Trying to decide between St. John -vs- St. Thomas -- Which do you prefer and why? Also, is one more expensive than the other generally speaking?

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I just got back from St. John. I stayed two nights in St. Thomas. I did not care for St. Thomas it was dirty and not nearly as friendly as St. John. I think both have simillar pricing. St. John is extreemly friendly and very clean. Hope this helps. E-mail me if you have any more questions. I was there for 8 days and am ready to move back.

St. John is more pristine since most of the island is Nat'l Park and undeveloped. Generally speaking, St. John is more expensive that St. Thomas but there are limited choices on St. John. Caneel Bay, a real winner and the only beachfront resort does have 7 glorious beaches on property but you pay a premium for that and the Westin which has a sorry manmade beach. Many of the hotels on St. Thomas are beachfront and have easy access to a beach and some of the beaches are wonderful! There is a wide variety of price ranges and choices of accomodations to lower budget properties, several a/i's, to the luxury of the Ritz. Some prefer to do the self-catering in a villa on St. John but there are very few on or near a beach so that you would be communting to the beach daily. There are also some condo "resorts" on St. John that might satisfy as well but again you are driving or taxiing to the beach. Many people find jeeping about and beach hopping a good thing on St. John. If I could not stay at Caneel, I would most likely chose one of the more moderate but lovely beachfront resorts on St. Thomas only because I prefer to have the beach on the property where I am staying and the closer to the water the better. I don't enjoy the "jeeping" and exploring. If you are interested in villas on St.John one good web site is www.stjohnlinks.com and the other is www.cvoa.com on which some of the owners have hooked up with reduced airfares.

I prefer St. John. We stayed at Caneel but a nice alternative would be Gallows Point. We did go to St. Thomas for a few days but decided to leave as it paled in comparison to St. John. We went to Virgin Gorda instead. St. Thomas gets so crowded when the cruise ships are in port and they are just about everyday. Thousands of people get off and the downtown shopping area is like Mardi Gras. So I would rather stay in St. John and take the ferry back and forth a few times to St. Thomas for shopping (after ships leave) and maybe dinner and a little nightlife.