Patricio

Hi everyone!! finally booked my honeymoon in stt and st john after browsing through your reviews. Booked 7 nights at the Ritz in STT with oceanview and 7 nights at the westin in st john w/ poolview... thing is I rented a car for the week in st thomas thinking that on st john i'd boat to all the beaches and not need a car... now having second thoughts. What to do? Should i reserve a car in st john and if so for how long? is week rental in stt too much? is 14 days too long for stt and st john? (can't leave the USVI) Looking to eat at restauarnts in town to save some $$ at the ritz and avoid the so-so food at the westin. would appreciate any feedback about the ritz and the westin and recommended out of hotel activities... thanks to everyone and hope to here from you

Patricio

forgot to say i'm risking it and going at the beginning of october... hope i luck out on the hurricane problem...

Pete

Definitely rent a car on St. John, at least for a few days. The Westin is a drive from the two towns, Cruz Bay and Coral Bay, and the National Park beaches. You can probably catch cabs (open pickup trucks with benches on the back that take several people at once) from the Westin to the towns for going out at night, and to Trunk Bay (the most popular National Park beach), but you really need your own car to get around to all the other beaches. They're less crowded than Trunk (it's all relative though--Trunk bay looks deserted compared to East Coast USA beaches), and really beautiful. You can try a different beach every day. Try a car for a few days and see if you use it. By the way, people drive on the left side of the road in St. Thomas & St. John. <BR>Also, try to take a day trip to the British Virgin Islands, specifically the Baths on Virgin Gorda. Great snorkeling, and you can swim around through caves and rock formations.

Martin

It's not too late to cancel your reservations at the Westin and get a small villa with a private pool. Not to bash the Westin, which is perfectly nice, but a place where you could swim and lounge all by yourselves would make for a much better honeymoon love-nest IMO. <BR> <BR>If you take my suggestion, make sure to specify that the pool area should be "totally private" (a number of the write-ups on the rental agency websites highlight this feature). Wouldn't want the villa father up the hill to have a view of your activities.

patricio

Thanks for the advice guys... guess i'll rent a 4 wheel for st john for a couple of days... about the private villa, kinda worried about breakins and rats etc that i've heard about on the site...(or are you talking about the westin villas?) but its good to know that the westin isn't actually as close to the towns as it seems in pictures... was hoping to get to all the secluded beaches by pontoon or boat... how many beaches are there on st john? which are really worth it? thanks again

Pete

I don't know if you're looking for seclusion at the Westin or not, but if you are, it is not secluded. It's a drive from the restaurants & bars of Cruz Bay (and a longer drive from Coral Bay on the other end of the island), but it is not secluded on its own. It's in a residential area. The Westin has a great pool (huge), and modern rooms with A/C, plus tennis courts and all the other usual resort amenities. The beach at the Westin is not its strongest point--it's man made and a lot of boats anchor in the small bay, so the water is not as clear as some of the beaches on the North Shore (National Park). My favorites (all easily accessible by car on paved roads) are Hawksnest, Trunk, and Maho. We never made it out to the East end of the island past Coral Bay or to the beaches on the southern side (we were pretty lazy) but friends have said the snorkeling is better on the south side than the north. <BR>As for villas, two sets of friends have stayed in Aria on Bordeaux Mountain without any problems. One stayed in 1998, one in 2001. I don't know about break-ins etc., but you probably should just use common sense--don't leave your doors & windows open and unlocked when you're not in the villa.

patricio

hey pete!! thanks but you're killing me... Now i'm hooked on looking up a nice villa... might cancel my westin reservation and definitely do the villa... problem is aria is taken for the week i'm going... do you know any other villas that are private, clean and secluded that you might recommend? thanks again...

Karen

Lots of sites for villas on St. John but are you sure that you don't want to consider Caneel Bay. Gives you the "resort" atmosphere and yet the privacy and seclusion with some units right on the beach? Would really recommend rather than self-catering. Of course, the budget might be an issue. www.stjohnlinks.com and many sites have loads of info on villas and at this late date, might want to negotiate at bit. You really don't "boat to other beaches" per se but you can rent one for a day of putting around beach to beach from the dinghy dock right by the ferry dock in Cruz Bay. Actually the dining (in Chloe and Bernards) at the Westin, I hear, is very good since the former chef from Asolare is there now and has been a while.

Pete

When are you going to St. John? That makes a big difference in accomodation options. Villas and Caneel bay are much more expensive in high season than in shoulder or low season. Also, we went to St. John in April, we stayed in Gallows Point and highly recommed it. They are condos right on the water within a 5 minute walk to Cruz Bay. However, they do not have A/C. This wasn't a problem in April (except for one night when the breeze wasn't there), but I wouldn't want to try it much past April. We were in an ocean view upper level unit, I think the lower level units have A/C in the bedroom, but you don't get the great views. There are a lot of options on St. John. In the winter, Caneel Bay and private villas are significantly more expensive than the Westin, Gallows Point, and other places. In the summer, they even out a bit. Caneel has a spectacular location. Beautiful beaches right in the National Park, and rooms right on the beaches. I don't know what the rooms look like on the inside. It is still a drive from Caneel to town, so rent a jeep for a few days to see how much you get out and about.

Martin

Since you are going in early October,this should be the VERY low season as far as prices and availability are concerned. <BR>Check out the site for Carribean Villas and Resorts -- http://www.caribbeanvilla.com/ <BR>They have lots of villas available. The first one I clicked on was called "Happy Moon", up the hill from Coral Bay on the East side, with a small pool and a dynamite view. (It's next door to "Aria".) $1,400 for the week. It advertises "tan-all-over privacy" (wink, wink) <BR>Give the agency a call and tell them what you are looking for and they can recommend some places.