USVI-On-Line

can you pay to use the facilities at Westin, like pool, beach like you can at Caneel Bay?

You could get a guest pass but a lot of interested tourists just walk on the property like they own it. No one challenges you. If you use a couple towels and buy drinks, lunch. No one will bother you. The restaurants are open to the public.

The beach at the Westin is man-made and not great, just FYI.

You can not pay to use the facilities at Caneel. You can pay to park and that gives you access to their main beach, but not use of chairs, etc. It is not a resort day pass, per se.

The Westin Pool is cool and you will likely not be bothered but the beach there is not one I would ever seek out for any reason.

Yep, I should have said that, the $20 parking fee does not entitle you to use Caneel's beaches. You can pay to park at Caneel and then hike to Honeymoon/Salomon but all of Caneel's beaches are private unless reached by boat, and even then you can't use their facilities.

I called a friend who works there for this answer.

You can't pay to use the property amenities and if you are not a registered guest (if you don't have "Westin" towels), you can not use the pool or beach chairs.

Parking is free, however- which is nice.

If you're uncomfortable trying to sneak by- there is a free single use day pass you can get ((call 340-714-6386)) that gives you towel service (full access to all amentities) and use of non-motorized water sports like the rafts, the trampoline and kayaks BUT you have to do a one hour preview of the timeshare there to get the pass. I've seen the units they sell and they are very nice, but timeshare just isn't some people's thing. If you want the day pass, you also have to set it up in advance- so that's kind of a bummer too.

I agree with the person above who mentioned that it's a man-made beach... There are far prettier beaches on STJ (Francis, Maho, any of the Caneel Beaches...).... Unfortunately this is the only one that can entertain the whole family, get you lunch and has bathrooms all in the same punch...

I'm sure you'll have a blast no matter what sandy spot you happen to choose

We just stayed at the Westin for a few days in August and had to swipe our room key for beach towels. You could use the pool and beach, I guess, without getting stopped but it is really for the paying guests.