My wife and I are both forty years of age, with no children, and love to travel. Last winter we went to Costa Rica for our vacation. We used the internet and travel guides to make our choice of where to stay. We ended up having more of an adventure rather than a vacation. The place we had choosen was unlivable-mold,mildew,brackish wellwater,cold showers. We were able to find other accomodations, but still not great. Although the description of the places to stay and the general area did not exactly portray
what we found-the best was made of our time there. I mention all of this because, in our travels of Tortola we meet a couple of folks that mentioned this web site. I have taken the time to read a few of the comments about the Frenchmans Cay and was alittle surprised about some of the comments made about the property and the owners. I will start my comments about FC in stating that we had a fabulous stay. We truly, after twelve days on the island, could not have found a better place to stay for us. I say "for us" because, in reading some reveiws, it may not be for everyone. If you are looking for a place that has alot of activities, and staff to wait on you, perfect everything-this is not the place. If you want a place to almost call your own for your time there, than this is the place. From what we could tell, all of the other guest seem to share this same feeling. I should mention at this time that most, if not all other, guest were much older than us-not that there is anything wrong with that. They also seemed to be returning guest. Our place was a two story villa with bed and bath upstairs-which was great for the breeze that seemed to always blow across the property. The downstairs had a dinner area w/table and four chair. There was a seperate living room area with a sofa,coffee table,chairs, shelves w/books which opened out on to a porch with outside furniture-table, four chairs, lounge. The kitchen was next to, but seperate from, the dinning area. We would have had no problem inviting people we had met into our villa. Our place was cleaned daily-but only after we had left for the day. We did not meet the cleaning lady till almost the last day. The bed was made nicely and fresh towels were laid out everyday. The place was swept and the kitchen tidied everyday. To say a few words toward some of the reveiws and lack of maintenance. We did not find anything about our villa or the property unacceptable. (unlike our Costa Rica trip) Having lived in the islands (working @ five years for and around the Bitter End and Biras Creek $750-1500 a nite) I did not find that much out of maintenance, especially giving the location of the property(surrounded by sea water and wind) I am quit sure that the owners would love to see their property spitshined but given the somewhat hard times that we have all see since 9/11 and a few hurriacnes our hats are off to them. I am not sure what some of the previous reveiwers were thinking of when they wrote some of their comments. It seems to me that the owners saved them @ $500 a nite but still had to find something wrong. If you like the Bitter End - go there. It is a beautiful spot. If the owner wanted to raise their prices I am sure the could bring it all back to perfact. But that would leave people like us and all of their return guest with the option of finding the next best place to stay. The food and the price of food all over the island was both good and high. We did not have a bad meal at FC. In fact we had great breakfasts and the best lunch (chicken curry salad). Dinners were fresh and tasty-The best dinner was a roti on the northside of the island. As far as the owners of FC-well they seemed to have their handsful but always took the time to answer questions and help if we needed. They seem to run with a small staff all of which had a smile and were glad to help and serve. In closing- the privacy at the end of the day-the greatest snorkling right off the beach-tennis -bar and resturant on site-makes the Frenchmans Cay Hotel the best value on the island-for us!

We just got back from a GLORIOUS trip to Tortola and were not over-enthused by Frenchman's Cay, but we made the best of it... I personally won't let average accomodatins ruin my vacation. This is the sort of place anyone remotely high-maintenance will be grosed out by; but it is NOT offensive if you are prepared to accept it for what it is: a two-story "cottage" with worn furniture and a thoroughly outdated, run down kitchen. No doubt it was fancy - in the early 80's - which is probably the last time anything here has been painted or updated. This is the sort of resort you look around and say "it has such great potential" - what the heck are these owners doing not maintaining it (at least on the surface)? We try not to compare one place to the next and realize that people stay here because of its primo location, extraordinary views of islands and quite frankly, it's a decent value for Tortola. BVI is not a place to vacation if you are looking for cheapo deals.

The place is impressive when you first encounter it, but upon closer look everything needs a LOT of work. The furniture is tattered, the beach chairs/towels/huts/games/equipment are ratty; every piece of metal had rust on it; the kitchen (though fully equipped) could certainly be cleaned up, but it served its purpose. As for bugs... this is an island and there is no escaping them. I have stayed in BVI resorts that cost three times what I paid at Frenchman's Cay and there were bugs there too. A fact of island life.

