Any recent travelers to Peter Island
 

Am looking for someone out there who has been to Peter Island within the last month. We are going there 4/30 to 5/7 for a honeymoon and there are so many different views about the island out there. Am particularly interested in anyone who has stayed in one of the oceanview rooms(2nd) floor and any other info you can provide.

Ginny1703-
We were just there 3/31 - 4/4 and stayed in the beachfront junior suites. We had a fantastic time. Deadmans Beach is beautiful with clear water, white sand, palm trees and hammocks. It never seemed crowded and there were always plenty of chairs to choose from. The service all round was very friendly and efficient. The oceanview rooms, while not right on the beach looked just fine to us. We actually met another couple there who stayed in an oceanview room and they were happy. Its just a few minutes walk to the beach from the oceanview rooms. The nice thing about the oceanview rooms is that they are right near the pool, main restaraunt, gift shop, tv room, boat facilities etc (really nice boats). I was nervous about some of the posts before we left so we were absolutely pleasantly surprised. My boyfriend and I would definitely return. Make sure you take advantage of some of the great activities....Virgin Gorda day trip, sunset trip, resort scuba course etc. As for the food, it was great. We are from New York City so we especially liked dinner at Deadman's Beach with the tiki torches, sand and palm trees right near your table overlooking the sea! Very romantic!! If you have any other questions, feel free to ask as I check travel talk often. You will have a super time!!

My wife and I just spent a week at Peter Island from 3/24-4/01. We stayed in the oceanview rooms. We were on the second floor in the building on the point (room 132, if memory serves me correctly). We had a great view of the channel from our balcony, although we did not spend too much time in the room.

We thought the oceanview rooms were fine. Very comfortable. We did not see a beachfront room, but given the price differential of about $250/night to be in a beachfront room and the amount of time spent in the room, I would have a tough time justifying beachfront.

The only drawback my wife and I found to the oceanview rooms was the walk to the beach. It is about a five minute walk up and down a hill to get to the beach. Given other properties we have stayed in on St. John, St. Thomas, and Anguilla, where for comparable or less money you are right on the beach, that was a bit annoying. There are carts that roam the property, but they run only sporadically.

Having said that, some general thoughts on Peter Island...

Overall we really enjoyed the resort, would return for a repeat vacation, and would highly recommend the resort to others.

Pros - in general and relative to other resorts we have visited:

Food was very good and offered plenty of variety. We had never stayed at an AI resort or taken the meal plan at a resort, so we were not sure how we would feel about only having a couple of dining options. Not a problem. I highly recommend the gumbo at the beach bar.

Staff and service was exceptionally friendly and helpful. Of course things move on island time, but after all, you are in the islands.

Travel to the resort was easy and efficient. You are met by a representative from the resort at the airport, and they direct you to a van with your luggage. The van pulls out of the airport, around the corner, and you board a Peter Island yacht for the 20-30 minute trip to the resort. We left NYC at 7:00 am through San Juan and we were on the beach at 2:30 in the afternoon. Very convenient.

Beach was beautiful, water was calm and clear, and beach chairs were plentiful.

Cons:

The walk to the beach, which I discussed.

We were also disappointed to see the hoard of small children at the resort. Clearly guests disregard the comment on the Peter Island website suggesting that children under 8 are discouraged. There were probably 20 kids at the resort ranging in age from 2 to 8 for the first few days that we were there. Now, I believe we unfortunately hit the resort during a spring vacation week, which may have accounted for the large number of children. The number of children at the resort fell dramatically after the first Saturday that we were there, which goes back to my earlier comments about how we may have just hit a bad week for kids. My spring vacation theory also seems to be supported by LaraC's comments that the beach was empty when she was there right after us.

Overall, I think you'll have a fantastic time at the resort...enjoy your honeymoon.

As LaraC also mentioned, I check the forum regularly, so if you have specific questions, please post them and I'll do my best to answer.

LaraC: Since you were there right after us, maybe you can answer a question. There was a large yacht, Reverie, that anchored off of deadman's beach. Supposedly a celebrity was staying on the boat and had rented out the Crows Nest Villa as well as 8 rooms on the island for guests for a pending wedding. How long did Reverie stay around, and did you ever hear who the celebrity was?

Hockeyfan-
Yes, we were there the night of the wedding and everyone thought it was Christina Aguilera (my spelling may be off). They had fireworks so we walked down there but they had private security that would not let you beyond the gym / spa area. It turned out to be people from California who were friends of the owners of the yacht. I think someone from Rolls Royce owned the yacht. All I can say is wow...Peter Island would be my dream wedding location. They even made the groom a surfboard shaped cake! We spoke to one of the guys from the boat the day after the wedding and they were heading out on Sat. 4/3 to St. Barts and then the Mediterranean Sea.

We went to Peter Island last fourth of July for diving--we really enjoyed the resort--I think "oceanview" is a little deceptive--if I remember right there were two buildings who had an obscured view of the ocean porbably stated as ocean-view second floor--but not generally what you think of as oceanview-not the boat channel-but njot truly onthe ocean--then there was another complex of rooms that were truly oceanview--maybe ask for a map of the resort--we reaally did love the resort and the diving was great--good luck--jan

LaraC:
Sounds like the wedding was quite an event. We googled Reverie when we got back to NYC. She is the 31st largest private yacht in the world. 230 ft in length. She was owned by the head of Aker Kvaerner until recently, when she was sold to an undisclosed buyer. One rumor I found on the web was that the buyer was George Clooney; however, she sold for $57 million, and I'm not sure George Clooney has that kind of cash...but you never know.

Either way, there are many far worse places/ways to get married.

For ginny1703, one of the other things my wife and I really enjoyed about Peter Island is that we are boat people and there were numerous nice yachts in and out of the marina and the bay while we were there. In fact, after a little research when we got home, we found out that three of the largest 100 private yachts in the world passed through Peter Island while we were there, and there were probably another five yachts that came through that were absolutely beautiful.

Thanks to everyone who responded to my email about Peter Island. It sounds wonderful and we can't wait to go. It was great to hear from someone who actually stayed in an oceanview room.That makes me feel a little better. Some sites have given Peter Island some bad reviews so I was very hesitant and was getting nervous about the whole trip. A question,is the spa opened yet? Haven't seen any info to indicate it is?

The spa building looks really nice, and is in a great location. However, it was unfortunately not open when we were there. I asked a few people at the resort when the spa was going to be open, and they said they did not have an expected date.

From the outside the building looked done, so it could be open any time now, but I don't know what state of completion the interior is in.

We had massages at the existing spa, which were fine, although the existing spa facilities leave a lot to be desired. Fyi... if you like to workout on vacation, the exercise facilites are at the current spa and are pretty weak, but there is a decent place to run.