We had a wonderful time. The hotel is beautiful and the staff is lovely. We've booked next year already!

This is a followup to a review I posted here on Jan 1 2004. We had stayed at Peter Island and experienced some issues during our stay. Because of those issues, Peter Island offered us three free nights to return and re-experience the island.

We returned three years later and are very happy we did. The island was in beautiful shape, our last experience having come after landslides and other issues. The service, which ran from extremely friendly in the main dining room to somewhat surly at the beach, was uniformly excellent. The food was just as great as it was the first time.

The beach itself is beautiful and the spa is wonderful. I highly suggest taking the charter boat, the Silmaril, out for a day. The captains, Paul and Judy, are wonderful people to spend some time out on the open sea with and have many great suggestions on how to spend your day. If we ever return, we plan on going out with them again. Be sure to book well ahead of time.

We were very happy that we returned to Peter Island and are grateful that they extended us the courtesy. It's a great place for a romantic getaway. Children are somewhat discouraged, as I would imagine younger ones might be bored by the lack of in room televisions, etc. There are some water sports like kayaking, etc, but for the most part, you're going there to lay on a beach and relax for a few days. Older children might appreciate the solitude.

The resort has a library with a few computers on the internet, free of charge, as well as a single TV.

Instead of repeating the positive remarks of others who have written about the resort, I will comment on a few subjects that may add some new value.

If you are are trying to decide between Caneel Bay, Little Dix, Brias Creek and Peter Island I would recommend Peter Island. We have either stayed, had diner or lunch and walked the grounds of all of these places. I base my recommendation on quality of service, quality of accommodations, the food, the beaches, and location/scenery. The other resorts may be superior in one category but it is the combination of all these factors that makes Peter Island the better choice, especially the beaches and beauty of the location. The views of the ocean with other islands doting the horizon are unmatched.

Update on Ocean View rooms. We stayed in room 128 on the advise of prior readers, which was good advise. Rooms 128-131 do provide better views (most blocked by palm trees) and little better location. Found the bath rooms in very good shape, the tilting, bathtub and fixtures all looked new. Others have written that they looked "tried" but I would strongly disagree. The rooms themselves are large, larger than standard Ritz Carlton rooms; king bed with nice sitting area and plenty of room for luggage. I talked with management and yes these rooms will be extensively renovated in the next 12-18 months; rebuilt with larger bath rooms with a shower and tub combinations. So as of this writing the rooms are being well maintaining and if you get a room in one of the last two buildings, the Ocean rooms do represent value over the more expense beach suites. Didn't see a Beach room but can say that the views from these rooms are far superior to the Ocean rooms, also talked with a few people who stayed in the Beach suites and all reported very positive reviews.

One final thought. If you have problems walking Ocean rooms are close to pool and Trade Winds restaurant, however require uphill walk to beach and beach grill restaurant. Beach suites are close to beach and breach grill restaurant but would require up hill walk to pool and Trade Winds; resort dose proved golf cart type transport but the timeliness of the carts is a bit iffy.

If you want the perfect retreat, then Peter Island is it. One resort on a private island, limited amount of guests, great food, great beaches, top notch service. What else can you ask for?

My wife and I went for a long weekend for our 10 year anniversary. We visited during their off-season (end of August) and got a decent rate for a 5 night stay with meals included.

A Peter Island representative was waiting for us after we claimed our luggage at the airport. We waited for one other couple and then she drove us to the dock where we picked up the motor yacht to take us from Tortola to Peter Island. We were given refreshments (rum punch or beer) for the 15-20 min (approx.) ride.

Once we docked, we were greeted by a resort host and given an overview of the island. We were then driven to our room in a golf cart with our luggage. .

Our room was a 2nd floor ocean view room near the dock. The room was clean and brightly colored. It was a decent size, but no larger than a typical hotel room. This didn't matter to us much however as we were only in the room to sleep and shower. As long as it had air conditioning and a balcony, we were fine (it had both). There were complimentary robes (available for purchase) and flip flops (yours to keep).

After we got settled, we went out to look around and just walking around gave me a very relaxed feeling. The pool area was great. Plenty of lounge chairs and they were very comfortable. There is an activities room with a big screen TV (no TVs in the rooms), books, games, a biliards table. The open air lobby has a bar near the pool.

The Tradewinds Restaurant (near the pool) hosts breakfast and dinner. Lunch and dinner (certain nights) can be had at the Deadman's Beach Bar and Grill. The food is outstanding. The coconut crusted french toast is one of the best I've ever had. The banana pancakes with Tamarind syrup and the eggs benedict are also top notch. Dinners (even the buffets) were also incredible. The lunches at Deadman's were typical bar fare kicked up a notch, but very good nonetheless. If you are into wine, you can attend a vintners dinner for an extra charge, but seats are limited so book early.

We mainly stayed at Deadman's Beach during our stay because it was quiet and near the bar. When we got there, the beach was empty. We came to find out that we were two of 32 guests on the island during our stay (the resort holds only 120 people). This made for an incredible experience as there were times where we felt like we had the beach to ourselves. Obviously, there were no issues with chairs or hammocks or the thatch huts. We had our pick.

You can always go over to White Bay and Beach if you want. It is more secluded and you can order a picnic lunch to take with you. We opted not to do this because we were so happy with Deadman's Beach and didn't feel like we needed to "get away".

During the early evening before dinner, you can go to "The Loop" and see the amazing sunsets. I called the front desk and had a bottle of champagne and a fruit and cheese platter sent up with us. We were lucky in that we were the only ones that went the the Loop that night. We had the whole place to ourselves. Talk about romantic. We did this one other evening and there were quite a few people, which was also fun.

The spa on the island is top notch. We were picked up in the lobby by the spa manager. When we arrived, he confirmed our services and then took us into the spa. I took a shower and sauna and then met my wife in the lounge area as we waited for our hydrotherapy treatments. After hydrotherapy, we had a couples hot stone massage. After the massage, we were allowed to stay and relax for as long as we wanted. We took a shower in a HUGE shower with jets on the walls and ceiling, then had ice water on the patio looking over the ocean. Just before leaving, we took a dip in the jacuzzi which also overlooks the ocean. What a great experience.

This vacation was by far my most relaxing vacation ever. I mostly sat on the beach reading a book and swimming in the ocean. We did meet 2 couples that we spent some time talking with and enjoying their company. We rented a small boat for a day (one man had captained a boat in the BVIs before) and went over to Jost Van Dyke to go eat and drink at the Soggy Dollar. This is a must do if you are in the BVIs. To get to the Soggy Dollar, you need to anchor offshore and swim in (hence the soggy dollars). This place is the home of a drink called the Painkiller. After a few of these, you will feel no pain. The food is pretty good too for a small bar.

There was so much that we didn't do or see on our trip (day trip to the Baths, snorkeling trips, diving) that we will definitely be going back. This is the place to go if you want to relax and avoid the crowds of a typical resort. It's worth the price to experience it.