St. Thomas - accommodations
 

I have recently decided to wed in St. Thomas and am currently trying to determine where my guests should stay (my fiance and I will be staying at a villa on the island). My guests will consist of two groups: single/young couples between 25-30 y/o and families.

Can anyone recommend hotels or resorts that would appeal to either/both groups? I imagine the singles would want a hotel with some nightlife and nearby bars, and both groups would probably like a place with rooms less than $150/night and easily accessible to shopping and dining. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I should probably add that we'll be traveling during the off-season (May).

congratulations lotus, i have a couple suggestions. 1) wyndham sugar bay is all-inclusive, has lots of activities. its a little more $, but all you can eat, drink and use for toys is included. 2) bolongo bay beach resort. also ai (optional). its closer to charlotte amalie although not by alot. is known as fun place for families and has a fairly happening bar called iggies and a swim up bar in the pool. much smaller that sugar bay 3) secret harbour, a condo resort on a great beach for snorkeling and laying about, with a much quieter atmosphere than the above 2. every room has a full kitchen which might be better for the ppl with kids.
the island is full of great restaurants so it would be difficult to locate near "them" unless ppl stay in charlotte which i do NOT recommend. any hotel will arrange for vans to trek ppl to charlotte for shopping excursions. or taxis are not too expensive. or as your group is young they may want to try riding the open air shuttles that go everywhere.
there is a fun bar called duffys love shack in red hook, the green lantern(i think thats the name) in charlotte. you may find your guests will be happy to hang at their resort bar though after active days in the sun and heat.

I, too, would recommend Sugar Bay. You can always call the hotel and see if you could work out a group pricing. Because it is an AI, everyone would know ahead of time what their costs would be. The rooms are beautiful with nice balconies offering beautiful views. Your guests may find it nice to be able to just go down in the morning and have someone pour them a cup of coffee and the breakfast is always a buffet, so they get exactly what they want. Those with kids will feel better knowing that there is no access to the beach except for those staying at the hotel. At night there is a restaurant that you order from the menu and one that is buffet. At lunch there is a buffet as well as a grill by the pool that has hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches and chips. There is a self-serve pop machine and ice-cream stand. They also walk around the pool and offer fresh fruit and popsicles.

just a minor point. as with every beach in the caribbean sugar bay beach is open and accessible to the public. you can drive through the security gate without stopping, park in the lots on the left, and then walk through the pool area or down a small beach access road and directly onto the beach. yes, i am sure, i did so numerous times this past june.

Virginia,
Let me clarify my point then. You must drive to Sugar Bay, park your vehicle, and walk around the pool area and out to the beach. The point that I was making was that unlike other places I have stayed, the beach is not accessible by walking along the beach from one hotel property to another. For some parents this is additional security. It was not a question of snobbishness.

we stayed at the Secret Harbour. It was great. A seperate bedroom/kitchen and living area, big deck on the cove. Nice restaurant, Near the market, plus away from center of town (scary) and near Red Hook. I would highly recommend Secret Harbour.....

When you say downtown is scary, is it scary compared to, say, Amherst, NY or to Atlanta, GA?

imho opinion charlotte amalie is not scary. in daytime i would walk around by myself with no fear. at night i would only walk around with a group, as in any city. a taxi/van will be necessary to get from any hotel to any restaurant/bar so this should not really be too big a concern for you.

Some hotels have wedding packages that may includes rooms under $150. The Marriott's Frenchman's Reef would be good for your group. Where do you plan to marry?

RL

I'm not sure yet--I would like to get married at a villa or beachhouse, but I haven't found one yet! I do know that I don't want to get married at a hotel.

hi lotus, directly next to secret harbour, on the same beach is a rental villa. i think 3 bedroom. has a front yard and (sorta private) section of the beach to itself - but you can walk over the end of a very small pier onto the main section of sh beach. while i was there last, a family had gathered for a reunion or anniversary of some sort and some of their group stayed at sh while others were in the villa which they used for their party.
knowing, you make an excellent point, which i had not considered. i don't travel with any young children so am not accustomed to thinking in terms of safety from people.

Thanks for the suggestion - I will look into it. Who knew trying to organize a vacation for 100 people would be so complicated? Well, I guess I did. One follow up question--I have also been looking into St. John as a destination, but, again, I want to make it easy on my guests. Are there affordable accomodations over there? Is it easy to get from accommodations to town without a car?

holy smokes are you seriously trying to organize a trip and wedding for 100 people. wow are you brave. my newest suggestion is to engage a travel agent. organizing all those reservations for flights and hotels and meals would seem extremely daunting considering you must also organized the affair. and perhaps a wedding coordinator (i found a couple for you: www.wedusvi.com, www.fanatiaweddings.com, www.viweddingservices or www.perfectweddingsofstthomas.com
re st.john; fly into st.thomas, taxi or vans to charlotte ferry or red hook ferry, ferry to st. john, vans to destinations. i have not been on st.j and Many on this boards have, but as i understand it most accomodations are villas except westin, caneel and the campgrounds and a couple small hotels. it would seem really hard to organize all that and rent all the needed cars to get ppl around. perhaps someone will have an idea on how this could be feasible.
i attended an island wedding recently and noticed that as we guests were spread out in several hotels, it seemed difficult to get everybody to where they were supposed to be at the right/same time (and we were only a group of 35) - so perhaps if all guests stayed in one place it would be more efficient...
maybe you could organize a day trip, for those interested, to st. john. it would definetly be an ideal spot to honeymoon...perhaps a private boat could be hired to sail you over...at sunset... ahh the romance...

Yes, we'll se how it all works out--I've already begun the search for a travel agent and wedding coordinator. I think I would like my guests to stay in Red Hook (shorter ferry ride to St. John). What are some of the good (i.e., nice but not terribly expensive (< $150) hotels in that area?

Lotus,
I think you will not find accommodation for 100 guests at a nice property at $150/nt anywhere on St. Thomas, even in May.

Red Hook is basically a 1 horse town on the eastern end of St. Thomas. 1 main st about 1/2mi long with the harbor on one side and hills on the other. It's about a 20-30min drive by car or taxi to the main shopping areas in the main town (C.A.). While there are several good (ok) restaurants in the village, fine dining/good restaurants are scattered all over the island.

In the Red Hook area (maybe 10min by car or taxi, nothing walking distance) there are only a few resorts. Wyndham Sugar Bay, Ritz, Sapphire Beach.

I stayed in a private condo on Sapphire Beach (not the resort) last year and loved the setting. close to the ferry, great off beach snorkelling, views of st. john, etc. The resort may be able to accommodate 100 guests, and may even give a good rate. Expect to pay $250 - $300 per room per night. (when you include the 8% tax and 10% service charges)

If you haven't been to St. Thomas before, and are expecting rows of beach front Mega resorts like on Hawaii, think again. There are maybe 10-12 resorts on the island, scattered along the north, east and south coasts. My point being that finding a single or even 2 places to handle the large # guests, with 4mo notice, I think you are going to be sadly disappointed. St. Thomas is a huge destination, but most visitors are actually there on cruise ships.

We were married in STT in 2002. We put up guests at the Elysian resort next to the Ritz on the East End. We got a very good deal - somewhere around $125 night for late June. It's not the nicest of the resorts, but clean and has a decent pool and beach. You might think of it as a budget option for some of your guests.