kmfoley0816

Looking to stay at the Westin St. John. I would appreciate any opinons on which room(s) are the best, the beach etc.....

Thanks,

Kevin

SusanLynne

Hi Kevin.

We stayed at the Westin for a week in 1998. The hotel itself is very nice, beautiful grounds, nicely appointed rooms, clean, etc. Unless you like walking, a beachfront room is the best. The rooms are built into a hill and while walking down is easy, walking uphill to get back to your room can be a challenge for some people. As for the beach, we were not overly impressed with it. The water clarity is not the best on the island and the quiet is frequently interrupted by a ferry which goes in and out of the bay. We ended up renting a car for five days and just going to other beaches. The food is good at the on-site restaurants, but very, very expensive, in my opinion. Again, with the car we were able to drive into Cruz Bay and have more of a choice of restaurants. (I would recommend the Lime Inn for good food at a relatively inexpensive price). There are many other restaurants to chose from all over the island. Hope that helps. 8-)

DAVECAROL

I agree with the previous poster - get out and see the island. And not just Cruz Bay. Coral Bay is great and the beaches along the north shore are incredible.

The beach at the Westin is man-made and it really is a port (and fairly active at that) disguised as a beach.

We loved the Westin (beachfront) because it really made an excellent home base. We didn't eat too many meals there, but it has a great pool and a bar and is perfect for taking a breather from exploring.

Mellyz

We had a poolview room, first floor last April. WE could walk right out our terrace to the pool and hot tub - beach was only one building away. The cost savings were great compared to beachfront rooms - we loved it. The resort was fabulous, gorgeous landscaping, great watersports with Cruz Bay Watersports - on premises. Agree with the beach situation - it was pretty, but NOTHING compared to the other beaches on the island. We explored EVERY day. St. John continues to be my favorite island - and I have been to many. The Westin is the best place to stay (for the money) on the island, and a poolside(view) room, is the best value.

kmfoley0816

Thanks everybody. Looks like we will be staying at Caneel Bay again. The beaches are woth the price.

Pulley

I would save the extra money and stay at the Westin. The best thing about St. John are the "hidden beaches". We loved the Westin so much we bought 2 timeshares and now go twice a year. It's a perfect base camp. I would really try and get villa you could stay in a studio 600 sq. ft. with a full kitchen. That alone will save you a ton of money. We pack lunches and eat between snorkle beaches. Just MHO.

Becca

My husband and I stayed at Caneel for our honeymoon and Westin last year. Of course, we prefer Caneel. It all just depends how much money you are saving by staying at the Westin. For example, last year we stayed there for $75 a night (Priceline). That was a steal, so it definitely made more sense to stay there and use it as a base camp rather than paying the big bucks per night at Caneel. Now, if you get the Westin for $200 a night, though, then I think it makes more sense to shell out the extra $100 or $200 and stay at Caneel.

travleis

And why do you say "...OF COURSE we prefer Caneel"?
Is that supposed to imply that it should be obvious to any casual reader that it goes without saying that Caneel is better?
Or of course it's better in your opinion because you associate it with your honeymoon?

Becca

I said OF COURSE because Caneel is in another league than the Westin, and I think most people will acknowledge that fact. To me, there is no comparison between the two. The seven beaches of Caneel are unbelievably beautiful. The water is as clear as can be, and sometimes we would have Scott's Beach entirely to ourselves. The one beach at the Westin is manmade, crowded, and the water is murky. The food at Caneel - from the breakfast buffet to the dinner buffet or to dinner at Turtle Bay Estate House - is fabulous. The food at the Westin was much less than fabulous. When we stayed at Caneel, we saw one well-behaved child. At the Westin, there were children - loud children - everywhere. At Caneel, you never have to leave the grounds if you don't want to. At the Westin, it is truly a necessity. Now, I will acknowledge that the Westin has a great pool where we spent a lot of time and large rooms. The thing is, I don't go to St. John for a pool or large hotel rooms - I can find that at any Westin or other hotel chain here in the U.S. So that is why I said OF COURSE. I didn't expect anyone to take offense to that. If you look back at old posts of mine discussing the Westin, you will see that I have many good things to say about it. That's because I paid $75 a night. If I had paid $200 a night for the Westin, I would have felt shortchanged when I could have stayed at Caneel for an extra $100 a night.

caribtraveler

Becca..thanks for bumming me out. We're going to stay at the Westin next week, and we're paying NOWHERE near $75/night!! (smile).
What did you get for that? a gardenview room or another type of room?

