first timers to st. kitts.
 

we are going to st. kitts in april, staying at the new marriott resort. has any one stayed here? any suggetions for day trips with the kids, nice dining. thanks in advance

3 suggested day trips:
1. Get a taxi driver to take you on a tour that includes a visit to Brimstone Hill. The setting is beautiful and the fortress is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
2. Go to Turtle Beach. Nice beach on southern tip of island. Great views of Nevis and monkeys live there.
3. Take a catamaran to Nevis.
I have been to St. Kitt's but not at your resort so I cannot comment about it.

I second that about Turtle Beach. We were there about 6 years ago when my oldest daughter was about 20 months old and we went to Turtle Beach everyday. There was a nice little restaurant there at that time that put out lounge chairs, and there's plenty of natural shade. We liked a restaurant called Hemingways for dinner - don't know if it's still in business. I do recall that none of the restaurants served dinner before 7 pm, which is problem for little kids.

There are no more monkeys at Turtle Beach. They got to out of hand with attacking each other and running off with everyones lunch. They bought in dogs to run them off and they now have a new sheriff in town, Wilbur, the 400lb pig.

thanks for the ideas for day trips. do you think we need a car? is it casul dining in the evening,or should we be prepared to dress?

Whether you rent a car or not is entirely up to you - we just took taxis. A car would give you more freedom. Roads are pretty good but narrow in some places and not well sign-posted. Most St. Kitt's taxi drivers are qualified to give tours. At our resort dining was quite casual.

August 2003: I took my family to the Marriott (kids 10 & 8) for a beach and sun R&R. The hotel was only 6 months old, so there were a few glitches and some facilities yet to open, so we did not experience them all.
The resort is huge and rooms are great (upgraded with Platinum status). With several swimming pools, my kids were often the only ones swimming. The beach is rather small for such a large resort. The kids did snorkel along the beach and saw many colorful fish.
Turtle beach was the pits (seaweed all along its shores) and reeked of rotting vegetation.
Although I rented a car and bought a drivers license, in hindsight it was not worth the expense. I recommend you take taxis when you can with the exception of a day trip (rent a car at the Marriott) around the island for stopping and sightseeing and for some real secluded/isolated beaches.
My kids LOVED Brimstone Fortress (me too) and spent 6 hours there to casually view and take pix.
Consider horseback ride up to Mt. L. to visit some rain forest (kids second favorite) and see some monkeys (never saw them anywhere else). Tour will pick you up at hotel.
Dining at the Marriott is generally casual in flavor. Off resort dining is too, but everywhere is pricy! (Went to KFC to save some $ as one stop had $25 US plate of spaghetti with 3 meatballs!)
Lastly, driving was an adventure (left-side) and the trip around the island had several small towns where the streets were essentially single-laned due to parked cars everywhere, but otherwise quite passable.
Be sure to buy some Batik clothing! I have pix of our trip if you want to see some scenery.

thanks everyone for the help,and great web site. i just read that the beach is too rough for the kids at the marriott, is this true? i hope not.

Were at St Kitts Dec 4 to 14 and the weather was awful and thus all the side trips mentioned from Ft Brimstone to visiting plantations were all covered by my wife and I in the smallest (but cheapest) car. Driving is an experience per se when you go off to visit the plantations and NARROW one lane road up to Ft Brimstone.

Room fine (were upgraded);service trying but did not make it to first class. The beach is not small nor when we were there too rough for kids,and the faux palm beach huts are great for those non sun lovers and the local sales people of souveniers are not offensive.

The Atlantic waters behind the Marriott are NOT for kids. In my opinion no one else either. There is a small break water area and thats it. There were 10 to 12 foot waves out there a few days ago. It's only a 10 minute walk to the Caribbean side at Timothy Beach Resort.