mistakenly told her to book at st john inn thinking it was the boutique hotel. We discovered the error a few days before departure and she decided that it would probably be fine given that it was only two nights. In the meantime DH and I flew from Boston to our connection in Charlotte on US air. The flight to STT was delayed 90 mins which was a slight bummer but we ended up at STT at 5 pm. Since we carried on our luggage we figured we could grab a cab and probably make the 6pm ferry. Some background: this trip was planned to be "low budget" ...when we traveled with my sister and her husband last year we went a little all out. Because we were "low budget" we did not book Rachel like we normally would...as a result we did not make the 6pm ferry to STJ at redhook because we took a shared cab that stopped at a few resorts on STT. Rachel is so worth the extra money in my opinion.
Upon landing at STT I had received some texts from my sister who was not happy about the st john inn. She said that the mirror in the bathroom was broken, she had to walk through the managers office to go out...just overall not very impressed. She thought she could deal. She is someone who does not have to have the best hotel...can handle a lower cost hotel room as long as it is clean and comfortable. I felt bad since I screwed up the name and she booked the wrong place. Her and her husband headed to high tide to hook up with us.
We arrived on STJ around 730, our first 2 nights were at Gallows point. We had an amazing unit that overlooked Cruz Bay. It was one of the updated units and had many amenities and a loft for sleeping upstairs. That night we all went to the beach bar for Apps and a few drinks. Our first time at the beach bar. The guy next to us had nachos with cheese...looked really good. He said normally it does not come with cheese so to ask for it when we ordered, he was told no at first but then they did it. We did ask for it and was told they don't do cheese nachos...our nachos arrived cheeseless...oh well!
Day 2. We found out gallows point had an open unit in the building next to us so my husband booked it for my sister. We called them at 9 am and told them they were moving down to gallows so get their luggage together. We were going to have Gallows pick them up but they preferred to walk down which they did. They got a first floor unit in the building next to us. They were very happy with the unit. On this day we went to the beach at Gallows with some snacks and some beers. They don't have a sandy beach really so they have this metal stair way and you walk down into the water. You can walk in from the shore but it is rocky. Walking in from the stairs was really nice because you ended up with no sand on you. Water was nice and we had a great day there. They also have a nice pool. Overall I really liked Gallows, convenient to cruz bay, nice views, nice people worked there, pretty property.
That night we went to Zozo's for dinner, it was very good and then we headed to woodys for drinks and then back to gallows.
Day 3: Today we were picking up our jeep from st john car rental and meeting the villa company to check into our villa. We got the car early and headed over to sloop jones (bought a shirt!)and then went to the tourist trap for lunch. We had nachos, trap dogs and tacos...YUM. After we made plans to go back again later in the week. After lunch we headed back to cruz bay to get food for the villa. We went to starfish market and provisioned there. My sister was going to cook dinner for us that night so we were excited. After we shopped we headed to the villa company to meet our greeter. Then we went to our villa in Dever Bay called "Island Time". We had picked this villa because it was closer to the water than any other villa we had stayed in previously. It was fairly close to cruz bay and fit in with the "lower budget" premise. The view upon entering was quite nice. The villa had a nice pool and hot tub. The inside of the villa was somewhat dated but nice and met our needs as far as ammenities. The greeter did casually mention one of the bathroom doors had an issue which I was not paying attention to in all the excitement of checking out the villa. We also discovered there was resident cat named Miss Kitty. There was food in the villa for her...too funny. At any rate the cat was so nice and loves people...more on her later.
This villa had two equal bedrooms (with queen beds), one right off the main living area of the house and one in separate cabana connected via the deck. The bathrooms were not equal though. The one in the cabana had a larger shower and double sinks. The one in the main house had a small shower and a single sink. We determined that we should take the bedroom in the house since my husband is up early and he would be likely in the kitchen and doing stuff that could disturb them. THe bedroom door was a louvered door so there was no sound privacy at all between the bedroom and the living area of the villa which was a bummer. You could be involved in any conversation being had in the kitchen or living room with the door closed. In addition the bathroom door in the bedroom there did not close at all...it would always be opened at least 3 inches unless you pushed something against it and even then the door was too big for the door way so it would not close....so no visual privacy or sound privacy since the door was also louvered. The washer dryer was also in the bathroom in this bedroom. I was disappointed with the villa because of these items and would not recommend this villa as a 2 bedroom villa to two couples. It would have been fine for one couple though or perhaps a small family. At any rate though we decided to deal with the issues of the villa rather than deal with disrupting our vacation and we did enjoy the week there. I will be posting a villa review at some point. It is lovely and has an amazing view...with a cool cat.
That night we had a great dinner out on the deck and just enjoyed our first evening in the villa. The kitchen had all the amenities we needed for cooking and was quite functional. There were little "buggies" all over the cabinets and counters but I guess that is hard to avoid in the islands. We did have to take out the deet since the misquitos and no seeums were out.
Well that is it for now...I will try and post more info on our other days later and maybe incorporate some pics once I get those uploaded.
