bcasey

* Secret Harbour Beach Resort
* Marriott Frenchman's Reef and Morning Star Beach Resort
* Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort & Spa
* Antilles Point Pleasant Resort
My fiance and I are looking to honeymoon at one of these. Has any couple been here for a honeymoon?

mah1980

You would get more responses if you put St. Thomas hotels in the the title of your post.

Look on tripadvisor for more feedback as well.

virginia

hi b, i have stayed at secret harbour twice and love it. most recently this past june to attend a wedding held at sugar bay. while there we had dinner at marriott.
soooo.
sh. mid-size condo style resort. good sized, well cared for beach w/outstanding snorkeling. the condos are Large and all have nice sized patios or decks. over half the units are directly on the beach. rest take 2 mins to walk. the blue moon cafe and bar are very good. both outdoors a few yards from the water. padi dive shop on site. very friendly staff that makes a personal effort to make you feel welcome.
sugar bay is a very large hotel. to get to the beach/pool you must walk down 80 steepish steps or shuttle down. the beach is not as nice as sh but has good snorkeling. huge grounds and gardens with large iguans wandering about. tennis courts. they offer parasailing and jet skies from their beach. it is more crowded. the pool is nice and has a cool waterfall, and a grill station for burgers and snacks plus a bar and a seated restaurant. sb is ai so all meals and drinks are included.
marriott is close to charlotte amalie (sh and sb are near red hook) it too is a large hotel in style. morning star section is smaller and more traditional island architecture. the beach looked small and again a long hike from the rooms. their restaurant havana blue is a must no matter where you stay. it is lovely with huge!! open windows with billowing dark blue curtains. the food is to die for. make a reservation so that you will be seated to watch the moon rise over the beach.
i know nothing about antilles but i don't think they have much of a beach.
i personally like sh. the atmosphere is soo nice and the beach never ever felt crowded. you do need a rental car. sb always seemed to be more crowded and busy.
i like being able to fix snacks and a meal or 2 in my own area when i don't feel like being out. and i like being able to try restaurants. you may prefer the ai situation. if you are big drinkers if could save you a lot of money.

Schultz

Hi There,

Secret Harbour is my absolute first choice of the resorts I've stayed at on St. Thomas. I've stayed at Sapphire, Bolongo, Morningstar, Pools & Pavilions and Secret Harbour.
My practice for the past couple of years, prior to heading back to STT is to take a look at and price all of them….and then I go back to Secret Harbour. Seven years ago, I took my girlfriend on her first ever real vacation…and we went to STT and stayed at SH. This coming August we will be back for our sixth stay at Secret Harbour (my fifteenth visit to STT in the past nineteen years). She fell in love with the place. It is almost like going home when you get down there.

The staff is so stable and many have been there for so long that it's like seeing your relatives when you check in and then walk around the grounds. Ernest is the GM and is great host. Sandra in reservations, and Margaret at the front desk who has been there for about twenty years now and has seen SH go through all of its changes over the years. Julie, who owns Blue Moon Café (only one of the best restaurants on the island) has been there since her former place, Oasis had its demise over at Sapphire.

Anyhow, more specifics about the resort. The resort beachfront is four buildings with the fifth housing the office, restaurant, shops, etc. We prefer a one-bedroom beachfront suite. Literally on the beach. The units are three stories tall so the entire resort is not that large…..I think maybe 70 or so units for the entire place. There are also condo units up the hill that you can stay in, while you still get a great location and spacious rooms, you lose the great beachfront location.

The suites are IMO very large for STT and well appointed. This past year ours had a new VCR as well as new patio furniture and wall hangings throughout the suite. You will have a fully functional kitchen that you can use. We always stock up with goodies and drinks when we first hit the island and make use of the facilities during our stays. It's great to have your morning coffee an a bit of pastry while you sit on the porch and watch the beach first thing in the morning or sitting in the evening having a drink while you watch the sun set. The suites have a nice dining area and a living room with color TV with cable. There are separate A/C units in the main area and bedrooms so you can chill the sleeping area and have the other area open to the outside if you like.

