Bahamas vs St John
 

We are taking a short honeymoon (5 days, 4 nights) and a friend has offered his timeshare as a wedding present - all we have to get is our plane tickets! We are trying to decide between the Harborside Resort at Atlantis and the Westin St. John Resort & Villas. We would be staying in a villa at either place, not in the hotel.

Does anyone have any suggestions or recommendations on either of these places? I know people have posted info on both places, but I am curious about a comparison of the two places?

Thank you in advance!

Don't know about the Westin, but Harbourside is crazy with kids and families. It's just a timeshare annex for the Atlantis crowd. Not a good choice for a romantic honeymoon, unless you're still into water theme parks.

Lots of kids too at the Westin St. John.

For a honeymoon?
Westin hands down.
Unless you're staying at the Ocean Club or a private home down the island, I don't consider Paradise Island a honeymoon destination (unless you have kids from previous relationship in tow).

St. John is genuinely romantic. Paradise Island is genuinely not IMO.

Thank you for all of the advice!

Several things I have seen say the beach is (for lack of a better word) crappy at the Westin St John - anyone care to comment on that?

I wouldn't say it's cr@ppy.
If that beach were in North Carolina or Texas (with the same views across the water and in the vicinity) people would flock to it.
But the Westin's beach happens to be on an island which has some of the world's most picturesque beaches.
It's like owning a BMW in a neighborhood where everyone drives Bentleys or Lamborghinis.

It's not a good swimming beach.
But since some of the other public beaches are so enticing, if you don't like the Westin's beach, seek your paradise down the road.

Just remember that if you don't want to pay Caneel's rates, and if you don't want to stay in a villa (because you want the conveniences of a resort), the Westin offers a happy medium. You may not have the best beach on site, but if staying at the Westin makes it possible for you to be on SJ to enjoy all the rest of the island's attributes, is that too big a sacrifice to make?

I totally agree with previous poster regarding the Westin beach.
Although I'd compare that beach to a Hyundai accent (not a BMW-no offense Hyundai owners) and the other beaches to bentleys, lamborghinis, porsches (smile).

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the Westin, but found its beach lackluster at best. It is perfectly OK to stay at the Westin, but I would urge you to rent a car and drive around the island to some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. :-d

Hey Travleis---what a GREAT analogy !! ROTFLMFAO. I'll use that living in a neighborhood of Bentleys line from now on--hope you don't mind. And you are so right, if the rates at the Westin are what enables someone to be able to experience SJ--then how bad can the Westin be ?? It's funny but you know we are all really spoiled when you have to even defend a hotel like the Westin from people who write about it like it's a dump.

The beach at the Westin is man made. Not terribly pretty and definitely not the beautiful clear blue-green water that is typical of all the other SJ beaches. We rented a car, picked up a styrofoam cooler filled it with ice from the Westin and filled it with soda, beer, wine and went on our merry way. We left it in the back of our jeep and just added ice each day.

St. John is a beautiful island to explore. Enjoy!

arhpdi, you mentioned that your friend has a timeshare. After seeing the timeshare villas at the Westin (and they are very nice), I'd go there. Most timeshares are on the opposite side of the road from the resort. The good news is you have a great view of mountains and bay AND a pool there. (The pool is much smaller though than the resort pool--but intimate!!!)You're not actually on the hotel grounds with all the crowd and kids. You wouldn't even have to go to the beach at the Westin if you didn't want to. We had a beachfront room and still didn't spend much time there. Like travleis, let me defend--the beach was perfectly acceptable and better than most here in the States, but St. John is known for it's beaches and that would be like going to the outlet mall while vacationing at the Grand Canyon. NOT! I've never been to Atlantis, but my friends who've been to both say Atlantis doesn't come close to St. John. Not by a long shot.