All inclusive St. Thomas or St. John
 

We are looking for an all inclusive on either St. Thomas or St. john for February 2007. I love the luxury of being waited on with meals and drinks. A nice beach. I love the water and snorkeling. Hubby likes it too, but not quite as much as me. We also want convenience to shopping, restaurants, nightlife and attractions. Any suggestions?

on st. thomas the wyndham sugar bay is ai. large hotel, good pool with water fall, tennis courts, pretty good snorkeling right from their beach. has a few slot machines for gambling. plenty of shuttles into charlotte amalie for duty free shopping. lots of great restaurants on island. is located near red hook with ferry to st. john for day excursions.
some good food can be found at the blue moon cafe at secret harbour resort (snorkel at their beach!), tony romano's on the coki world/beach road, (coki is another good snorkel spot) the absolute best is havana blue at the marriott/morning star resort - beautiful, delectable, very romantic and pricey! the sunday brunch at the ritz is quite the affair (caviar to eggs to carving station and some oh so pretty desserts). green lantern in town is a happening bar. also duffy's love shack in red hook is fun after 9-10.
there is a fabulous snorkel, etc excursion into bvi's with www.newhorizonscharters.com does a very fast power boat trip to the baths, marina cay - pussers for lunch, guana cay for snorkeling and finally a stop at the soggy dollar bar on jost van dyke. its a swim up bar in that you get off the boat and swim into shore...way much fun and its books up months in advance.
i think marriott is ai as well but i am not positive and personally do not like their location as much as sugar bay.

We did daughter's wedding at the Wyndham Sugar Bay and have to admit that we didn't like it.

You may not have this problem since you will be there in Feb, but we were there in June and the hotel's a/c system just didn't cut it. We had about 20-25 people down there and everyone complained about the same thing.

The hotel allowed cruise ship passengers to use the ammenities so the pool area and beach was crowded and dirty. We wouldn't go near the hot tub. We didn't have much luck with the snorkeling there.

The best food though was found down by the pool, they had a buffet style setup and suprisingly (especially for a buffet) the food was good. The fancier restuarant upstairs had a limited menu and when you ordered a "Beef" dish for example, that's exactly what you received, your slice of beef, nothing else.

We also found that because of the location, we had to take cabs everywhere that we went. The price was the same per person whether you were going across the street or across the island though. I think it was like 8 or 9 buck per person one way but someone else can update you on that.

We were there in June 2003 so things may have changed. Daughter has said that she would like to go back to St. Thomas for an anniversary trip but that she wouldn't consider staying at the Wyndham.

I'd go to Caneel Bay on St. John and do the meal plan.

-Bill

Thanks for the info so far. Virginia - can you tell me when you were there? Was it after June 2003 when Chasecow as there? I had actually been looking as the Wyndham and was kind of enthused about it. Now I am a bit skeptical. From the looks of their website, the Wyndham was remodeled just this year. Does anyone have more info on this.

Regarding Caneel, that was also another thought for me. Is there as much to do on St. John? Or would there be enough at the resort to keep a person occupied? We'll be there for 1 week. How does the meal plan work? We already have frequent flyer miles flights booked, so I will only need hotel.

hi mich, it was in june of 05. i too was attending a wedding, which went very well. i agree about the cruise ship passengers being on the beach some days - frankly i thought they were rude. however i stayed at secret harbour specifically because i do not enjoy ai's and had been to sh before. sh does have a meal plan, and would clearly be my choice again but you requested ai.
i did enjoy some good snorkeling but you have to head around the point to beach right to find good things to look at. secret harbour has better snorkel opportunity imho.
st. john is much quieter. caneel is wonderful.

I'm not totally opposed to an ai, but I am not sure what to expect for meal and drink prices if we do something else. How are the price ranges for meals and drinks at the resorts. I don't want to have to prepare my own meals, so I don't think a villa is a choice I'd make. I kind of like to meet the new people at the resorts and people watch. Convenience to the pool and beach is something that I'd like.

We stayed at the Wyndham Sugar Bay in May, 2005. It was OK. Didn't care for the set up of the hotel. It is quite spread out. We thought the 99 steps to the pool, beach, bar and resturant was a pain. It rained for the most part of our trip, so going up and down wet stairs was not fun.

At that time, many of the rooms were not renovated. If you don't pay for a oceanview room, you won't get one and you won't get a renovated room. We are Wyndham by Request members which meant abolutely nothing.

We did enjoy the food at the buffet. Nice selction of salads, which was very good. The ala cart resturant was not good. If you don't get the AI plan, prices for entrees start at $25. Drinks start at $6. The breakfast buffet was good. Staff is reserved. Say "Good Morning/Good Evening" and not "Hi/Hello".

We enjoyed the pool area. The jacuzzi was very hot. The beach was OK. Quite rocky, but we did find good snorkeling around the rocks. The hotel wasn't crowded at all and we never saw cruise ship people at the hotel or on the beach.

The location is not convenient or within walking distance to anything. We went to Paradise Point one night. It was 1/2 price beer night and we purchased 6 buffalo wings for $9.00. We also went to Duffy's Love Shack. We had mixed drinks for $7 to $10.

We chose the Wyndham over Bolongo Bay since the Wyndham came in $200 cheaper for the week. If I had to do it over, I would have picked the Bolongo instead. Over all we didn't care for St. Thomas or St. John and neither is on our return list.

