PLEASE HELP DESPERATE
 

I'm in desperate need of some advice. My husband and I are looking into St.John/St. Thomas/Turks and Caicos or Cayman Islands. I have never been to any of these places but I am looking to try something new. Last year for our honeymoon we went to Playa del Car and were hit by a hurricane. So were are trying to make up for our bad honeymoon. Our hotel choices would be:

Parrot Cay/Turks
Grace Bay Club/Turks
Caneel Bay/St. John
Ritz/St. Thomas
Westin/Cayman

Any advice would be great!!

When are you thinking of going ? All of your destinations listed are in within the hurricanes loop( so you could get hit again if you go during the hurricane season)!

Those are very different types of places.
Can you detail what it is that you want or enjoy most?
Obviously they all have top notch beaches.
The quality of the rooms is best at the Ritz and GBC.
There's nightlife and a selection of restaurants on Cayman and in STT.
But Parrot Cay is REALLY quiet and secluded.

I guess I should of included that information before. Sorry. I'm going October 12-October 18th. The only hotel that will not offer the hurricane insurance is Parrot Cay. We are looking for a beautiful beach with white sand, clear water, 4 or 5 star hotel. We are looking for quality rooms. My husband likes to play golf, but I know that St. Thomas does not have a golf course. I heard St. John is a little nicer than St. Thomas but since I've never been there I don't know. I have to decide by tomorrow night and I just don't want to spend all of this money and make the wrong decision.

Golf:
none on St. John.
none anywhere near Parrot Cay (only one golf course exists in the T+C's, on Provo, same island as Grace Bay Club).
There is golf on STT (Mahogany Bay) and Cayman.

Room quality (in descending order):
Ritz
GBC
Parrot Cay (very stark though)
Caneel Bay
Westin (disappointing)

Beach quality (in descending order):
Parrot Cay/GBC (tie)
Caneel Bay (only a hair behind...depends on whether or not you want vegetation surrounding your beach scenery)
Westin
Ritz Carlton

First, you can obtain travel insurance thru you travel agent or on your own and it is independent of the destination so even a Parrot Cay trip can be insured.
Grace Bay Club would give you golf on Provo and Parrot Cay won't. Those beachfront rooms at Parrot Cay are absolutely fabulous as is the spa but you don't have the option of eating "out." I don't know that I'd be happy in the large main building where the standard rooms are located since it is a bit of a walk to the beach. The beach is stunning and the water fabulous both on Provo and Parrot Cay. St. John is lush and more tropical with lovely coves and bays for beach and Caneel's beaches are hard to beat but no golf. A quick ferry ride to St. Thomas will put you in Red Hook and a taxi to the golf would solve that problem or stay at the Ritz, a beautiful propety, and you don't have to hop the ferry. With your dates you are toying with the active hurricane time in the Carib so be sure to get the insurance!

Caneel Bay/St.John or even better: Little Dix Bay Resort on Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands.
Regine / KATITCHE POINT GREATHOUSE

If a beautiful beach is important, I would skip the Ritz in S.T. The hotel is wonderful but the beach is disappointing....certainly not in the same league as Turks or St. John. You will not be hurricane safe with any of these choices - Oct. is very risky. You might want to think about Aruba if you're locked into that time.

Here is my advice: DO NOT GO TO THE CARRIBEAN IN OCTOBER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE IN A HURRICANE.

Really, take a look at worldclimate.com and weatherbase.com October is smack in the middle of hurricane season. Besides being prime hurricane season, October is THE rainiest month in most places in the Carribean.

With respect to the hurricane concern, and with all due respect, I would caution against an absolute "do not go to the Carrib. during the hurricane season." It is really just a matter of what risk you are comfortable accepting. My husband and I (who are notorious worry warts) uncharacteristically decided to take the risk and planned on going to Nevis last year (late Sept/early Oct) for our honeymoon, as we thought the odds were in our favor. Our TA advised us against getting hurricane insurance, as she said that the property at which we were staying (the Four Seasons) would most definitely honor either a refund or a rescheduled stay at a later date should a hurricane hit.

For us, the risk payed off.... had absoletely perfect weather every single day. So, although it should most certainly be a factor in your decision-making process, I would not advise you to per se rule it out. Whatever you choose, enjoy!

You would be better off considering something out of the hurricane belt - like Aruba or Barbados.

I would also recommend going to Aruba during October. Both the Hyatt and the Radisson are very nice - not the same luxury as a Ritz - but peace of mind about the weather might be worth it.

I concur that Aruba would be an excellent alternative. We were there in July when there was a tropical storm disrupting other islands and we had fine weather. We stayed at the Radisson, which we thought much nicer than the Hyatt, and the nicest hotel on the island.Hope this helps. Have fun.

I have stayed at the Ritz Carlton in STT. Althought the hotel and grounds are gorgeous, the beach is not really much to speak about. I think that it's man made. It's very small and quite rocky. As such, if the beach is important to you don't stay here, stay at Caneel Bay in St John or somewhere on 7 mile beach in Grand Cayman.

We stayed at Caneel Bay two weeks ago, If you want a room with glitz and glamour stay at the Ritz. If you want a room where you can walk out to a great beach (7 beaches) that is not crowded, stay at Caneel. We went for the beaches and snorkling. We watched as the Ritz Carlton catamaran pulled up to the main beach at Caneel to let their guest snorkle and swim. I knew we had picked the right place for what we wanted to do. Try the Fish Trap, they have a great chef