debra

My husband and I just returned from a week at Caneel Bay on St. John. Feel free to ask any questions...

Rachel

Debra, <BR>Thanks for sharing information about your trip. Did you use one of Caneel's meal plans or eat outside of the resort? If you did go outside the resort for meals, where do you recommend? Also, how was the humidity during your stay? Thanks again. <BR>

debra

We did not use the meal plan. We considered it, but decided to get to the resort first and then decide based on the menus (you can change your meal plan preference only once during your stay). I'm glad we didn't go on the meal plan--there are plenty of GREAT restaurants--specifically Paradiso in Mongoose Junction in Cruz Bay; Morgan's Mango in Cruz Bay; Fish Trap in Cruz Bay; and Chateau Bordeaux on Bordeaux Mountain. They were all excellent--Fish Trap and Morgan's Mango being a little less "gourmet" than the other two. Our meals at Paradiso and Chateau Bordeaux were two of the best we've had in a long time. Fish Trap was the least expensive--about $40 for the two of us with beer. The others ran from $80-110 with all courses (app., salad, entree, dessert and drinks). Oddly enough, the most dissappointing meal of all was a Turtle Bay at Caneel. The service was poor and the entrees were mediocre. We've heard great things about it--so maybe we caught them on a bad night. E-mail me with specific questions about the restaurants. <BR>Humidity was not too bad, except after the intermittant showers. Keep in mind, I'm from Atlanta, so I live in high humidity anyways...

Karen

Have two ???'s: The food? Since Luigi left Peter Island and is now at Caneel, has the food declined much? (I was certainly not impressed with him at Peter Island and was astonished that Caneel would even consider hiring him!). The rooms? Now that the a/c is becoming a reality, can you describe the "windows v louvers" at Hawksnest and Scott's? Have they really put in glass instead of the floor to celing screened wooden louvers ... especially at Hawksnest?

Jim

My wife and I also just got back from a weeks stay at Caneel. We debated over several resorts before we finally made the decision to stay at Caneel. Boy, did we make the right decision. The resort was wonderful and the service great. We were looking for something different than your typical multistory resort hotel. We found it at Caneel. We were on the Classic Carribbean plan and can honestly say the food and service was terrific every morning and evening. The breakfast buffet was one of the best I have ever seen. If and hopefully when we ever return we would probably try to split the stay with some type of meal plan and try to experience more meals on our own. We heard a lot of good things about the restaurants on other parts of the island. But we were never dissapointed with any of our meals at Caneel.

debra

I'm not sure they have a/c in the ocean front rooms yet--ie, Scott and Hawksnest Beach. I'm sure you could call or e-mail the resort and ask. Our room was a tennis garden and it had louvers on the bottom and glass on the top--so you could alternate between a/c and "open air." We rarely used the a/c at night. It was nice to have the option. <BR>Food: the food is not "bad." Again, we may have caught Turtle Bay on an off-night. We had the seafood buffet on Friday and it was nice--lots of options on entrees from fish to prime rib and roasted chicken. The desserts were awesome. We never had the breakfast buffet because we ate at the free continental breakfast or skipped it in favor of an early lunch. The breakfast buffet did look great. Basically, we would recommend that you not go on the meal plan to keep your options open.