I have pics of the Wyndham on our picture page if interested:

http://community.webshots.com/user/kvrlvn

Hi MI Couple,
We are midwestern neighbors who also did the Wyndham Sugar Bay on St. Thomas. We did the AI option as we were with friends that prefer to travel that way. First of all, the pool area is very nice. There are steps that we took down in the morning -with many landings - as we enjoyed it. I have a very bad back, so they aren't that bad. The shuttle runs every 5 minutes up and down the driveway as well. The beach is smaller, but inaccesible from anyone walking from either side. The hot tub is cleaner than some of the Four Seasons hot tubs. Even though we were there with friends, we still managed to meet some other wonderful people staying there. We were there during the month of Feb and never saw any cruise passengers. There is a nightclub that has music at night and/or some other type of entertainment. The staff was very nice. We joined the by request program and we had a magnificent room with a view to match. They offered a buffet restaurant down by the pool where they had some Caribbean dishes as well as chicken, etc. They also have a pool grill with hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken, chips and they came around with fresh fruit in the morning and popsicles in the afternoon. Additionally, they do have the sit restaurant in the main part of the hotel. This is, of course, the most elegant place to dine. It is ala carte. So, if you want a salad, you order one, if you want meat, you order that, if you want a potato or vegetable, you order that separately. BTW, they do have a salad bar if you order a salad. The alcohol is all top shelf. Tell the bartenders specifically what brand you want - no problem. They knew in the nightclub that I had a "thing" for olives. Every night when they saw me, they got me a glass of olives! We went shopping in Charlotte Amalie one day which was perfect for us. (Tip: If you buy alcohol while there, it's cheaper at Kmart). We ate out a couple of times just to see what the island had to offer. We discovered Duffy's our last night when we decided we had to check it out before leaving. St. Thomas is a fun island with a lot of attractions and things to do.
We looked at doing an AI over at the Marriott as well, but they had a lot of restrictions. Only house brand alcohol (which one of my friends claims she gets headaches from - so she said no way based on that alone) no motorized sports, you weren't allowed to use the boat, etc. I got the impression that we would end up feeling like second class citizens over there.
If you do decide that St. John sounds more like you, you could also check out the Westin and look at their MAP or AI. It too doesn't cover what the Wyndham does, however.

Knowing - was just wondering when you were there? Am thinking it was probably after us.

I'm glad that they gave you more options for "extras" on the menu, they didn't offer that to us. The menu, did include salads, which you ordered separately, along with approximately 2 choices of appetizers and a couple of choices of desserts, but they had no "sides" on the menu. Even the main courses were limited (one beef choice, one seafood and maybe a poultry or pork selection)

We did have someone ask them if they had any options for them since they were vegetarian and at that point they gave the guest the option of vegetable lasagna or one other choice, but these selections weren't on the menu at all.

We really did like the buffet that they had down by the pool. We've stayed in AI's before and I CAN honestly say that this was the best buffet spread that I've ever had.

Any other advice out there? I'm still open for suggestions on where to stay.
Thanks in advance

if you're still looking at options try www.secretharbourvi.com it's where i stayed the week of the wedding. pretty low key. beautiful beach with good snorkeling. plenty of beach loungers and umbrellas/shady spots. has a dive shop and boat. tiny gym.
as i already mentioned the restaurant is good - blue moon cafe and a beach bar with a nice stone patio where you can sit at tables for snacks or lunch. i am not sure but i think they have ai option. we did not do this as st.t has so many good dining options.
it's all condos which makes for very large units compared to the hotel rooms at sugar bay or anywhere else. each has deck or patio. kitchen is great for drinks and lunch or breakfast stuff. we often make our own coffee/tea in the am and maybe eat lunch home 1/2 the days we are there. the staff is very nice, most have worked there for years. the beach is well cared for and straightened up every night.
it also is near red hook/ferry to st.john and sapphire marina where you get the fast boat to the bvi's.
charlotte amalie is 20 mins or an hour depending on the ships. front desk can help you decided when to go into town.

I know for a fact that the Marriott Frenchman's Reef/Morningstar does have an all-inclusive package. We are arriving in STT on 15 August 2006 and getting married there on 17 August 2006. We have an all-inclusive package at the Marriott Frenchman's Reef/Morningstar Resort. From what I've been told by several people, stay at the Morningstar it is supposedly a lot nicer and less noiser. Good Luck!

No AI on St. John but there are two large resorts: Caneel Bay and Westin. For drop-dead gorgeous beaches, it's Caneel Bay. For livelier atmosphere, the Westin. Both are pricey. The food is fine but also pricey. They'll bring you an umbrella drink, but it'll cost you. Booze is so cheap in the Caribbean that we almost always buy our own ingredients and make our own drinks. As for food, there are many reasonably priced options off of the resort and you don't need to make your own meals. To answer your question about whether St. John is too quiet... maybe. It depends on what you seek for entertainment. Cruz Bay is the busier of the two towns. There are plenty of cute, unique shops in town and on the edge of town at Mongoose Junction. You're not going to find the kind of "outlet" prices like in St. Thomas. Also, the nightlife is usually the kind that involves relaxed bars and bands/music. It is laid-back. If you want disco and floor-shows or big Caribbean limbo dancing parties, St. Thomas is more likely to have that sort of thing. Also on St. John, Gallows Point is a smaller, apartment style resort with a pool, lovely views, restaurant on site. They also have fully equipped kitchens so you could just make your own drinks. It is also walking distance to Cruz Bay so you can stumble home after the nightlife, such as it is. There are no casinos, airports or cruise ships on St. John. Wyndham is the only AI on St. Thomas, but the Ritz Carlton has a nice snorkeling beach and the facilities and service are top notch.

Bolongo Beach Club on St. Thomas is also all-inclusive. Right on a good beach but not fancy. Food is good.

Here are some maps of the U.S. virgin Islands showing resort locations -

http://www.cccarto.com/virgin_islands.html