OK well this resort had its up's and downs. It started out nice the ocean view was amazing. Loved my room me and my husband stayed in the Luxury Garden Suite I loved the room...but when it rained it leaked over the toilet. Every night we could hear the ocean that was nice. There isn't anything to do on the resort SO.. rent a car. There are 3 restuarants but only 1 was open for breakfast and only 1 for lunch. There were 2 open for dinner the bar and grill was good they had one really good waitress Fai she was the greatest and so fast with our orders and always very nice and always had a smile and so sweet. But the other Mahogany wasn't all that great me and my husband we went there the second night and my food was great one of the best steaks I ever had.........but my husands was too well done very tough and he found a very very big piece of plastic in his mashed potatos and they only took off half of the bill and didn't do much of anything else to fix the problem didn't seem like they even really cared. The Salmon was only open for breakfast and my husbands eggs tasted like they were powered and very runny. when we went to the buffet and didn't want to be seated in the Mahogany they gave us a problem and the next day we got dirty looks from the waitress's in the Salmon. But the rest of the staff was very nice. I loved the pool and the beach breath taking view. But if you want to do anything like i said you have to rent a car there are taxi's but there are costly it cost us $28 without tip to go to the market. and you need to call for a taxi either 2 hours or a day in advance to get them. The Buck Island tour was great. Tim the bartender was really good loved their Carambola Crush was really good. I would recommend buying their cruzan rum really good and only $11 a bottle. I would go back to St. Croix but would not stay at this resort. I also have to say that Mark 1 of the drivers for the taxis's was very knowledgeable of the island it was interesting to find out facts and the history of the Island. I did like that walking to the beach and the pool from my room wasn't far at all, and I liked that the pool and beach were available 24/7 with hot tub. BUT not enough to make me want to come back to this resort next time I will try another resort on St. Croix.

The Carambola resort was everything I had read about here. We really wanted to venture out and go somewhere the cruise ships were not so the USVI was not our original choice. But because one of our party did not have her passport yet, we decided to look around.

It's all about the location. We arrived a day late and luggage-less after bad weather and a bad experience with Delta, but that's another story. So after a quick trip to K-Mart we were ready for the beach!

The rooms were nice and roomy and fairly clean. There are six suites to each villa, 3 up and 3 down. There is a sitting area, nice size bath with a large shower and the bedroom. The bedroom and sitting area open to the screened porch. Our rooms were on the water and it was nice to leave the doors open at night to hear the ocean.

The beach is wonderful and the water is unbelievable. There is a lot of coral & rock so you do have to go to the west end of the beach to enter the water.

Most of the resort was nice but the rooms do need updating. We saw some rooms that were updated and it looked like they were working on more. But still they were nice. If you have to have a new room, just ask when you make your reservations.

The food was OK. The drinks were really good. We ventured off each evening because we wanted to see the island. We only ate at the resort once. They have rum punch in the lobby during the afternoon. It was very tasty.

The Carambola is isolated. Very isolated, but we live in the country and really enjoyed it. If you really want to enjoy your time, rent a car. We rented one from the resort but you can probably get one cheaper from the airport. Driving on the left side is not that difficult but be careful. We didn't have a problem with the winding roads or darkness.

Just a note - We had a direct flight from Atlanta to St. Croix but missed it because of the weather. I would not book one from the continental US again. I would fly through San Juan or St. Thomas because if you miss your flight it's hard to get another. There are plenty of flights from island to island.

This place was fantastic. We are planning on going again. Hopefully soon!

Me and my wife celebrated our first anniversary at Carambola. We stayed for 5 nights in a Garden view suite.

Pros: Lots of privacy, private beach, secluded, breezy all the time. One of the best beaches.Staff is helpful.

Cons: Old exteriors(desperately needs renovation), parking was far from the suite,
No internet connection in the room but ,only in the restaurant area. No cell phone service in the entire premise of Carambola. Once we saw cockroaches in the room. No microwave in the suite.


We ate at Off the wall, Spicy grill, Columbus Cove, Shenanigans, Rum runners & loved the food. Sunset Grill didn't impress us, its expensive(pls don't try its shrimp cocktail).

Rum runners cruzan rum cake was fabulous. Spicy Grill was fabulous.

My husband and I spent 6 nights at the Carambola in mid February. We were there last year during the same time period, and loved it so much that we couldn't wait to return. If you are looking for a place that is away from all the hustle and bustle, in an absolutely gorgeous setting, then this is the place! We stayed in one of their unrenovated rooms, same as last year. When we checked in, we asked if they had any rooms on the second level, and were told that they were totally booked, that we should check back in a few days. Like last year, our room had a strong musty odor. The floors in our room were not clean....my feet felt gritty walking barefoot! We had some issues with housekeeping this year (last year wasn't a problem). We didn't get beach towels or more toilettries one day. It took several calls, and several hours to get any. When housekeeping did show up, they handed my husband a half used, cracked bottle of shampoo! Tacky! My husband called the head of housekeeping to complain. After that, our room was really clean (no more gritty floors), and they were good about replenshing things.
Mid way thru our stay, they let us switch to a 2nd level room. We loved this room much better. While it was still unrenovated, it had gorgeous high wooden ceilings, no musty smell, and much more privacy when we sat out on our front porch.
I gave the title "Shabby Chic" because if you are looking for a high end experience, the unrenovated rooms will not provide it! We asked to see a renovated room, as we would like to book one for next year. I admit that I was not expecting much, but they did a top notch job on these units. The unit we saw was gorgeous, with marble flloors thru out, tasteful new furniture, a full kitchen, granite countertops, and a wonderful marble and tile bath. Oh, and 2 flat screen tvs!

We ate breakfast several mornings in the Mahogany Room. As last year, the service was super slow (I think even slower this year!). While I can understand it being the islands, it is just downright painfully slow! We also ate several times at the Flamboyant by the bar. The burgers there are excellent! The rest of the menu is pretty uninspired, though. At each meal, there was something inevetably wrong with our orders. If we politely asked for corrections or more of this or that, we were met with indifference borderling on hostility. Because of the extremely poor service, we will never eat again at the hotel! Except maybe for those burgers! We did find a great place just 5 minutes down the road in Cane Bay. We ate 5 times (guess we are regulars now!) at the Full Moon. They are open for breakfast, luch & dinner. The food is great, price is cheaper than the hotel, and the waitstaff is friendly and very effiencient! Boagies is also good, but the service there is really slow!
Overall, we love the Carambola. While it definately needs some improvements in the service category, it is the place to go for R&R in a breathtaking, natural setting!