caneel rooms help
 

We were planning to stay at Caneel in early February. All of the Garden Rooms are already booked and the Courtside Rooms are only available with a full meal plan which comes to $866 a day. We have stayed in various accommodations at Caneel but never in the Courtside Rooms. The 2 largest of the courtside rooms (#148 and 132) have been redesignated as Premium and are not available. The ocean view rooms also require a full meal plan and cost over $1,000 a day. Prices have really gone out of control at Caneel as much as I love it there.

So my question is how bad are the regular courtside rooms? The resort told me they are 350 sq.ft. which is 20 sq.ft smaller than the Turtle Bay rooms which we have stayed in in the past. Are they too small to be worth the package price? Are the balconies or patios useable? Are the rooms in a noisy and inconvenient location? We could consider renting a nice villa instead for less money. Thanks for your advice.

My goodness, I didn't know that Caneel required the full meal plan at any time!!

In four stays, I've never been in the Garden Rooms. I'll give my thoughts for what it is worth. I don't know if you read my August trip report where I gave my family's opinion on staying anywhere on Caneel but the beach.

First, I wouldn't want three meals a day. Way too much food, too much money, and not always that good. For me, as much as I love Caneel, I wouldn't pay the price. My decision would be to stay in a villa if I couldn't be on the beach. I also like a kitchen to do some cooking.

I suppose Caneel can charge those prices and have those restrictions in February. Only you can decide if it is worth the money. Just last night at dinner, my grandsons started talking about Caneel. I can say without any hesitation it will be in their memory long after I have left this earth. I guess that can't be measured in money. Good luck. owa

If you cannot get any of the rooms w/o a meal plan, I would either opt for a villa or even Gallows Point? While the beaches are beautiful at Caneel, you can always rent a villa and drive to all of the other St. John beaches have to offer, Cinnamon, Maho Bay, Gibney, Waterlemon, etc. I would double check and see if it is "mandatory" to stay there with a meal plan. I have been going for several years and have never had this requirement. Hope this helps. - Susan

I've also stayed at Caneel many times and never heard about the required meal plan (although we're there between Thanksgiving and Christmas)....Did you try making reservations through a travel agency such as Virtuoso? Perhaps they'd have more luck!

Thanks for the feedback. We decided on a villa rental. We haven't done that before. We selected Terrahawk through Catered to. It is a short walk (but down the villa's steep driveway) to Gibney Beach on Hawksnest Bay. The location is perfect for us. I just think during high season Caneel holds back some rooms in the less expensive categories for the full meal plan once the rest of that category is booked. I guess if we choose to go back there another time we'll have to plan it farther ahead. The plus is that we'll have a rental jeep to get around and explore other beaches and dinner locations, something we never do when we stay at Caneel. Once you pay that kind of money you don't want to leave!

Trying a large travel agent is a good idea. I always found the rooms small throughout the property even Cottage #7. If the cost difference is not great see if you can get into Hawks Nest. The area has a breeze and is good for the beach in PM and it blows the no see'ems away a bit. Ask for second floor preferably an end unit which is also a bit quieter. Also, they may not require meals something I never heard of in 23 years of going to Caneel.

Gosh! am I surprised that Caneel has gone "reto" back to the days when dining out wasn't even an option - and there weren't a whole lot of places on St. John if you wanted to eat "out." In the olden days, Scott's Beach rooms ate all their meals at Turtle Bay and if you stayed in the other rooms, there was a tiny surcharge to "upgrade" for dinner at Turtle Bay (which they never charged!). Transients (those not staying at the resort) were welcome only at the Sugar Mill but they sure didn't buffet everyone every meal at Caneel Terrace! And they had bikes!
Bet that price would be very close to the Jumby Bay rate and I have a hard time comparing the two properties' accomodations. But then I love Jumby but it's not for the snorkelers.

That's true about being a snorkeler. It really limits where you'll choose to go. My husband doesn'r snorkel any more because he has a beard and can't keep the water out of his mask. We have enjoyed other islands that didn't have snorkeling, like Barbados and Anguilla, but I really miss the snorkel experience. It is very special for me. And nothing in the Caribbean beats the comination of beautiful beaches and snorkeling of St. John.

Just wanted to follow-up with MP07950's suggestion to contact Virtuoso. I never heard of them before but I though I would give it a try. When I called and told them I could not get a Garden View room directly with the resort, they told me that they had one for me AND we could have a free buffet breakfast every morning as a Virtuoso bonus plus a possibility of an upgrade if there are available rooms. Wow! What a great suggestion.

We were all set on staying at the Terrahawk villa (have not completed the reservation form yet). It sounds really nice and is a bit less expensive. But it is really hard not to return to Caneel. It is my favorite place. I'll have to decide by tomorrow so I'll sleep on it.

I'm so glad that worked out for you! I read about Virtuoso several years ago on one of the boards and have been using them ever since for Caneel. If you have a platinum AMEX, I believe you can get a similar package. Having the cold breakfast (in the restaurant) is such a nice benefit...