Can anyone recommend an upscale hotel in St Thomas.<BR><BR>Right now I am looking at Renaissance Grand Beach Hotel...not truly upscale but it looks nice, and the beach is great. Any advice on this hotel??<BR><BR>Also, any TRUE gourmet restaurants in the vincinity that you can recommend?<BR><BR>I am a true &quot;foodie&quot; and I don't care how much it cost so long as it is truly an experience. I am an avid reader of Wine Enthusiast and Saveur magazine.<BR><BR>Please help....I have NEVER had a good meal in the Caribe, so I want to try to change this trend on this trip by researching before!<BR><BR><BR>Thanks

Marriott Morningstar and Ritz carlton are great properties. Morningstar is smaller and more intimate, but use of th facilities of adjacent Frenchman's Reef offer everythng in a grand scale. It is also much closer to Charlote amalie. Taxi fares from the Ritz and some resaurants can be pricy. However if you want to remain at the resort and use all they have to offer, the Ritz is wonderful and beautiful too.<BR><BR> I did eat and highly recommend the Old Stone Farmhouse. - Outstanding creative gourmet food. Most mermorable was a salad encased in cucumber slices. Upon my cutting it, it unfolded into a beautiful, edible , delicious salad bow.

We stayed at the Renaissance this year. It was good, but we were stayed in Bldg. 21, which is 112 steps up 1 way. Not a big deal for us; helped with getting in our 'cardio workouts' for the day. A shuttle is also provided for Bldgs. 20-25. The other bldgs. are on the ground level, mostly around the main pool (there's another nicer pool by the Steakhouse restaurant we liked better). If there's any problems, the Genl Mgr. attends to them right away, we found, and we were even upgraded with very fast service.<BR><BR>I have to say that the beach here is good, because it is on the Caribbean Sea side, compared Frenchman's (altho we LOVE Morningstar resort). It is not a big beach, but is nice and has hammocks located sporadically around the beach. Right next to it is Coki Beach, a great well known beach. Right at Coki beach is Coral World and the snorkeling is good at Coki, as well as a new thing called 'Snuba.'<BR><BR>You won't mind the hotel's food for breakfast or even lunch; I highly recommend for dinner you go offsite. It's supposed to be the best for brunch; sorry to say, it's not.<BR><BR>Most folks we know that went to Agave' Terrace RAVED about how gourmet it was; we were terribly disappointed, and I don't mind paying bucks for a good dinner, but it wasn't there. We LOVED Blue Moon Cafe' - located about 15 minutes from the Renaissance and next to a private resort. Nice ambiance cause the restaurant is open air, with the sounds of lapping water against the small craft moored around there, and the times we went the moon glimmering on the water. The food was GREAT - no one can leave there saying they are hungry, and everything from the wine to entree to dessert was great. We went 2x that week and wished we went more. Petra's Schnitzel House is located about 10 minutes away, another open air restaurant located within a marina with of course, German food. <BR><BR>In Charlotte Amalie, we went to Hotel 1829. It's very pretty inside, and the food is French. I couldn't stay inside cause smoking is allowed inside, so we requested a table on the porch. Good wine list here. Friends of ours LOVE Herve's Restaurant, but we didn't go there because there's smoking everywhere (they are wine enthusiasts like yourself and like this place the best). They also like The Inn at Blackbeard's Castle, another place unhappily I cannot go to due to the smoking. However, there's a tiny little place called Lillian's Caribbean Grill, also in Charlotte Amalie, that we LOVED. It's got like 6 tables inside (no smoking) and outside in the back courtyard there's about another 4 patio tables that allow smoking. The food is GREAT - the locals (especially Govt oficials during lunch) come here. The wait is a little long, but the food is worth it and so inexpensive. There's a special daily of Caribbean fare with a different dish each day &amp; is so good. Don't look for any ambiance here, but just good food. Recommend this place for after shopping or for lunch.<BR><BR>We didn't get to go, but again our friends that have a place in St. Thomas like The Stone Farmhouse for elegant dining, as well as Craig &amp; Sally's, where the wine list is very extensive the atmoshphere trendy chic - you DO need a reservation at Craig &amp; Sally's. These places from what I understand are located on the west side of St. Thomas.<BR><BR>Hope that helps - have a great time!

