Aug 8 2006
Just returned from a week at this HOTEL and wanted to review before forgot how poor the place really was. When the cat was eating from scraps on the bar and then from table tops later in the day....you can imagine why we did not eat at the advertised restaurant on the property.
Nearly all the amenities in the ads were "MISSING." No band, no chairs on man made sand spot 3-4' above the water behind a wall called a beach, plywood table tops on sand spot were splintered beyond use or repair, pool was very small and only cleaned once while we were there and then no chemicals, just a quick sweep job.
Maids were great and the room was clean...could see around all inside and outside doors but it kept the rain out and shower water was hot.
My complaint is that they advertised a resort with amenities such as beach, free breakfast, band, and then booked us in an old hotel which needs lots of work and had no frills Too far across the bay to use their resort and they charged $3 per each way to ride over and then only go 2 rd trips per day. The rude lady at the counter told me we were on our own, go over there and find out for yourself.
St. Thomas as an island is average for the Caribean, quite dirty roadsides, hovels, etc. One to four cruise boats are in harbor almost daily and 2-10K people go to the MANY jewelry shops on the wharf. The snorkeling was quite nice at Cokie Beach, but Sapphire, Secreat Harbor and Magens Bay were poor at best...we ended up purchasing an annual admission to Cokie and driving up there for our beach and snorkel everyday.
Use Hotwire to rent a car 1/3 the price of any others. Stay at the RESORT at Best Western not the hotel and plan to eat at fast food places..there are plenty of them, but you will need a car as the Taxi services charge per person and lots. $24 one way to go to resort from airport 1 mile away for 2 with 3 bags. Take your sun screen and wear a shirt snorkeling. Have fun, inspite of the accomodations, we had fun at St. Thomas...I guess we can make lemonade from lemons with the best of them.
jerrylh at glis net...








