Shawn

My husband and I have stayed at TBR twice and we love it there. When we return to SK, this is where we will stay again, this time with our family.<BR><BR>The resort is ideally located right on the Caribbean waters and is a great place to snorkel, find shell and get sand dollars from the ocean. I took home a suitcase with approx 80 lbs of shells from that beach alone!<BR><BR>The rooms are large and immaculate. The staff was very friendly and we really liked the food (although we wished it changed through the week). They will be happy to arrange any excursion for you and arrange for transportation anywhere you want to go - IF you ask them to. The excursion binder is in the office and is packed with all kinds of things to do and to see. When we stayed at Jack Tar on SK, it was the same way there; a binder up at the front desk for you to thumb through and book excursions. And also the same when we stayed at Island Paradise Beach Village.<BR><BR>I actually wrote 2 reviews on the Where to Stay website for TBR for both of our stays. <BR><BR>This negativity is just awful. Every hotel/resort has an off day (even the best I must add), but should not be blasted all over tourist boards and newsgroups. The TBR website accurately depicts the resort as a whole, from inside to outside. That is what it looks like, period.<BR><BR>And to say that the Manager is trying to buy you (ML) into delete your posting is just terrible! Maybe he offered you an explanation and his apologies and offered restitution so that you might come back some day; I could see that happening.

Shawn

My husband and I have stayed at TBR twice and we love it there. When we return to SK, this is where we will stay again, this time with our family.<BR><BR>The resort is ideally located right on the Caribbean waters and is a great place to snorkel, find shell and get sand dollars from the ocean. I took home a suitcase with approx 80 lbs of shells from that beach alone!<BR><BR>The rooms are large and immaculate. The staff was very friendly and we really liked the food (although we wished it changed through the week). They will be happy to arrange any excursion for you and arrange for transportation anywhere you want to go - IF you ask them to. The excursion binder is in the office and is packed with all kinds of things to do and to see. When we stayed at Jack Tar on SK, it was the same way there; a binder up at the front desk for you to thumb through and book excursions. And also the same when we stayed at Island Paradise Beach Village.<BR><BR>I actually wrote 2 reviews on the Where to Stay website for TBR for both of our stays. <BR><BR>This negativity is just awful. Every hotel/resort has an off day (even the best I must add), but should not be blasted all over tourist boards and newsgroups. The TBR website accurately depicts the resort as a whole, from inside to outside. That is what it looks like, period.<BR><BR>And to say that the Manager is trying to buy you (ML) into delete your posting is just a terrible accusation! Maybe he offered you an explanation and his apologies and offered restitution so that you might come back some day; I could see that happening. And maybe he asked you to reconsider what you wrote. There is nothing wrong with that either. He is trying very hard to promote a hotel on a very small island that is venturing out into the tourism industry. <BR><BR>You have probably succeeded into shying some people away from this resort. I certainly hope not though. I am picturing myself sitting on that balcony now watching the sunset and wishing we could afford to go back this year.

ML

JMM<BR>Regarding my original post it was a trip report on Geographia. Since that post I keep added things because of some rude responses. Not from your post but be advised of the following:<BR><BR>1. OK, Most of my original report. <BR>2. Room / did not mention in my original trip report.<BR>3. Did not mention on original trip report. An answer to a post directed at me about how wonderful everything was including the welcome basket.<BR>4. I did not mention the manager on my original trip report. Only after another response "the manager there is wonderful what is the matter with you" <BR>5.Did not say on my origial trip report. Only after another lovely post came my way. They just bend over backwards right. And yes I believe if two people are in the restaurant having coffee she might have let me had one as well since I was the only person there not having any. <BR>6.Did not mention on my original trip report. I am talking about the lounge <BR>chairs at the beach not at TBR's. <BR><BR>The first response I recieved was that I was full of crape! I also stated <BR>several times it was my fault and not TBR's. And when I said do not be as stupid as me I meant that I did not do the research and and I think I have said that on all my posts. Your post was a normal response from someone who enjoyedtheir trip. Everytime I would give some negitive imput I was told I did not know what I was talking about.<BR>I should have left it alone after awhile. My mistake but those who worry more about a resort and do not care about insulting a person continue to deal with negitive feedback. I enjoyed St Kitts spoke highly of the people,restaurants etc. But nobody seemed to care they were just worried <BR>about TBR. I will post very honestly <BR>as before but more careful with how much is needed to be said.

