One Night on STT

[Travelling Wilbury]

We are staying on St. Thomas for our first night before heading over to St. John for a week. There will be four of us, 2 adults and two teen girls. We have it narrowed down to staying at either the Best Western Emerald Beach or Crystal Cove at Sapphire Beach. Pros or Cons for each? Any input on either of these two places would be greatly appreciated.

[jimg20]

We've stayed at BWEB several times. One advantage is it is next to the airport. If one were so inclined, it would not be a bad walk. Another is that every room faces the beach, and it's not a bad beach. If you snorkle the left side, you will probobly see some marine life. There is also a pool. There is a bar and restaurant on site that was pretty good when were were there last.

Saphire, on the other hand is that much closer to Red Hook.

Either way you probably can't go wrong.

JIM

[Exit Zero]

Emerald Beach is minutes from the airport terminal and right on a great calm beach - all the rooms have a beachfront balcony - it is close enough to have dinner in Frenchtown and also take the Charlotte Amalie - STJ ferry with a 5 min. taxi ride - if you are renting a car in STT you will have to drive to Red Hook for the car ferry. It is a hotel, not a condo - bar, restaurant, and pool onsite and no steps to the beach.
Crystal Cove is a condo compound - you would have a kitchen and maybe more room, depending on the unit, than a hotel room - it is recessed from Sapphire Beach but only by a short walk, a very nice beach with a view of STJ - a short ride to Red Hook for dinner and ferry - Red Hook is more lively than Frenchtown but has far less shopping than downtown Charlotte Amalie if that matters to the teens or parents - it will be a 30-45 min. $60+ taxi ride from the airport to Crystal Cove - the condo units are of varying quality and there are no real hotel amenities - but there are some food and drink options in walking distance.
Hope these comments are helpful.

[Jumper]

We always spend the night on STT and the Best Western is close to the airport, which is nice after travelling all day. The hotel is clean, affordable, descent food, nice bar to relax at, and has a nice beach to take an early morning swim.
Three weeks and counting!

[Fisheye]

I don't know about the other options, but I was just at BW emerald beach and it was fine and I was pleasantly surprised at the fairly nice beach. We were aiming for the 10 am CA ferry, but it was not running. We still made 10 am red hook, as very little traffic.3 of us were in one room with a 25$ charge for rollaway that was worth 50 cent. Otherwise, all was fine.

[Jumper]

Where do they list the CA ferry schedule and is it updated day by day? Thanks!!!

[Travelling Wilbury]

Thanks for the responses. I'll go with the Best Western since we'll be arriving at 3:15pm. That will leave us some daylight to hit the beach instead of heading out to Red Hook. Also, thanks for the heads up on the 10:00am out of CA. We'll make sure we get to Red Hook in time for the 10:00am ferry.
Jumper, the ferry schedules can be found at the following link: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/u ... ules.shtml

[Kevino]

The CA ferry schedule even though posted with daily hours, is not always dependable. Give yourself plenty of time and know that you can rely on the red hook posted schedule.

[Exit Zero]

The downtown ferry is scheduled to run 3x a day - 10am - 1pm, 5:30pm - but you will have to check on the day you are traveling.