I'm staying at the Wyndham Sugar Bay Hotel at the end of April with my family (two parents in mid-50's, sister and me (both in our 20's). I have seen widely differing views on the hotel, so I booked with some trepidation, ok a lot - but the deal we found was just great. I do have some time to cancel, but before I do that I wanted to ask:

- I know it will be expensive to get to/from the airport. But what about to town (CA) for shopping, etc? Does the hotel have a cheap bus/trolley that will take us there? I see that the taxi is too expensive ~$15/pp which is simply too much.
- Is the location good for going to St. John one day? How much does it cost to get to Red Hook via taxi? Or can we take a bus/cheap public alternative there as well?

While we found a good deal for the hotel. it just wouldn't make sense to stay there if we would be spending tremendous amounts of money on going to the other attractions and beaches. Are we better off staying some place else?

We haven't taken a family vacation in a long time and I really want things to go well!

I really don't remember how much it was for a taxi to various places. Which means if I don't remember, it wasn't that big of a deal. The hotel is quite close to Red Hook, but a ways from town. We spent one evening at Duffy's Love Shack. Totally over rated. We booked an Island tour that took us all over St. Thomas and then dropped us for 2 hours in town for shopping, which was plenty. I never in any destination seen so many jewerly stores in my life. Many with bars. I thought that was hilarious. Yep, get them drunk and then they'll buy all that crappy stuff.

We did the AI option and was very happy with since there really wasn't any resturants close to the hotel. Didn't want to venture out to find any. We found the buffet at the pool area better then the ala cart resturant.

We did go to Paradise Point one night for their live band and enjoyed it. The food was outragous and not that great, but it was a fun atmosphere.

Getting around to various attractions is all part of the overall vacation and budgeting for that should be included in your cost. The only thing I didn't like about the Wyndham was the 99 wooden stairs to the beach, pool, bar and bufett. It was a PIA.

KVR -how was the tour? Which one did you take?

I looked directly on the Wyndham Sugar Bay web-site and they have a listing of all the tours that offer at their tour desk.

http://www.wyndham.com/hotels/STTSB/tours/main.wnt

I booked the St. Thomas and St. John tours. We enjoyed both of them and got a great overview of both Islands. Just as our tour was ending on St. John, it started raining. When we took the ferry back over to St. Thomas it was poring and the water was slapping us in the face. Didn't care for that.

I also booked the full day tour of the BVI's with New Horizon II. It was a great trip. Bring lots of money for the lunch at Pussers. It was very expensive.

We also just grabbed a taxi at the hotel and spent the day at Coki Beach. (loved it) and Coral World (it was OK) We did the Sea Trek at Coral World. It was OK, but not anything I would do again. I would like to try Snuba instead. Coki Beach/Coral World is just down the way from the Wyndham.

KBR thanks for that info. I appreciate it. Maybe I'm just looking too much into it. Hopefully there is some public transportation option near the hotel, or we might just end up renting a car.

If anyone has suggestions on a good rental car service on the island, please let me know. If we don't book from the airport, i.e. not the mainstream Hertz or Budget, can we get them to pick us up at the airport? Some providers in the states do that.

i suspect sugar bay desk can arrange a rental car for you if you ask them. it may even be possible to have your car delivered to the hotel.
i suggest you rent for just a day or 2 and probably not the day you go to st. john as most companies will not allow their rental cars to go to st. john. no preference on company - find the best deal. if you drive yourself to char am you will have to find & pay for parking so cost may not be much different in the end. there is a good sized public pking lot on the east end of town. driving is on the left side and i don't consider it an easy island to drive on. quite hilly, roads sometimes fairly narrow and windy. also fairly busy so there can be heavy traffic in certain areas. we did fine but other islands are def easier. (also if you or sister are not 25 your folks will have to do the driving) use your car days to see magens beach, coki area, maybe drop by secret harbour for a swim/snorkel/drink/lunch, check out red hook and sapphire marina area.
the hotel is fine if you've gotten a price you like. you may need to be pushy about a room change if you don't like the ones your given. some have rotten views of the tops of other buildings. re 99 steps - they have overgrown golf carts every 15-20 mins. to avoid using steps. some decent snorkeling off your beach and out to the right - you'll start to see large cement "reefs" they installed that corals grow from and fish hang around.
st. thomas does have open air busses going. http://web.acsalaska.net/~csimpson/c...100_bus.jpgnot sure, but assume one stops at gate to sugar bay. your desk/maid will know. it is quite a hike out the driveway though.
however, you could taxi to red hook and use the bus into char am from there. it may not run on a totally regular schedule and is used mostly by locals. it is a good 45 mins sugar bay to char am, so taxi fee not really that outrageous - and if you ask driver will "show you the island" while en route. there are 3 basic routes - along the north coast past magens & golf course, through the center of the island, or along the south coast through red hook, past ritz/secret harbour, bolongo bay, marriott morningstar hotel and the cruise ships.
if you really want to switch hotels you might consider bolongo bay beach resort. smaller, does have ai avail, closer to town, still not to far from red hook area & well priced. it's only major advantage for you would be closer to town if you plan to shop more than 1 day.
when you shop be sure to walk back into the little alleys and do go back off main street a block to find less jewerly and no chains like harley davidson, etc. by all means DO go try on some emeralds when you get thirsty. sellers can be pushy in some of the shops but not over the top. find out cruise ship schedule and try not to be in town when they are. roads & shops get very crowded. if you do actually want to buy anything expensive, spend after the shippers have gone as the stores will be more inclined to bargain late in the day

we loved the new horizons trip. it's pricey but you really get a lot of bang for your buck!! book soon they are very popular: http://newhorizonscharters.com/
boat leaves from sapphire marina which is quite near sugar bay.
this map will help you orient: http://www.frommers.com/images/desti..._st.thomas.jpg

