St Thomas Ritz - just returned
 

Just returned from St. Thomas and LOVED IT! Thanks to all your postings...they really helped. Especially restaurant raves were perfect. I just want to give back if anyone has a question.

Glad to hear you had a great time!! I will be leaving for St. Thomas for my honeymoon in just one week!! Any particular activities you did while you were there that you would suggest?
Or favorite places to eat?
Certain things to avoid?
We will be staying at the Morning Star Beach Resort. Any advice or suggestions you have would be great!!!
Thanks!

This is the perfect place for a honeymoon.

Our favorite activity was taking the ferry to St John for snorkling at Trunk Bay...a must see! truly an incredible beach with an underwater snorkling trail.

We ate at Off The Hook, Agave Terrace, Blue Moon Cafe, Duffy's, and Molly Malones...all on the east end of the island near our hotel. Our absloute favorite was Blue Moon Cafe.

Something to avoid is DRIVING...take a taxi wherever you go...much easier and safer.

By the way, liquor is so cheap in town...buy your favorite bottle to have in your hotel room. This will be nice to have while you are getting ready to go to dinner or whatever.

Congratulations...and I am very jealous...you are going to love this island.

I get a "warm and fuzzy" feeling in St. Thomas, especially when I think about Sapphire Beach, where the mountains and the sea meet in crystal blue waters.--Hawaii, to me, seems a little more commercialized, although the scenery is outstanding.
I vote for St. Thomas if you want great beaches and relaxation from the get-go!

hey whatever-
headed to the ritz in september. have several questions for you...
*what types of non-motorized water activities do they have? do they offer complimentary snorkel gear
*do you recommend a certain building for accomodations?
*i understand the 'garden' rooms are ground floor rooms that do face the beach - do they have partial ocean views?

any other tips would be appreciated!!

Forrestg: We stayed at the Ritz and I can answer couple of your questions. No, the snorkel gear is not complimentary - there is a charge.

All of the rooms have balconies that face the water; however, the view is obscured by (not terribly attractive) foliage on the most, if not all, of the ground floors. You need a 2nd or 3rd floor room to see over this and see the water.

As I recall the views were better in the buildings farthest from the main area, but you will have a bit of a walk to get there.

thanks Laura!
Still trying to decide if those 'oceanview' rooms are worth the extra $$ (~$80/night)...what do you think? we can have a nice dinner for that, and i doubt we'll be in the room that much anyway...

my wife and I have been trying to decide between the ritz and renaissance...both seem to get good reviews on this forum.

do you remember what the charge was for snorkel rental?

thanks, again!

Someone told me to be wary of the Ritz beach... both that it is fake and that there are a lot of sea urchins in the water. They suggested renting a car in order to go to nicer beaches elsewhere on the island. Is this true? Is the Ritz beach really sub-par? I find this hard to believe but you never know.

We were on the first floor and had a fabulous view of the ocean, pool, and beach. As far as the beach goes, we loved it...and there were NO sea urchins. We brought our own snorkel gear and aqua socks and that was perfect. The best beach for snorkeling, however, was Trunk Bay in St John. I'm telling you...the Ritz is the place to stay!

forrestg -

We stayed in a 2nd floor room because we had a package for an oceanview room plus breafast that was less expensive than the gardenview (off season!). Personally,I don't spend a lot of time in the room, so I typically don't pay the extra $$.

Sorry, I don't remember the cost of snorkel gear - I do remember it was a daily rate and I didn't feel it was worth the money (we were heading to Caneel Bay for a few nights - the snorkel gear and the beaches are better there).

Oops meant to say the snorkel gear is free at Caneel (not better!) - The beaches are better, however!

The original beach at the Ritz was enhanced with sand after the last devestaing hurricane. It is not a manmade beach and has marine life. The newer beach on the Ritz property, Coconut Grove I think they call it, is on Great Bay and is lovely. It was not a popular beach due to an incident many years ago but one of the best on the island for windsurfing on some days.