Thank you for all of your help on my first post several days ago. After much searching and a trip to two different travel agents today, my boyfriend & I are seriously considering the Ritz-Carlton at St. Thomas. (Someone who replied also suggested this resort.)

Have any of you been to this particular resort, and if so, would you care to share any details about the hotel, the rooms, the beaches, the dining, prices, etc.? I would also love to see photos if any of you happen to have pictures of the Ritz or St. Thomas in general. Please let me know what you think about my almost-decision.

Thanks for all of the help again, this forum has been incredible.

hi, i haven't been a guest yet but have been over for lunch/drinks/beach and went to sunday buffet which was outstanding. the view is first class. you can see st. john, tortolla and more in the distance. the pool is an infinity right above the beach and is beautiful. nice atmosphere. great service. was included in latest top 10 carib luxary resorts by travel channel.
you might look at webshots and type in st. thomas ritz for some photos. or yahoo images has even better pics w/some hotel interior shots.

This resort was mentioned on the Travel Channel the other day as one of the Top 10 Caribbean Resorts. It looks beautiful!!

I stayed there last year with my husband and 3 sons, 7,7 & 9. The room and the grounds were beautiful. We were there in Nov. The room had lots of nice touches, marble floors and bath, lovely funiture and bedding. The service was terrific. The beach was ordinary. I probably would have enjoyed it more without the kids. The food was good, not great, and very expensive. However, food is usually expensive in the Caribbean. I also would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't coming there after 4 days on St. John. St. Thomas was just a let down after St. John. Even without the kids, I would go back to St. John. I would not go back to St. Thomas. Will answer any specific questions. But we did not eat at any of the dress-up restaurants for dinner or use the spa at all.

Also, check out this site for good report with pictures. http://www.scubamom.com/usvi/

Thanks for all of the replies!

Scarboroughmom- Could you give me an idea/range of prices to expect for dining on location at the Ritz? We are staying for one week in June & I would like to have an idea how I will be spending. I will be eating much lighter (salads, salmon, etc.) opposed to my boyfriend.

Also, could you tell me what the bedding was like in your room (and what level of room you stayed in)? I was hoping for nice bedding, not the typical thin, scratchy hotel bedcovers you find too often, even in many expensive resorts.

As for the beach, I have heard it was quite small, but how was the sand & water? I am hoping to spend much of my time soaking up the sun there & poolside, so this is important.

Any other advice from anyone else woulds be much appreciated. Any shopping & dining tips outside the Ritz??

sk518, my family and I spent a week on the Ritz-Carlton property in St. Thomas. We were fortunate enough to have one of the villas, thanks to my boss, for our stay. We spent time at the hotel portion of the property and ate there several times, as well. The infinity pool was very nice. Beaches in both areas are not huge but satisfactory. Close to shore you will find a lot of seaweed, etc. that you will have to wade through to get into cleaner waters. Service was very good and staff for both places were very friendly. Food is expensive. Lunches ranged in the $12.00-15.00 per person vicinity (burgers, wraps, salads)and dinners easily twice that amount. My first night there, I wasn't very hungry and had a (shallow)bowl of tomato soup with a single scallop floated on top and if memory serves it was $11 or $12 dollars. Ludicrous. The island itself is not pretty. Shopping in the downtown area is hectic but I did get a couple of great buys on jewelry and we ate at a Hard Rock Cafe
and prices there were the more typical pub style restaurant prices. All in all a very nice vacation...the free villa made it very worthwhile for us. I would not go back there again though. Aruba is my comparison baseline and we have yet to find any place that we've enjoyed quite as much. We're on to a Sandals resort
vacation in Ocho Rios, Jamaica in April. We'll see...
Have fun.