Laurina

My husband and I will be staying at the Renaissance Grand Beach Resort in St. Thomas. How far away is it from Charlotte Amalie? Is there a bus stop nearby? Should we rent a car? Also, are there restaurants within walking distance of the hotel (besides the hotel restaurants, of course)?<BR>Thanks!

SandraMF

Renaissance is about 20 minutes from downtown. Don't even think about the bus system, it takes forever. Renting a car is a great way to see St. Thomas AND you can ferry the car to St. John for $15 round trip and spend the day there. Renting a car is most likely cheaper than taking a taxi as well. There is one restaurant nearby that is in walking distance - good fish sandwiches. Otherwise, you will need transportation to get to restaurants out of the hotel.

anon

$27 r/t for the car ferry to St. John. $14 r/t for passenger ferry from Town.

jenn

Romanos is a wonderful Italian restaurant - walk out to the road from the dive center and turn left. It's in an old house on the left about 1/2 block from Smith Bay Road. Fungi's is Point Pleasant's casual place on the beach next to the Rennaisance. You can walk to Agave Terrace by walking up the hill(it's steep)from Fungi's. The Toad and Tart is on Smith Bay Road toward Red Hook. The road is OK to walk there because there is some shoulder room. There's a pizza place in Red Hook that also delivers to the hotel. Since the rooms have small fridges, we bought some salads, etc. at the Grateful Deli in Red Hook for variety. There are some really good roadside fruit stands on Smith Bay Road and there are a couple of small stores within walking distance. <BR><BR>I wouldn't recommend renting a car if you're there for the 1st time. The road layout is not obvious. Lots of twists and turns with drivers not staying on their side of the road (which is on the left)plus many spots have no shoulder. <BR>We found we spent a little less in taxi fare than we would have with a car rental. But we weren't going lots of places every day. Note that the car ferries are small and I saw cars having to back up to get on without much room for error. Passenger fares to St. John are $3 per person. Taxi's are very easy to find on both sides. <BR><BR>Enjoy ! We loved our trip there in November.

info

There is a bus stop right by the Renaissance and although the (ir)regular Vitran buses go there, so do stop the safari buses and you can take them pretty much anywhere for a total of $2/pp. The Toad and Tart is within walking distance from the Renaissance and is a very unique place, an English pub. Good food and very inexpensive in comparison to a lot of other places. Great atmosphere, great home-cooked food and a good place to meet people. Romanos terrific but expensive. Enjoy your stay - you'll have a great time!

chazz

We recently visited St. Thomas for the first time and rented a car for our entire 8-day stay. We found the roads to be well-marked and in very good condition, esp. by Caribbean standards. They were hilly and winding, but we had no problems and really enjoyed the convenience of having a car. A regular sedan will do (ours was a Cavalier).<BR><BR>There were 3 of us so the car saved more money than it does for 2, as the taxi fares are based on the number of passengers.<BR><BR>We drove all over the island during the daytime and also to a few locations at night. Some areas should be avoided after dark.<BR><BR>We had a condo and cooked many of our meals, but if you're going to visit different restaurants in the evenings, a taxi might be better.<BR><BR>If you decide to rent, shop around for a good deal - the rates may get better as you get closer to your trip. Besides the major rental firms, Dependable and Discount also seem to be popular. Ask if there's a charge for your spouse to drive.<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>

D&K

Went to RGBR for the week after New Years. Nice, be sure to go to Coki beach though, much nicer for snorkeling and sand, but not the amenities of your beach with chairs, etc. I recommend taxi unless you are planning on going on your own site seeing all around island.<BR>Toad & Tart,2 thumbs up, get prime rib!!<BR>Fungi's, not my taste, poor service, cool location, <BR>Missed Old Stone House, but heard raves about it.<BR>Raffles, great food, don't sit next to the band, pricey<BR>Ritz, if you really want to splurge, get the souffle for dessert.<BR>Smuggler's Cove had a decent Sunday brunch.<BR>Carrib Saloon in Red Hook was fair.<BR>Virgilio's in CA made me think I was in Italy.