janiekins

Hubby and I (both 50 years old) would like to plan a trip to Virgin Gorda next February. Thinking of staying at either Biras Creek or Little Dix for 5 nights and then renting a villa at Nail Bay for 5 nights.

Has anyone stayed at Little Dix and Biras Creek and can give me the pros and cons of each resort?

I have read some people's reviews of Biras Creek and they said the accommodations were a little more "rugged" than they expected.

Any suggestions or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. We want to spend 10 nights on the island.

GapYear2009

I would not classify Biras' accommodations as rugged. This is an outstanding property. The rooms are incredibly comfortable, open, and full of light. It is possible that the outdoor shower turns some people off, as there is no indoor shower or tub in the garden view or ocean view rooms. Anyone who considers this accomodation "rugged" would probably be happier at a high-rise, glitzy hotel with a swim-up bar in the pool!

janiekins

Hi GapYear2009, have you stayed at Biras Creek?

poss

IMO the pros to Biras are:
more handsome grounds-- wonderful hiking trials, etc.
considerably better food
they have little runabouts to take out for snorkeling jaunts, if you like that sort of thing; no snorkeling at property itself

Pros to Little Dix:
much much better beach, plus muchc easier to get to (no need for bicycles, golf carts, etc)
wonderful pool and spa
better rooms
some snorkeling (not great) right off beach, plus wonderful drops by their water staff to any number of fine snorkeling spots around the island. Depending on where the wind may be, they choose the best spot for calm waters, then drop you off for as long or short a stay as you want at one of the other great beaches. Will set you up with chairs, umbrella, picnic, etc. Very nice!

janiekins

Hi Poss, so would you pick Little Dix?

poss

Little Dix suits US better, but that absolutely doesn't mean the two of you would like it better. I tried to give you our assessment of the disadvantages/advantages of each. Each has loads of fans.
Have you read the wonderfully detailed "reviews" (with fine photos) of both those resorts on Scuba Mom's website? I don't 100% agree with everything she says about the various resorts, but she's very knowledgeable and I think the site is enormously helpful.

Good luck in your choosing. We love Virgin Gorda.

carlor

I have stayed on Virgin Gorda every year for the past 15 years. I have not stayed at either Little Dix or Biras Creek, we have stayed at the Bitter End Yacht Club, which is an adjoining property to Biras Creek. We have visited both of the other two (as the beachs in the BVIs belong to all the people) several times. If I were to choose a stay at either of these three ,being a "beach person" I would choose Bitter End. Being retired, we are now renting an apt for six weeks a year, which we can do for fewer dollars than ten days at the high end resorts. But I were forced to a 10 day stay I would again choose Bitter End.

GapYear2009

Chacun a son gout.

Yes, I've stayed at Biras. I would return in a heartbeat. This year, we tried Guana Island, which is magnificent, as well.

Watch out for small children at Little Dix.

I visited Bitter End and absolutely hated it - - - sorry - - - just not for me. (Too many tatoos, too much beer, I don't like the carnival atmosphere and smell of cigarette smoke!)

janiekins

Thank you all for your recommendations. So far I am leaning towards Little Dix.

ScubaMom

Little Dix is a very large hotel with more than 200 guests (plus lots of day visitors) and caters to families. We consider it the perfect place for when we take our grandchildren to the BVI since it has a full service day care center for kiddies. If you like spas, it has a world class one.

Biras has up to 66 guests, is far more intimate, and most guests are couples looking for a getway. The cottages have been completely renovated in the last year and have comfortable furnishings and wonderful pillowtop beds. We liked the beach better at Biras - it is smaller than the one at Little Dix which can be busy with the ferry and boats coming and going, plus lots of people on the beach.

GapYear2009

I'm with ScubaMom on this one (and thanks for your tips about Guana Island - we went there last month and absolutely LOVED it!).

ScubaMom

Guana is truly a tropical wonderland - so glad you enjoyed it!

cath116

My husband and I have been to Biras 6 times, and I can't wait to visit again. For us, there is no place on earth that is as tranquil (and we've traveled a lot). We love the fact that it's small, intimate, and extremely private. However, friends of ours who usually stay in Four Seasons type resort places were not as charmed as we are. So, it depends what you're looking for and what your expectations are. Biras is extremely low key, quiet and utterly romantic.

krissykris

I've not been to Biras but we went to LDB in May and loved it!!!!

Also went to Caneel-preferred LDB!

poss

Curious to know why you preferred LDB. We preferred Caneel many times over. I wonder if there are aspects of LD that we missed.
Things we liked much better at Caneel: grounds,snorkeling. Could take long gorgeous walks around Caneel, spectacular vistas everywhere; enormous variety of snorkeling from the 7 beaches.
Thing we liked better at LD: better rooms
Food: weren't impressed at either place.

But, oh those beaches and snorkeling at Caneel! Hard to beat!

krissykris

We bought a package at LDB and we liked the fact that we could get a boat ride to other beaches (free) and the baths. Caneel rooms are out dated and the atmosphere was stuffy-we popped into one of the fancy restaurants after snorkeling to use the bathroom and they had the afternoon tea going on-ladies all dolled up to look good at 3 in the afternoon. At LDB, we saw Richard Branson and he was just like us-enjoying the water and hanging loose, not trying to impress anyone. I guess we are just casual people and liked LDB more. The grounds at Caneel are lovely, and that is the appeal of that place.

krissykris

I have to tell you that Biras Creek looked great also. I'd be interested to hear how you like it if you pick that one.
Hubster and I have been to alot of tropical places (tahiti, cook islands, caymans, belize, mexico, australia, fiji, bonaire, curacao, barbados etc). We will go back to Virgin Gorda. If we were to return to St John, we'd rent a villa for the price we paid for Caneel and can stay twice as long.

Hope this helps. By the way, the snorkeling at Caneel was supposed to be better, but we saw more in Virgin Gorda.

krissykris

We stayed at LDB Bay last year and loved everything about it! You can't go wrong-we got the best of LDB package and had lobster every night.