accomodations st thomas/st john
 

We are a family of four planning a trip to the Carribean in December 2007. St John and/or St Thomas are two destinations we are considering. St. John sounds lovely, but I'm also considering St. Thomas, if it can offer what I'm looking for.

The most important criteria is access to nice sandy beaches and beautiful views, but having a pool is a nice bonus. We are not huge snorkelers; we may try snorkeling once or twice but we primarily want to hang out on the beach, read a book, and take a few excursions (fishing? sailing? other?), explore towns and local markets, find restaurants for nice meals, etc. We will rent a car to drive around if necessary. Wherever we stay, we hope it isn't too quiet at night, since we like to walk around after dinner to see what is going on.

Our budget for lodging is less than $3500 for the week; camping (like Maho Bay) is NOT an option. Looking for suggestions for nice accomocations (hotel suite, condo, villa or other) that sleep four, two bedrooms if possible. We are using miles for our flights. Obviously the lodging won't be super deluxe since places like the Ritz Carleton are way above my budget, but what about the next tier down? I know this is a pricy week. Any suggestions?

PS I posted a similar message re: Grand Cayman. That is my other chioce for a Carribean destination, but I'm not sure which island will have accomodations within my budget, the characteristics I described, and available flights using miles. Hopefully we'll get lucky!

Do you mean the first half of December or the last half? It will be easier if you're not talking Christmas week.

Only week we can get away is Christmas week...what is possible within our budget?

hi ronnie, i will give you my standard advice for st. thomas lodging. i love www.secretharbourvi.com
has an excellent beach, great beach bar and beach snack bar. outstanding restaurant - the blue moon cafe. good for your group as they have 2 br condos. all have balcony or patio. all are private owner so decorated differently. units are large! it is 5 mins from red hook and not in the middle of any activity. you would have to leave the area to find nightlife.
next tier down from ritz are marriott morningstar and wyndham sugar bay. both are strictly hotels and neither are near anything else. sb is ai and does have onsite activities and a tiny casino - all slots.
you would have to stay in charlotte amalie to walk to any nightlife and then you would not be even near a beach.
st. t has several excursion companies. i can recommend waterworld for a snorkel trip. they have a nice catamaran. www.newhorizonscharters.com has a fabulous!! trip on a very fast boat. leaves from red hook area and goes all the way around tortola with stops at the baths, pussers for lunch, and snorkeling. book early.

I can second Secret Harbor on St Thomas, if you're looking for a non up-scale place that's nonetheless agreeable.

Thank you for the suggestion of the secret harbor, which looks lovely and is in my price range.

I never realized how diverse the caribbean is; I have eliminated St John from my planning, as I really want to walk outsice my accomodations onto a beautiful beach. I also want to fly pretty directly from New York and am limitied to Delta and Continental due to FF miles. Still researching Grand Cayman, Turks and Caicos, and St Thomas. Thank you all for the input.

just an fyi - virtually every hotel on provo is directly on grace bay beach. for a villa on provo take a look at www.atlanticbeachfrontvillas.com this is a 2 story house - 2brs each. you can have up or downstairs. view from up is nice but down you walk right out into the sandy yard. beach is appox 20yds from door. no pool. NO nightlife to speak of on island. very little shopping. excellent restaurants. great diving. bonefishing is big. but you can do deep sea as well.

For villa rentals, there are many good sites listing a wide range of choices. I would check out www.caribbeandays.com or www.caribbeanvillas.com to name just two. The other posters here can also give you suggestions or feedback on such sites.

ronnie,

I have been to St. John and Grand Cayman.I loved both for different reasons.

GC is much more expensive than STJ.

We stayed at www.discoverypointclub.com , they are nice condos with tennis,and a pool and jaquzzi on the beach.It should be in your budget and is a nice,clean place to stay.

We rented a villa in STJ and I will not name it as I would not recommend it.Villas are the main accomodations on STJ.

I love both places but feel that the dining is much better in GC.

The beaches are wonderful on both.

The scenic views are better on STJ.

Wherever you decide to go,I hope that you have a good time!

Christie

I just noticed that you and your family are going on this trip (shows that I read your post too fast ;) ) so I thought that I would mention that my kids enjoyed GC much better than STJ as there is more for a family to do in GC.

Just thought that I would mention my kids thoughts on both places.:)

Christie