Mellyz

Hey CaribTraveler - relax!!! You will love it. Sure, Caneel is nice, but in reality, the rooms aren't that wonderful and it is a different type of atmosphere. The Westin beach is not great - we didn't use it once, but we were VERY happy hopping in the jeep to any island beach we wanted to go to - and you can hike to Honeymoon (one of Caneel's) from a path near Estate Lindholm. And, if you rent a boat for the day, you can go to Sandy Cay. Most priceline hits I've heard abouot in the 100 and under have been hillside rooms way up the hill.

gplimpton

As highly regarded Caribbean resorts go, Caneel actually has to be one of the most disappointing when it comes to accommodations. You'll rarely see anyone praise them as being worthy of the price of admission. But that's not why people stay at Caneel in the first place. Room quality means a lot to me so, having visited Caneel, I'd never actually stay there. Unfortunately, the Westin's rooms aren't worthy of a special trip to St. John, either, though they're certainly on par with Westin quality overall as a chain of resorts and hotels. And Westin's beach is barely an afterthought. Compared with the better beaches on St. John's it's not memorable in the least. OK to look at, but not a great choice for swimming or spending an afternoon when there are dramatically better beaches a short car trip away.

Becca

Sorry caribtraveler. Don't worry - you will have a fabulous time in St. John regardless of where you are staying. Just make sure you rent a jeep for the entire week - you will need it to see all the other fabulous beaches, restaurants, etc. I got a gardenview room for $75 a night using Priceline. We didn't care anything about being poolside anyway, because it is supposed to be louder down there. It was only a short walk to the resort lobby and the pool. The Westin rooms are much larger than Caneel's - I won't say nicer because it depends on what you are looking for. The rooms at the Westin are typical U.S. hotel chain rooms - phone, cable TV. The rooms at Caneel are smaller and much more rustic - no phone, no TV. For our honeymoon, the rooms at Caneel suited us just fine and being situated right on Scott's Beach was wonderful. For a regular vacation, the Westin was a good place to sleep at night. We hopped in our jeep every morning and headed into Cruz Bay for breakfast at Chilly Billy's (around $10-15 for two people - bacon, eggs, biscuits, gravy, etc. - and MUCH cheaper than the Westin's breakfast). We then headed back to the Westin to change into bathing suits, and then we were off to one of the beaches on the island. In the late afternoon, we headed back to the Westin for lunch and a dip in the pool. The Westin's pool is very nice. Then we would head out at night for dinner.

caribtraveler

Becca..thanks for the info.
Yes we plan to rent a jeep for 4 days out of the 7 we'll be staying there. I had posted for some info awhile back and got some great advice from other posters.
The reason we picked the Westin over Caneel is because we're traveling with our 15-month-old. Caneel sounds more of a couples thing, and we didn't like the idea of not having a phone in our room (because of the baby). Plus we have points to upgrade.
Can't wait to be there!

cmeyer54

we stayed at the Westin for a week in late March 2003. had a room on the hill - bilevel suite which was great for a family. a longish walk to the beach however. the buildings near the beach and pool looked fine but will have the basic double/double rooms is my guess. be aware that on Saturdays you'll need dinner reservations for the beach cafe or eat at the fine dining restaurant. no exceptions for saturday arrivals without reservations. deli is fine for breakfast pasteries; cabs run $3 per person each way (with a family, this can run $24 or more to get to Cruz Bay for dinner)we loved Cinnamon Bay, Trunk Bay and Caneel Bay (be aware of the beach 'police' who make sure the motley outsiders are not on a beach chair! and you'll again spend around $130 for lunch for 4). Coral Bay was fun - no beach but plenty of characters. have fun!

Pulley

I think the garden view are more than adequate and cost a lot less. We stayed their twice in a garden room, after booking call the resort's direct number and ask for a garden room in building 21. It's almost good as a pool view - short walk to pool and very close to the restaurant and lobby where the cabs are. During our second stay we bought two weeks in timeshare and have used that 3 times now. We love St. John and always get a car for the week as we love to explore all the beaches on the island - it's the only way to truely appreciate St. John. We will be there during the week of Labor Day and can't wait.