Hotel 1829 has been closed for dining for approximately a year since the owners consolidated and now offer dining just at BlackBeard's. It is open air dining so smoking should not present a problem. Craig and Sally's is in FrenchTown and not one of my favorites and the Old Stone Farm House is delightful. It's out by the golf course. You might enjoy Randy's on Raphune Hill also.

Hey y'all thanks a lot, I will print these recommendations out.<BR><BR>I was really worried about the hotel, I had recently heard a lot of BAD things about it.<BR><BR>If I could also ask....because I read a lot of comments about &quot;musky odour&quot; in the rooms, and &quot;noseeums&quot; all over the room in one persons comments.<BR><BR>This really worried me, because my wife is really alergic to mosquitoes and blackfies, and that would be a real vacation killer ir they were bad 24hours a day. I realize at night in the tropics bugs are going to be bad, but do they have problems with &quot;no seeums&quot; blackflies and mosquitos during the day at the beaches????<BR><BR>I've never really encountered this before until I took a cruise to the bahamas and they stoped at a private beach. My wife got bitten a hundred times by noseeums, and had to go back to the ship !<BR><BR>I have never seen this before and I am worried about it in St Thomas now!<BR><BR>Thanks again

use the strongest DEET repellent that you can find (20% and up). No see ems tend to be active in the early am, from dusk into the night, after rain and not just on the beach. You'll find them on most Caribbean islands or they will find you is a better statement.

You shouldn't have too much of a problem with mosquitoes and noseeums on the beaches unless you stay there as the sun goes down when the midges come out. At some of the open-air restaurants you'll have a problem in the evening but some good repellent will solve the problem and obviously don't wear heavy perfume to attract them. Also wear pants. If you have a problem in your room, those &quot;Off&quot; candle lanters work really well and you can pick one up at places such as Pueblo supermarket, K-Mart, etc. Inexpensive and effective you can just leave it behind when you depart. Romano's restaurant is close to Renaissance and is a fine dining establishment with the emphasis on gourmet Italian, Another really good place close to Renaissance is the Toad and Tart, an English pub. I wouldn't classify it as gourmet dining but if you appreciate really good home-cooked food with great flavor in cheerfully eclectic surroundings, this is the place to visit at least once. No wine selection but draft beers on tap and otherwise good bar selections.<BR>Agave restaurant is very attractive but the reviews go up and down a lot because the chefs change a lot.<BR>Enjoy your visit and just plan on having a relaxing time.

No one mentioned Room with View at Bluebeard Castle which, although not gourmet in the strict sense of the word, is, in my view, an outstanding restaurant on St Thomas for a good dinner - excellent food (Italian), great wine list and an awesome view of Charlotte Amalie, especially if you get a table right against the windows overlooking the town. Reservations are a must as it is quite an intimate little place and tables are limited - and it is popular.<BR><BR>For hotel, if you want true upscale, forget about Renaissance and go for the Ritz Carlton - I cannot say enough about this property. We have stayed twice and on both occassions, truly impressed. The rooms are fabulous, gorgeous ornate furniture, super comfortable beds, huge bathroom, separate dressing area, the staff is amazing, attentive without being instrusive. One caveat, food/resturant on property is pricey and not terribly impressive. We ate out alot, generally had only breakfast there. But on the whole, a superb place to hang your hat, if you have the $$$.

To correct one of the posts above....Morningstar beach is on the Caribbean, the Ren is on the Atlantic. The beach at Morningstar is much, much larger and nicer than the beach at the Ren.<BR><BR>Traveler

Having stayed at both Ritz and Reef, on a return I would choose Reef/Morningstar- Water taxi is terific for accessibility, really weren't that impressed with Ritz vs. other Ritz properties. We had a fabulous meal at Romano's, chef cooked &quot;off the menu&quot; for one of us, and good wine list. Very small. Have fun!

Thanks everyone who responded!