If you are looking for five-star pampering at a resort….this is not the place for you. If you want a nice, comfortable suite on a beach that is beautiful and not overly crowded; on water that is about the calmest you will find anywhere in the USVI and with very good snorkeling, this is a good choice. The resort is comparatively isolated (as much as you can be on the east end of STT) which reduces a lot of the traffic…….you'll find locals head there to use the beach as opposed to tourists. IMHO, it's one of the best kept secrets on St. Thomas…and many of the people who live on St. Thomas tell me the same thing.

As for watersports, there is not a lot here. There is a dive operation that you can use, but this is not the place to rent a lot of water equipment. Most here will be laying on the beach or snorkeling, although you will find a number of locals who will bring their boats in and tie them up while they come ashore and take advantage of the beach bar.

As for location on the island, SH is close to Red Hook and an easy drive into downtown CA or over to the north side if you want to head there. But, you will find that almost any resort on the east end offers the same….the island is not that large. The closeness to Red Hook makes heading back at night really easy….whether you are coming back from the day on St. John or after a tough evening of partaking the local concoctions at Duffy's or the Caribbean Steak House & Saloon. LOL.

I like the ten steps it takes to get from my room to the water at Secret Harbour…and I go to the island for the beach and snorkeling and SH gives me about the best of both on STT. Also, remember that it's really easy to go from one beach to another on different days so you can experience a lot of the nice beaches regardless of where you stay.

To me, SH offers the best combination of room quality, beach and water quality, nice staff, good food and drink and decent price of all the places I've stayed….but then I'm also partial to low-rise, beach properties as you probably could tell. Morningstar also falls into that same category. Point Pleasant runs up the mountain and some of the rooms have wonderful views, but from my experience it can be tough walking back up the hill after spending time at the beach. Wyndham is an A/I property and would be my last choice out of the places you list. Remember that you only spend so much time in your room…..to me it's the island that makes the trip.

Schultz

lauren27

We stayed at the Marriott Morningstar for the first night of our honeymoon. We were very happy with the resort. I did a review back in November, and you should be able to find it with a search. I also posted a link to my pictures. We really didn't spend that much time on St. Thomas though, it was just too touristy for us. We did spend a week on St. John though, and fell in love with it. You have to take the ferry there at lease once while you are there. You will have a great time.

KVR

DH and I stayed at the Wyndham in May for his 50th birthday. We wanted an AI plan and the Wyndham offered it. I wouldn't say it was really a honeymoon type hotel, though we saw plenty honeymooners. The hotel is quite spread out with lots of walking to get the front desk/lobby and resturant. The 99 steps to the pool/bar and buffet resturant was a pain. It rained during our vacation, so walking everywhere while it was raining was not fun. If you want a nice, updated room you'll need to pay for a higher catagory. We purchased a garden view and was given a tiny room with a view of the other buildings rooftops. They did move us to a room overlooking the pool area, but it was quite outdated and had 2 double beds instead of a king.

We did enjoy the AI food/drink. The buffet was better than the sit-down resturant. The drinks good and plentiful. Pool area and jacuzzi were great. Beach questionable. Small and rocky, never crowded and great for snorkeling. After dark we were eaten alive by biting knats/mesquitos. Location for us was great. Close to Red Hook and Coral World/Coki Beach.

During our research we were guided to either Secret Harbour or Marriott. We did like the overall look of either one as we are more the "resort" type and prefer AI plans.

Knowing

We have stayed at Sugar Bay and found it to exceed our expectations. The beach was not a white sandy kind that you would stroll along on, if that's important to you. We enjoyed our room with all the amenities and slept sweetly in a wonderful bed. Both restaurants were good as was the nightclub. We traveled with friends and they had a full-service spa that our friend - the spa queen - said was the best she's ever been to. Much more luxurious than our previous vacation spot which was the Westin on GC. We found it to be a wonderful place to let go and have fun. BTW, I have a bad back and found the steps to be a piece of cake, so I wouldn't worry about that at all.

bcasey

Thank you everyone for your responses!
I'm leaning toward Secret Harbour Beach Resort. Can anyone tell me about their Spa. In regards to pampering and a romantic couples massage.
Thanks again

virginia

no spa at sh. they have in-suite massage though. on your patio/deck would be very nice!
sugar bay is about 10-15 mins away and they have a wonderful spa. not to mention the WOW spa at the ritz just up the road from sh.