The problem here is the owners... they are terribly overextended and we too experienced that dismissive attitude mentioned in other reviews. No rudeness, just a reluctance to help us out when we asked about a rental car and beaches. I don't think they are lazy... just two people who desperately need to outsource some of the work and go on their own vacation! The wait staff was, on the other hand, extrememly helpful and nice and answered every question we had. It's not a horrible place and doesn't deserve the lowest scores. I do, however, think the owners misrepresent Frenchman's Cay. They tend to advertise it as some fancy, high-class villa of sorts (If you want that - go to Bitter End Yacht Club in Virgin Gorda- its amazing, but $750/nt!) They'd be better off promoting FC as self-catering "cottages" rather than exclusive villas. I think expectations would be a lot different coming into it.

The nice things about this place: The beach is manmade but has scenic views, the pool was super small but we never had to share it with more than one other person, the resort itself is in a safe and very private area, but is still within a 10 minute walk of Soper's Hole, 4 really good restuarants, 2 'super markets' and the ferry terminal. This alone makes it worthwhile, especially if you like to eat at different places. When it came to food, we were never disappointed with breakfast, but I'd recommend venturing off site for other meals. We had one dinner included in our package and would have been thoroughly dispoointed had we been required to pay for it. The meals are incredibly overpriced while the food is average at best. I agree with the other reviewer that the ceasar salad was quite disappointing with its bland dressing and soggy crutons (at least they are consistant!!) My fish was OK at best - and we chose only to eat breakfast here. We did, however, hear some people rave about the food at FC (It's just matter of opinion I suppose).

Another positive aspect is that FC is a good point of departure for daytrips or exploring the island. Sopor's Hole offers a variety of catamaran trips and the 8 mile drive into Roadtown is a cinch. You can walk to Kelly's which is both a small grocer and fantastic Italian resturant. Who knew such good food could be had on a patio behind a garage-sized market? We were pleasantly surprised at what a great meal we had here. Lobster Ravioli, sausage parmiasagn... wine.... served up by Tom from Brooklyn! Another place that should not be overlooked is Pisces at Soper's Hole. We regretted waiting until our last night to eat here - it was a fantastic dinner and rumor has it they serve the best breakfasts on the island...

Anyway, going to this place armed with knowledge is the best advice I can recommend. Ask yourself what you want to do and what expectations you have. If you prefer the built-up, all-inclusive, touristy resorts - this is not a place for you. I wouldn't recommend bringing small children here either. If you don't mind the idea of a totally private, casual rental cottage (like one in the mountains or at the beach) then you should be ok here. A cottage atmosphere is what you should expect from FC... We spoke with a couple who has been staying here 20 years now and couldn't be happier. We would consider staying here again ONLY because of it's location and we got to know some locals. We posted a load more pictures at: ----

The pluses of this hotel: the view, the sound of waves crashing, the breeze.

The minuses: Oh my gosh, where to start. The proprietors are definitely burned out, and seem to dislike visitors. The place is worn out, too. There seems to be absolutely no maintenance. We paid a high price for an apartment, and the kitchen was disgusting. To make coffee, we were to use a tiny aluminum "perk" coffee pot on the stove, a la the 1940's. The "welcome" you receive is a list of rules that you are not to break. It was a place we were happy to leave. Avoid it at all cost. Wish we had read the reviews prior to booking. Tortola is a wonderful island-- I wonder why these proprietors are so miserable.

Visted in February 2005. The great views, the good meals, and the quiet atmosphere just barely offset the deplorable physical condition of the resort. The owners have obviously decided to minimize expenses wherever they can. I note the following absolutely true personal observations:

uncut grass (8-10 inches in length)
rusted and broken hardware
torn and broken porch screen sliders
broken stove
fan blade broke off and flew across the room
broken jalousie screen cranks
one cockroach (he must have had some friends)
dirty pool
filthy towels
inadequate kitchenware
poorly maintained small beach area

The owners-managers also seem to be rather burned out as Mr. Kennedy's demeanor was for the most part indifferent and bordering on rude. I strongly recommend that this hotel be avoided at all costs until there are radical improvements.