Just returned from a week in St. kitts:

Accomodations:
stayed at Rock Haven (rock-haven.com), a beautiful home on the hill in frigate bay overlooking both the atlantic and the caribbean, just up the hill from sugar's casino
--spectacular views from the large veranda which featured a hammock, rocking chairs, day bed, table where we were served a homemade breakfast every morning(fresh fruit, omelet, homemade bread, tea, coffee etc)
--had our own bedroom and bath and access to main kitchen, some rooms have private entrance, patio, and kitchen
--only two staying there at the time so we practically had the house to ourselves(owners stay in upstairs portion)
--owners were extremely nice and helpful with island activites and recommendations
-- homemade icecream is made on site and distributed to businesses throughout island
--so very quiet and peaceful with nice ocean breezes etc
--only paid 100 US dollars per night including our gourmet breakfast served by their staff(when we told others staying at places such as the marriott about our deal, they seemed quite stunned and relayed that they were not entirely pleased with their hotel and were paying 3 times more)

Transportation:
A taxi company called "Tysons 662-3924" was located very nearby and was generally available at a moment's notice to take us wherever we liked and would also pick us back up if requested
Sample fares= Frigate Beach 5 US each way, Friars 8 US each way, Turtle Beach 16 US each way, Town 8 US each way, Fort 20 US each way. We preferred the taxi to avoid dealing with the hassel of driving (esp after a few drinks)and found it to be just as cheap as renting a car

Beaches:Mainly went to beaches with our favorite being Turtle Beach--Turtle beach has beautiful views of Nevis and offers a steel band on sundays and a beach barbecue on Friday nights--also has resident monkeys and a pig named wilbur. Also went to Friars which had lots of cheap food/drink stands but lots of cruise people. Frigate Beach was very convenient and not too crowded with a couple nice beach bars.

Side trips-Went out on a scuba/snorkel trip with Kenneths, thought the coral/fish life was Not so great,but kitts is not known for that either. Went to Nevis on the ferry for a day, took island tour which was the least scenic island tour I've been on--then got dropped off a 4 Seasons and sat out on Pinney's beach for a while--beach was nice but the "famous" sunshine's bar was a bit of a scam/rip off imop--eventually walked further down by pink house to a bar called double deuce where the food/drinks were cheaper&better--then walked back to town to the ferry docks. Also went to Brimstone Hill which was quite beautiful and really worth a visit,

Ferry to Nevis:
Ferrys tend to only go at 7am and noon and return at 5pm--not exactly ideal times. Beware of seasickness and watch the weather as it was fine going over but Very rough on our return. Apparently could also get a private shuttle from Turtle beach, but we did not check into that.

Restaurants:
Marshalls--very nice restaurant in frigate bay for fish, steak, lobster etc..highy recommended..make reservations

Serendipity--very nice restaurant in town..romantic atmosphere..good food

Stonewalls--casual restaurant in town..good food, famous for ribs, unique atmosphere..quite popular

PJ's Pizzeria--loved this place, great italian food (goat cheese ravioli was magnificent) and pizza at reasonalbe prices in a nice casual atmosphere..near the marriott

Monkey Bar--better off just getting beach food here (Frigate Bay)

Shiggity Shack--good beach food (Frigate)

Turtle Beach Bar--excellent beach barbecue esp ribs on Fri nights

Overall experience: We go to a different island every winter, and though this island was very nice, it did not make our personal "favorites" list. The best experiences included "our" hilltop home, turtle beach, pj's, marshalls, stonewalls, and our sweet taxi driver, mr. tyson.

Thanks for the great report. Just a couple of comments: How did the question of how much you were paying for your villa come up? Did you volunteer the info or did people come out and ask? Also, I am pretty sure the ferries to and from Nevis are a little more frequent than what you indicated. Also, the trip is too short to get seasick.
Was Junior serving you at Sunshines? If yes, I can understand why you got scammed. Nevis is a very special island but you sound like you were not impressed with it.

Actually, Derek, Kate's info about the ferry service between St. Kitts and Nevis confirms what I saw back in November when I was staying on Nevis and wanting to daytrip to St. Kitts. There weren't a lot of times listed at the ferry dock.

Kate, it sounds like you made the best of your trip and I'm sorry that you didn't enjoy it more. Thanks for your impressions, and I'll be sure to check out ROck Haven the next time I go back to Nevis--I'll plan a longer stay so that I can have a night or two on St. Kitts, too. From your report and others I've read, I'm fairly sure I would love it.

Derek,

The accomodation issue came up as we were sharing a cab with a couple who was complaining about the rates/quality for their room/food at the marriott, and they were inquiring about the place we were staying. I was sharing this info so that they might consider it for a future trip, and they seemed genuinely interested.
The only other ferry time is a late return (abt 8pm) and that is only on weekends. Second, the ferry trip on the standard ferry was 45min on a good day and was well over an hour on our particularly rough ride home. That was plenty of time for me to throw up, not once, but twice, and I was wishing I had remembered to pack my seasick meds. My intention here was to give a heads up to other susceptible travellers, not to be contradicted. I don't know who our waitor was at sunshine's, but we did not find the food and service to be impressive especially for the prices. Lastly, I did not mean to imply that we did not have a nice time on this trip--we had a wonderful time. Both St. Kitts and Nevis are lovely islands, just not two of our favorites.

Kate

Sorry, Kate, no need to get huffy.

Actually, there ARE a number of return trips from Nevis to St. Kitts, varying from 3, 4, 5, and 6.