I am in a quandry about lodging choices on St Croix - 1st choice is the Buccaneer, but do not wish to pay the extra money -- is it worth it to stay there? 2nd choice is Carambola, reasonable, seems nice, good reviews....Then there is Chenay Beach Resort - reviews make it seem dated, not as many bells and whistles... any opinions on these three places? I have this weekend to make my choice. Air tix are booked, I have a 'hold ' on my three choices, I only wish the pictures were bigger on this incredible thing...

I realize that I did not add who/what we are into: snorkeling is our family activity. We like nice dinners (trips to town for this?) the kids like a good pool, and I'd love to kayak around on the water down there. We are neophyte golfers, and like to horseback ride (the ladies). We want to do a day trip to Buck Island, and visit the other famous island sites (rum factory/botanical gardens/beer drinking pig/rainbow beach)

i have not been to st. croix but i have a web site that might help you. go to www.travelhop.com click st.croix then hotels then search. click on your hotels. at each hotel click on the print just under the photo. this will bring you to 360 virtual tours of various parts of the resorts.

Hi Norpine--we stayed at the Buc last March and liked it alot. We stayed in a family cottage which is a master bedroom separated by a bathroom from a bedroom with two twins--nice arrangement that is hard to find. My husband liked the golf there. A little more problematic is the pool--it is on the older side and not particularly big. How old are your kids and I can elaborate on that more.

There are lots of fun restaurants and a great taxi "system" that is easy and convenient (the same driver handles your round trip and when you get your check you tell your server who drove you there (007, Elvis) and they come pick you up).

Also, the Washington Post last week did a nice story on St. Croix on last Sunday's travel section--it is probably still up on their website.

I am happy to answer questions about the Buc--it is pricey, but it grew on us.

A couple of folks on this forum know St. Croix well and hopefully you will hear from them.

Mary in D.C.

Thanks Mary for the insite. I wish I could get the family cottage - sounds like it would be perfect!
We would prefer the privacy of two rooms (our children are 9 and 12), and that makes the waterfront rooms prohibitive for our budget. We can get two rooms in the great house with mtn/golf course views for the same price as two waterfront rooms at the Carambola - about a 1/2 hr drive west of Christiansted. So my dilemma becomes -- do we go for the nicer big rooms at a smaller resort with less bells and whistles? Or go for the modest rooms at the bigger resort?
I've been to STX before, so I know the general lay of the land. I plan to tour the island with my family, snorkel at Buck Island, spend a day in town, spend the remaining days at the resort.
We mostly love to snorkel, and I'm wondering if the beach at either resort is preferable for this.

Hello norpine! If I were you I would look into CARRINGTONS INN. Go to www.carringtonsinn.com to check it out

Hello again norpine! A dasy snorkeling at Buck Island is a perfect idea! Buck Island the best thing St. Croix has to offer I think. You will LOVE snorkeling Buck Island!!

Virginia,
Thanks for the website connection - it was veryhelpful! The Carambola was much more visible on this site, their website could use some more pictures like this one. Thanks,

Norpine--I didn't see the rooms in the great house at the Buc, but maybe you will hear from someone who has; now that I know the ages of your children, let me add a few things; they should be fine with the pool, it is just not big, but all the kids seemed fine with it; your younger daughter would probably enjoy the kids' program (not sure about the 12-year old), but we also had someone from the front desk babysit for us so we could go out to dinner one night and that was great. She was very nice and the cost was a pittance compared to what we pay at home. We don't snorkel so I can't help you there, but folks were doing it at the Buc's beach and, of course, there is Buck Island. There were kayaks available right at the beach.

Lastly, forgot to say that breakfast at the Buc is included and terrific. Big buffet in a beautiful setting.

Hope this helps; BTW, there are reasonably priced places to eat that are no more than a 15-minute ride from the Buc.

Feel to free to ask more questions,

Mary

P.S. As resorts go, it is not a very big property so the Great House is convenient to the beach and the pool and the main restaurant is in the Great House.

Thanks - all good things to consider.

Hi Norpine,

As MaryMarra would expect me to say, I would pick the Buc hands down over Carambola although I've never stayed at the latter. Hopefully others can tell you more about it but my sense (from these forums) is that their beach is beautiful but small and ringed with coral. Not sure how good the snorkeling is there due to rougher seas (North Shore is gorgeous but rough).

We've been to the Buccaneer six times so I am very biased. And MaryMarra is right--it grows on you. When are you going? Sorry to hear that there are no family cottages available. But the rooms in the Great House are very nice. We always meet people who stay with their kids in one Oceanfront room so that's an option as well.

The Buc is much more convenient to town for nice dinners than Carambola. We love being able to use taxis so that we can enjoy Painkillers at Rumrunners without jeopardizing our lives by driving back home! Taxis from C'sted to Carambola would be quite expensive.

Snorkeling off Mermaid and Grotto Beach at the Buc is pretty good (this from my husband the snorkeler). They loan you equipment for your stay. You also get free floats/loungers, sea kayaks (which are quite fun), basketball for playing hoops, etc. And the golf would be fine for your husband. I think the Carambola course is much lush but we have Buc friends who are HUGE golfers and they prefer the Buccaneer's course.

I can't comment on Chenay Bay. I like it's location better than Carambola and the website looks very nice. But you do see mixed reviews on it.

Let us know when you're going...

Hi Norpine, glad you heard from ccrosner, my St. Croix expert. My husband remembers that on our way back from Cheeseburger in Paradise, a fun, laidback (cheap!) restaurant that your girls would like, that we shared a taxi with, and dropped off, a family from the Netherlands at what we are pretty sure was Chenay Beach Resort (someone will correct my geography if this is not right), but they described it as clean, but modest. It looked like a group of cottages that you might see near a lake in the United States, so obviously not the resort setting of a place like the Buc.

Good luck, and let us know what you decide. Wherever you end up staying, St. Croix is a great choice.

Mary

norpine,
What did you decide to do?