Leaveit

Hey Shawn, leave our shells here next time would you. How did you get away with taking 80 pounds of our natural beauty?

Shawn

I will not, thank you. I put the 80 lbs of shells in my suitcase and put them on a plane. They now decorate a gorgeous basket made for my weddding, a tall bottle in the bathroom, as well as each and every room in my house as a memory of my honeymoon on the island. <BR><BR>One shell in particular is a piece of coral large than a large grapefruit that is in the shape of an almost perfect heart (new hubby got me that one) and a number of perfect conch shells, which added most of the weight. Also got over 100 perfect sand dollars and decorated the perimeter of a mirror with those.<BR><BR>If I had not taken them, someone else would have. We spent a lot of money during that trip and these are my momentoes. Took another 40 lbs back with me on my last trip.<BR><BR>I do that everywhere I go. Sand from every beach goes in little bottles with corks and shells decorate the house.

anm

Shawn-<BR>i hope that the coral you spoke of in your post was already dead when your husband gave it to you. Its against the law on all the islands to pick living coral.

xxx

shawn, it's one thing to take a few shells, but 80 lbs. is another story. if you've done any research on marine life, you'll find that when a living creature leaves a shell, another moves into it. sounds like you took way more than your share of homes from living creatures not to mention the possiblity that all the shells weren't empty. and as the poster above said it is against the law to take a good deal of living things from the beach or sea.

Shawn

No, the heart shaped coral was not alive, was white and dried up on the beach, the sand dollars were also white, which we looked up on the internet in town to assure they were dead before collecting, and none of the shells housed living creatures. <BR><BR>And yes, I am a well informed adult who is well aware of the laws on live coral around the world. I also know that creatures leave one shell and move to another.<BR><BR>With the hundreds of thousands of shells on that beach, my "helping" was not destructive in any way, shape or form.<BR><BR>I find it funny how I am being harrassed for taking shells, of all things. Do any of you know what 80 lbs of shells look like? You assume I took thousands! Go ahead, go out and collect 80 lbs of shells, assuring there are many large conches in your selection, and then see what you got for your big 80 lbs.<BR><BR>I now have a collapsible bag which I take with me on all vacations so that I can decorate my home with shells collected from all over the world. When I go back to SK, it will be coming with me.

stupid

What if everyone that went to SK took home 80lbs of shells? I think you are trying to rationalize things in your head. You still removed a part of the natural beauty from the beach. Did you take broken shells or whole ones? You would be "helping" more by taking broken ones.<BR><BR>I don't know why I'm wasting my time with a reply...I should know from the other board that Shawn is never wrong!

Stop It

Will ya stop it already. Picking on this woman for taking shells is just ridiculous! Most people take shells when they are on vacation as memorabilia, my wife does. We too have hundreds of shells from many different islands. Can't say she has taken 80 pounds from one place, but 30-40 pounds worth from each island.<BR><BR>I like Shawn's recommendation for the collapsible bag. I will give one to my wife for the same exact reason.<BR><BR>It's funny how these ridiculous replies come from anonymous people. If you know this woman, why not share your real name instead of fake names with insinuations.<BR><BR>My wife and I went to St. Kitts and were assisted by Shawn in many ways. She is well informed about the island and the activities and places to go on the island. She assisted us greatly in planning our activities as well as dinners at nice restaurants.<BR><BR>Paul

xxx

Oh, and "Paul" isn't annonymous? Not to mention the address you selected? Shawn keeps going to the Carribbean, there won't be any marine life left, obviously. As you said, you take "some." She hoards them and should stop.

shellstealer

maybe shawn is helpful in trip planning but that still doesn't mean she didn't strip the beach. if you watch tides a lot of the shells she did leave might have been gone the next week. nothing will change the fact that taking a few shells is normal but stripping the beach of 80 pounds is plain wrong.