Day 1: Travel day. My sister and her DH had an earlier flight thus they arrived to STT earlier than us...around 1 I think and got to STJ at around 330 and checked in for a two night stay at the st john inn. I had told my sister about the inn, I had seen some good reviews about the st john boutique hotel and mistakenly told her to book at st john inn thinking it was the boutique hotel. We discovered the error a few days before departure and she decided that it would probably be fine given that it was only two nights. In the meantime DH and I flew from Boston to our connection in Charlotte on US air. The flight to STT was delayed 90 mins which was a slight bummer but we ended up at STT at 5 pm. Since we carried on our luggage we figured we could grab a cab and probably make the 6pm ferry. Some background: this trip was planned to be "low budget" ...when we traveled with my sister and her husband last year we went a little all out. Because we were "low budget" we did not book Rachel like we normally would...as a result we did not make the 6pm ferry to STJ at redhook because we took a shared cab that stopped at a few resorts on STT. Rachel is so worth the extra money in my opinion.
Upon landing at STT I had received some texts from my sister who was not happy about the st john inn. She said that the mirror in the bathroom was broken, she had to walk through the managers office to go out...just overall not very impressed. She thought she could deal. She is someone who does not have to have the best hotel...can handle a lower cost hotel room as long as it is clean and comfortable. I felt bad since I screwed up the name and she booked the wrong place. Her and her husband headed to high tide to hook up with us.
We arrived on STJ around 730, our first 2 nights were at Gallows point. We had an amazing unit that overlooked Cruz Bay. It was one of the updated units and had many amenities and a loft for sleeping upstairs. That night we all went to the beach bar for Apps and a few drinks. Our first time at the beach bar. The guy next to us had nachos with cheese...looked really good. He said normally it does not come with cheese so to ask for it when we ordered, he was told no at first but then they did it. We did ask for it and was told they don't do cheese nachos...our nachos arrived cheeseless...oh well!
Day 2. We found out gallows point had an open unit in the building next to us so my husband booked it for my sister. We called them at 9 am and told them they were moving down to gallows so get their luggage together. We were going to have Gallows pick them up but they preferred to walk down which they did. They got a first floor unit in the building next to us. They were very happy with the unit. On this day we went to the beach at Gallows with some snacks and some beers. They don't have a sandy beach really so they have this metal stair way and you walk down into the water. You can walk in from the shore but it is rocky. Walking in from the stairs was really nice because you ended up with no sand on you. Water was nice and we had a great day there. They also have a nice pool. Overall I really liked Gallows, convenient to cruz bay, nice views, nice people worked there, pretty property.
That night we went to Zozo's for dinner, it was very good and then we headed to woodys for drinks and then back to gallows.
Day 3: Today we were picking up our jeep from st john car rental and meeting the villa company to check into our villa. We got the car early and headed over to sloop jones (bought a shirt!)and then went to the tourist trap for lunch. We had nachos, trap dogs and tacos...YUM. After we made plans to go back again later in the week. After lunch we headed back to cruz bay to get food for the villa. We went to starfish market and provisioned there. My sister was going to cook dinner for us that night so we were excited. After we shopped we headed to the villa company to meet our greeter. Then we went to our villa in Dever Bay called "Island Time". We had picked this villa because it was closer to the water than any other villa we had stayed in previously. It was fairly close to cruz bay and fit in with the "lower budget" premise. The view upon entering was quite nice. The villa had a nice pool and hot tub. The inside of the villa was somewhat dated but nice and met our needs as far as ammenities. The greeter did casually mention one of the bathroom doors had an issue which I was not paying attention to in all the excitement of checking out the villa. We also discovered there was resident cat named Miss Kitty. There was food in the villa for her...too funny. At any rate the cat was so nice and loves people...more on her later.
This villa had two equal bedrooms (with queen beds), one right off the main living area of the house and one in separate cabana connected via the deck. The bathrooms were not equal though. The one in the cabana had a larger shower and double sinks. The one in the main house had a small shower and a single sink. We determined that we should take the bedroom in the house since my husband is up early and he would be likely in the kitchen and doing stuff that could disturb them. THe bedroom door was a louvered door so there was no sound privacy at all between the bedroom and the living area of the villa which was a bummer. You could be involved in any conversation being had in the kitchen or living room with the door closed. In addition the bathroom door in the bedroom there did not close at all...it would always be opened at least 3 inches unless you pushed something against it and even then the door was too big for the door way so it would not close....so no visual privacy or sound privacy since the door was also louvered. The washer dryer was also in the bathroom in this bedroom. I was disappointed with the villa because of these items and would not recommend this villa as a 2 bedroom villa to two couples. It would have been fine for one couple though or perhaps a small family. At any rate though we decided to deal with the issues of the villa rather than deal with disrupting our vacation and we did enjoy the week there. I will be posting a villa review at some point. It is lovely and has an amazing view...with a cool cat.
That night we had a great dinner out on the deck and just enjoyed our first evening in the villa. The kitchen had all the amenities we needed for cooking and was quite functional. There were little "buggies" all over the cabinets and counters but I guess that is hard to avoid in the islands. We did have to take out the deet since the misquitos and no seeums were out.
Well that is it for now...I will try and post more info on our other days later and maybe incorporate some pics once I get those uploaded.
