help me decide between 3 islands
 

I am new here and wanted your help. We are trying to decide between 3 islands. We have 3 kids 3,5,7 and are leaving them HOME and want some R&R and a good time. We love a nice resort, pretty island with mountains, great beaches with some hiking, snorking and the rest hanging at the beach and pool. We are thinking of Westin St. John, Oyster Bay St. Marteen and Marriott St. Kitts. St. Marteen I am hearing is a lot of fun but seems very commercialized. St. Kitts seems perfect with the rainforest, volcanos but not much else to do. St. John seems good especially with the option of seeing St. thomas very easily. We also want to go to a place that we would not want to go with the kids since we could take them next time to the places we missed. Any suggestions from those who have been to both or all? Thanks so much!

St John is the best of these for you, but IMHO you would love Tortola better. You can ferry to Jost, Virgin Gorda, etc and it is so very quiet and not overbuilt.

St. John.

You can also ferry to Jost, VG and Tortola from STJ.

I agree with the others: St. John. Better beaches and snorkeling than St. Kitts and St. Maarten and much quieter.

St.John, but the Westin is on a man-made beach. Far better is Caneel Bay, where their 171 rooms are scattered about SEVEN tree-shaded white sand beaches with wade-in snorkeling. Caneel is in the National Park--no development to be seen anywhere. Grounds are so extensive and private, you can nearly get lost. One of the most romantic places on earth.

St. Kitts has my vote! Rainforest, uncrowded beaches, friendly and helpful locals, catamaran excursions, sister island of Nevis, Brimstone Hill Fortress, fun beach bars and so much more!

www.stkitts-tourism.com

Does R&R mean Rock&Roll? :) If so, there will definitely be more of that in St. Maarten, where the nights are hot and wild..and the beach has Rocks (uhm, actually the beach at Oyster Bay is also rather small and crowded, not exactly my favorite SXM beach. But the pool is nice and you can always drive to another beach, no big deal). As for another type of R: the Restaurants. They are much better, in general, in St. Martin (French)than in SKB and St. John.

But if the Rs mean Rest & Relaxation, St. Kitts and St. John would definitely be a better choice for you. However, there are some special Rs in St. Kitts that you will not find on St. John, namely Rivers & Rainforest, Railway Rides (through scenic sugarcane fields) & not to forget: fRollicking-gReen-veRvet monkeys. :) I haven't stayed at the Marriott, but it looks very nice.

Like St. Kitts, St. John doesn't have much going on at night, but the shuttle to town runs frequently and it a supershort trip from the Westin so a cozy and romantic night on the town is an easy, quick proposition. You'll find beaches on the island that are truly stunning, more beautiful than SKB and SXM, as long as you manage to avoid the cruise ship crowds that will suddenly pour in like hot lava, invading the beaches in large loud sweaty droves, attracted especially to the area around the underwater snorkling park. They make St. John into a temporary Costa Brava circus-- that is the only thing I really hate that about that island. It is just too small to absorb those large daytime invasions of cruise ship tourists.

About the Westin: If you opt to stay there, make sure you get an ocean view room in the main complex so you do not end up in the newer part of the development, on the wrong side of the main road. We got booked there one year by a travel agent who forgot to tell us the difference, and it was way too far from the beach, way too isolated, with no view except 5 ft high grass infested by mosquitos. We were very disappointed, but the hotel was not to blame. To make things worse, the shuttle to the main area of the hotel was very sporadic and unreliable.(On the positive side: Westin St. John has the nicest, most comfortable beds I have ever encountered. They are just heavenly.)

As for the R&R in St. John, it can be found at the man-made beach of the Westin: a nice, big kiddy jumping tower a few strokes from the beach, in case you feel like Romping & Raving like kids from joy over having this R&R break from the mommy and daddy roles for whole wonderful week. It sounds fabulous..I wish it was me going! :)

The Westin on St John would be perfect for a family with kids ... it has a beautiful beach and great activities in and around the beach ... it also has a beautiful pool for all to enjoy. Caneel Bay is much pricier and does not have a pool and not much in the way of kids' sports other than their beach. And, from there you can always explore the other beautiful beaches around the island. Have fun!

O.K., now that we've all (alright, mostly) agreed on St. John. Accomadations...A. Westin, lovely. We loved the rooms which walked right onto beach. Great pool. Fun people watching. B. Caneel Bay, fabulous beaches, 7 in all. You may be the only one on that beach. Old money feeling. No glitz. IMHO not very good service for the price. Now C...both of the above hotels run around $500 a night. Why not consider your own villa? There are hordes around for that amount or less. Don't forget all those lousy hotel taxes. Just search St. John villas and you could shop all day. Prices are right there. Regardless, it is a fabulous island. Skip St Thomas and spend a day (or 2) cruising around the British Virgin Islands and visit the Baths. The forest department there hosts regular hikes which are supposed to be cool. There is so much info online now. Trust what people say here and tripadvisor. We've been there. Many travel agents have not. Good luck!!