We had the misfortune of staying at this "Luxury Resort" this spring. As seasoned world travellers we find we usually get what we pay for, except at this place. The owners were rude and confrontational when we asked to have our room cleaned. The rooms were dirty and falling apart, the sliding door to the porch did not work and the cupboard door in the kitchen fell on my head! Never have we paid so much to recieve so little! See OUR photos for what to expect at this $300 /night "resort"

Upon reading the reviews today (one week after I returned from Frenchman's Cay), I realized the majority of people who wrote reviews were 100% correct on their descriptions of the resort, rooms, restaurant, etc. I’m not sure which Frenchman’s Cay Resort the last two reviews stayed at, but it surely was not the one in Tortola. I fully agree with comments from another reviewer that the place hasn’t been updated since AT LEAST the 80’s. And yes, we saw the “ant covered” feces in our bathroom when we arrived as well. Even though the sheets appeared to be clean, the rest of the place was filthy – and it’s really obvious there is stuff on tile floors (carpet may be understandable). AND I’m surprised no one else mentioned the rusted electrical outlets (some didn’t even have covers on them). SO, I think my “adventure” at Frenchman’s Cay can top anyone’s story. First off we stayed at villa #4. Appeared to be clean until you take a closer look. Here’s the good part……..from 11:00p.m. until 3:00a.m. we were woken to the sound of “screeching” noises at least 7-8 times, which included noises in the bathroom. The last screeching episode at 3:00a.m. was to the sound of two rats chasing each other around the room. Needless to say, we kept on ALL the lights (some worked, some didn’t) in the villa and made the best of it. HERE COMES THE FUNNY PART. When we went to check out the next morning, I asked the lady (which was one of the owners) at the desk if she was aware of rodent problems in the room(s). She replies “Oh no, that wasn’t rats, that was BATS….yeah, they really keep the bug population down”. My wife and I sat there astonished that she made it sound like it was a benefit to have the bats in the room (to tell you the truth, we have gotten a lot of laughs with our friends about that statement). So, upon hearing her tell me the bat benefit, I asked what she planned to do about our four hours of “bat” sleep, she calmly looks at me and says “credit card please”. One good thing to say – IF someone was to go in there and clean up the beach, cut the grass, clean up the rooms, etc., it really might be a nice place to stay.

I agree very much with the gentleman from Michigan who wrote a recent review of Frenchman's Cay Resort: this is not the place for folks who are looking for an upscale resort but it is most definitely the kind of place that folks who appreciate solitude and natural beauty will see as an absolute gem. My husband and 13 year old daughter and I stayed here just over a week ago, sharing a villa with another family of three. All of us agree that, while there are certainly a few maintenance items that could be attended to, we would all return here in a heart beat. The truth is we loved the tall grass blowing in the breeze (though it did get mowed while we were there), we loved having the small beach entirely to ourselves on many days (with great snorkeling), we loved the stunning panoramic (unobstructed) view of the water and islands from our villa, we loved the breezes (and absence of any insects biting us), we loved the sound of the waves lulling us to sleep each night. It is hard to imagine caring more for a gourmet kitchen than a location like this. This place will not suit the needs of those who want top notch facilities/amenities; but for those folks, like us, who are looking for a relaxing vacation in an unbelievably beautiful natural setting, you will not be disappointed. My rating of excellent is based on this being an excellent place for my family.

I would add, too, that we visited the north side of the island where the more popular (and I would add much more expensive) hotels are located and while it is worth going over there to visit some lovely beaches (we really enjoyed Smuggler's Cove), we very much prefered our quiet side of the island.

I think it all comes down to what you are looking for and the need for travelers to do their research before making any decisions. Hopefully these comments will help you do so.

As far as the food, we had two nice dinners at Frenchman's Cay (served by a lovely waitress). We voted their key lime pie the best of the several restaurants we ate at. We recommend you also check out Jolly Roger's which is on the water near the West End Ferry - fun place and beautiful sunset views!

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!