My husband and I stayed at the Ritz-Carlton St. Thomas Nov 1-6 for a 10th Anniversary trip. Overall, we enjoyed our vacation. If we ever return to the island, however, we will likely stay at a different hotel. There are certain things a person expects when paying for a room at the Ritz-Carlton. This hotel seems to be a Ritz in name and quality of service, but the rooms are more on par with a 3 or 4 star hotel.

First, the hotel grounds are lovely. Lots of local floriculture around and the resident iguanas are fun to see, if not a little creepy when they are crawling all over the middle of the walkway. There are many separate buildings on the property, so it is a little bit of a walk to get anywhere, but this didn't bother us.

The hotel staff are all excellent, with the exception of Scott at Sails. We nicknamed him "Snotty Scotty". One has to wonder why someone who clearly dislikes people would choose a job in the service industry. But I digress. Everyone else was fantastic. Melanie at Sails was always lovely and the people at the towel stand were always eager to help us feel as comfortable as possible on the beach or at the pool. The food was excellent everywhere we ate on property, albeit expensive. But hey...when you choose to stay at the Ritz, you have to expect the prices to be high. We were not all surprised or put off by this. The concierge, Elgitha, was extremely helpful.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time on the Lady Lynsey as well. The boat is sparkling, the crew is outstanding and the sailing was really fun. We took two trips out on the boat and both were highlights of our trip. Jolene was our personal favorite among the crew, but they all were top notch. Also, the water sports equipment that was included in the resort fee was a great bonus. We had lots of fun kayaking and using the Hobie Cats.

And to the negative...The room was awful. We booked a resort view room, so we expected a room with little to no ocean view. What we got was a room down on the first floor in what felt like a cave with no other guests in sight. We overlooked a shed. The room was just okay looking inside. The furniture looked old and the bed was AWFUL. I returned home with quite a backache and I usually don't have any issues with hotel beds. The air conditioning wasn't functioning properly and our room couldn't seem to cool down past 76 or so. And there was NO AIR CON VENT IN THE BATHROOM. Ladies, hear me. Getting ready to go out to dinner in a bathroom with no air conditioning stinks! It felt at least 80 degrees in there throughout our trip. I've never stayed in a hotel where this has been the case, but will now feel the need to ask whenever we travel anywhere tropical.

Housekeeping was hit or miss. For some reason they couldn't seem to get the coffee right. Each day we had to call for coffee, condiments, cups or something else. Something was refilled each day, but something was always forgotten. And when we had to call, we usually had to call a couple of times before someone finally brought it...an hour or two later.

There are 6-7 cats that roam the property and visit the outdoor diners in the evening. We are not cat people, so eating dinner with cats circling our feet and staring at us was a bit disconcerting. Had they been dogs we wouldn't have minded so much. ;-)

Overall, we just didn't feel like we got a lot of value for our dollar at this resort. We paid more expecting to receive everything that the Ritz-Carlton delivers at their other properties. The service was on par, but the rooms were not even close. Next time we will try the Marriott or the Westin on St. John.

Just got back from this place a few days ago & it is literally paradise! My boyfriend took me for my 30th B-Day and everything about this place is perfection. The restaurants are amazing, the views are amazing, the beaches are amazing...you will not be disappointed!

Great stay, the grounds are beautiful, the people who work there always seem to remember who you are and call you by name.. very helpful.
the restaurant was great as well, pool and beach are great.. workers are there with towels and always ready to do something for you..
this is def the place where you get what you pay for... i would def go back.

The beach and pool areas are great, and the grounds were very well maintained. The food was very good, but the price of the food compared to the product was a joke, not up to Ritz standards. If you can't deliver, you can't charge. The food in the restaurant upstairs was over priced, very good breakfasts, pool bar similarly overpriced, food was very good one day there and horrible next.