Hi, I am booking a honeymoon Jan. 19-25, and need some help choosing a resort. What makes this different than most request is that my fiance and I are pretty young, 23, and even worse, for right now, look even younger (I look 18). We have a pretty big budget for the honeymoon ($5000-8000), and after spending a lot of time looking through the postings, I am leaning towards Caneel Bay (great beaches, quiet, intimate, private). My biggest concern is that because we look pretty young, the kind of service we would get might be worse than what is given to everyone else (I got that a lot when I was shopping for the engagement ring) and could ruin our honeymoon.

Will Caneel Bay treat us the same as everyone else or should I look more strongly at some of the other high end resorts (Cuisinart, Cap Juluca, Malliouhana, Jumby Bay)?

Thanks for the help

Hi np...Your post caught my eye because I am looking to book a wedding/moon around the same week as you.I honestly dont think your age will have any bearing on the type of sevice you recieve..esp. at high-end resorts.You have spent the money to be there..so has everyone else.Im sure most fellow posters will agree with me.We are also considering Cap Jaluca but not really Caneel.Dont get me wrong..I LOVE St. John..but Im not sure you will get the same level of luxury at Caneel.(hard to beat the beauty of St. John itself though)Guess it just depends on what you want...

Your question is actually a very good one. I recall being concerned about the same thing when I was younger. And the reason I was concerned was that it infuriated me to in fact receive what I perceived as second class service at first class hotels when I was in my early 20's.
That said, I'll offer the following observations. Firstly, truly first class hotels provide top notch service to everyone whether 50, 90 or 2 years of age. I will praise the Four Seasons chain for providing the most consistently outstanding service of any chain hotels/resorts I've stayed at.
I have stayed at several of the Rosewood Resorts (which manages Caneel Bay) and will say that they do a pretty good job overall of ensuring high quality service. The Caribbean, however, is a little different in that even at many of the very nice resorts, service is casual and seems somewhat indifferent. That's just the nature of life in the Caribbean. It's not high strung or tightly regimented, so attempting to train staff to provide the kind of service you'd expect at a nice hotel in New York City isn't going to overcome their cultural tendency toward casualness.
Will you receive inferior service at CB due to your age? Not likely. Depends mostly on your expectations and on how you handle yourself. Go in knowing that service is casual to begin with, and act just like you're there staying among friends. Treat the staff as you would family. Smile, say hello, be very cordial, and I guarantee you'll get the same in return at CB. Same holds true at the other places you mentioned, though I think CB, CA and JB are a little friendlier than CJ and M. I've been to each of them. Hope you have a great time.

thanks travleis
Your reply really assuaged my fears, so I think that means I will be honeymooning in Caneel Bay.

My husband and I honeymooned at Caneel Bay three years ago. My husband was 24 and I was 25 at the time. I looked (and still look) very young for my age - probably around 18. This was never a problem for us at Caneel. The staff was well aware that this was our honeymoon (I think our travel agent informed them), so I'm sure they realized we were in our twenties. Service seemed the same for us as for everyone else - the staff was very nice but they are on island time, so everything is a little slower than what you might expect. My take on the whole thing is that if you are staying at Caneel, you are shelling out the big bucks. I think the staff realizes this and treats everyone on the same level, regardless of how young they might look. We ran into a lot of honeymooners there, and they all looked around our age bracket. Have a wonderful time!

Whatever age I was, if I had that big of a budget....I'd be thinking St. Barths.

Atticus
Well 8 grand does not go as far as it uesd to...believe it or not. A room at Le Toiney at that time of year will cost $1617.00 per night X 7 nights = $11319.00, and that's not including air to St. Martin and the flight to St. Barths or a car (which you need on St. Barths) or food - very expensive like $20.00 hamburgers or spending money...Over Budget for sure!

A villa in St. Barths will cost less, during high season its still lots of money, espically in St. Barths where its chic to see and be seen that time of year. You can get a room for less than $11319.00 during that time of year, not much less, but it will be very hard to fit St. Barths in January into an $8000.00 budget.

Geeze..I'm going to Cap in November and it costs more than $8000.00 for 10 days - and thats just for hotel and air - not including spending and dinners & other stuff like snorkeling or a sunset catamaran excursion or the jazz fest and drinks.....the list goes on and on

The least expensive room available at Cap (Luxury Room) during January is $735.00 per night = $5145.00 for a week - again just hotel - no air included. So I don't know what you're thinking!

Hi Sandyfeet.
Hugs to you, as well.
What I am thinking is like what is posted in the thread entitled " Where to stay on St. Barts". One pster stated that they had stayed on the island at a "premium" resort with room costs of $400. to $1700
per night. That is what I was thinking.

"Depending on the room and season".....January is High Season, you will not find a room at a high end resort for $400.00 its more like $1700.00 per night if you FYI!

Sandyfeet, how about you give me $8,000 to prove that I could do it???

If I go and try, and fail...I'll give it back. I promise.