coconuts

I live near a Massachusetts beach. It is illegal to removed sand, rocks, shells, etc. All of these things have a place in the ecosystem. I've seen signs at some tropical beaches forbidding such removal also.<BR>The best, softest beaches are made from shells that have been disintegrated by wave action and formed sand over thousands of years. This greedy grasping of shells is sort of like those people who strip deserts of cacti to decorate their lawns or dig up trees in forests. <BR>If your house is decorated with tons of shells, it must look something like Long John Silver's or one of those kitchy seafood restaurants. <BR><BR>

untrue

To Mass:<BR><BR>I have been to OVER 250 different beaches throughout the Caribbean etc. and have NEVER ONCE seen a "do not take shells" sign anywhere! And never have I seen signs in MA, RI, SC, FL, CA, NJ, ME, MX,, PR, HI, or anywhere else for that matter.<BR><BR>My wife and daughters also collect shells from every beach we go to, so we have thousands more shells than the other poster could ever have. Oh boy, I am sure to be the next one attacked now.<BR><BR>And please explain the need to be so downright insulting to this person when speaking of what his/her home looks like. My home is beautiful and is decorated very tastefully with shells.<BR><BR>Why don't you and your cohort environmentalist friends stop insulting someone for taking free shells from public beaches and stick to answering the travel questions. This whole thread has gotten ridiculous. With the reputation Fodor's has in the travel community, you do not need to waste your time and their space reprimanding an adult for taking shells off public beaches.<BR><BR>I find it amazing how travel forums are filled with insults to other people, displays of such childhood reponses from adults (keyword adults), attacks on the characters of other people, etc. These types of posters just look for postings where they can purposely cause trouble, irritate and instigate others into word wars, and clutter very useful travel boards.<BR><BR>Hey here's a new job: Shell Police. I am sure there is a large calling for such shell protectors on all those beaches YOU have supposedly seen signs on. What a hoot you people are!

xxx

there are no signs. it's just something that non-idiots are aware of.

marine

I am a marine biologist who has traveled all over the world. I am quite knowledgeable of this subject.<BR><BR>Whether you agree or not, shells are free for the taking. There are no LAWS against the taking of shells in the world. Perhaps there are a select number of places which are private where this is not allowed, however, shells are free for the taking and always have been.<BR><BR>The taking of coral, as we all know, or live plants from the ocean, is illegal in most countries. There is no crime in taking sand dollars, as no other animals will inhabitate the shells.<BR><BR>Wouldn't you rather see a beautiful display of shells in someone's house than the same shells smashed up against rocks offering no beauty to anyone?<BR><BR>I have thousands of shells in my home like the other posters. These were not taken for study purposes, they were taken to display their beauty in my home.<BR><BR>It is unnecessary to insult people's character. It is quite immature at best. We are not idiots; we enjoy the beauty enough to want to display some of it in our homes for friends and family to see.

qqq

"Some" is different than "thousands"!<BR>There may not be a law, but what is wrong with using some judgment and exercising some adult restraint.<BR>The oceans have fewer whales, the grasslands fewer buffalo, and so on because there were no laws concerning their harvesting in days gone by.<BR>Do you need a law to govern all your actions?<BR>A right to plunder because you paid for a vacation?<BR>Immature?<BR>Unbelievable............ ...

sure

hey marine, why would you think that a sand dollar is a shell? it's a living organism. of course, no other living creatures "move into" a sand dollar because a sand dollar is in itself a creature. ever notice how it has hair on it when it's alive? wonder if shawn took any live ones w/o knowing it.<BR>are you sure you know what you are talking about? i agree that there is a huge difference in taking a few shells from each beach and taking thousands. i have shells, too, but i limit what i take very carefully and it's not 80 pounds worth on any one trip, that's for sure.<BR><BR>

Ann Saltmarsh

We too recently became interested in St Kitts and perhaps Timothy Beach Resort. We pretty much have traveled to a very small resort in the Grenadines over the past 12 years but are looking for someplace a little closer but still very small, quiet, clean, good food, air conditioning, no night life needed. <BR><BR>We noticed other good reactions posted re: the TBR restaurant - how are the prices? Any (recent) info would be much appreciated. Thanks!