I think you may be over thinking this. If you got that great of a deal, you just need to be a little creative in your agenda. We went with friends that live half way across the country from us, so we did spend a fair amount of time enjoying the sunny weather around the pool. But we did venture further out. Went into Charlotte Amalie to check out the shopping. There are too many jewelry stores there, and like in Aruba, they do offer you champagne. We ate lunch while we were there and did the 99 steps and saw a beautiful view at the top of the harbor and the town. We ate dinner at Point Pleasant one night. The food was below average. We also went to Duffy's one night. Probably the most interesting thing about Red Hook. We actually had a lot of fun there with some cool drinks.
BTW, we had a really nice room. Very comfortable bed and an awesome view of the water. Consider joining the Wyndham program. It's free and has some benefits.

Thanks a lot. We are there for five days and are planning the following for three days, so far:

1) explore Char Am (do a walking tour, Pissarro museum - mom and I are into art, lunch and then shopping
2) explore the St. Thomas beaches one day
3) take a ferry to St. John one day and explore that island

I imagine we'll spend at least one day (probably the first day) around the hotel relaxing.

i am excited to learn something new - did not know there was a pissarro museum. may need to return to st. t sooner than i thought. have you seen this walking tour page? http://www.vinow.com/stthomas/attrac...tions_town.php

beach day - go to magens beach early in am or later in the afternoon to avoid cruise ship crowds. secret harbour's beach is lovely & they have a dandy beach bar. the beach at the ritz has pretty view of bvi & st. john. lindquist beach is sort of a secret beach. from sugar bay upstairs porch you can look down to your right to see it. access is a sand road through a permanently open chainlink fence gate. go slow rough road. very pretty beach w/snorkeling out to right side near the reef break.
i'd do some serious beach research for st. john. it's beaches are beautiful but only some have services available & you'll want to plan so you're not in a taxi all day traversing the island.

congratulations on your reservation. We are Wyndham timeshare owners and were not able to book any type of room at this hotel. I made our reservation back in june 09. and was only able to stay the beach club but not to disappointed cuz it is on the beach. you wont be sorry as wyndham resorts are generally very good. the good deal you recieved could come with a stipulation that your need to listen to a timeshare sales pitch. we have stayed at serveal over the past few years and were never disappointed. after reading other reviews, it might be a good thing to rent a vechile then you are free to travel on your own speed. transportation is pricey and dont forget about tipping. just drive on other side of road. we are flying in on sunday for the week. cant wait to feel the sunshine. enjoy the vacation!!!

I practiced law and lived there in 2007/2008..The Safari bus goes by The Wyndham..It is about a quarter of o mile hike up a hill to catch it though.Wyndham may offer a shuttle to the Safari bus stop..(just one dollar to the other side of the island and shopping).otherwise the taxi fares are expensive to and from there..consider renting a car at least a couple of days to explore..many rental cos will deliver..For more Virgin Island tips check out my website:
http://www.travelaskthelocals.yolasite.com
have a nice trip..and yes spend a day on st John

We stayed at the Sugar Bay in 2008 for a week over Thanksgiving. We liked it, but we really only slept there. I couldn't imagine us having stayed there without a car rental. We rented a jeep for the week with Discount Car Rental. Their rates were fair and we could take the jeep with us over to St. John where we wound up spending most of our time. they picked us up at the airport and dropped us off as well. We wound up getting there REALLY late because of plane troubles and they still were able to get us our car that night. I believe we ate at the hotel restaurant once and were disappointed as the service was exceedingly slow.

For us, it was SO worth it to have the jeep. I hate waiting for cabs and it's a little scary on some of those roads not being in control of your own fate. (ha ha, I'm a bit of a control freak I think)

The rooms were clean and the guys who drove us back and forth to the parking lot were VERY nice and helpful though we probably won't stay there again as we fell in love with St. John and are planning on staying there next time. We spent too much on the car ferry going back and forth.

just returned from St thomas. What a great vacation. Driving on the other side of the road is tricky. i almost only had two head on in about half hour. i was alittle hesitant to drive after that, we did take taxis twice. on our 4th day i woke up about 5:30 am and went out to get used to driving on the other side of road. there is very little traffic. the mountains are steep and very winding. the islanders also drive fast. out of habit, right hand turns are scary because you are fearful that some one is passing on the rigth. taxis are expensive, the average ride is 6.00 one way, times both way times 4-$48.00 for one trip+ tip. it might be worth it to rent a jeep. you sit up higher. iggies (bolongo bay) has all u can eat crab legs on tues for $38.00 well worth it. check out new horizons dinner cruises and snorkel trips to st johns. great time!!!! enjoy your trip. looking forward to return visit to the islands.

oh yes, sugar bay is a beautiful resort. well groomed and very well maintained. i went there to take pics of the sunrise. the reception area is beautiful with stores for shopping, a casino and a resturant. if u book at a good price, it would be worth it to keep it.