We have a timeshare in Oyster Bay and we went recently. We had a wonderful time, the island is always sunny. The beach is beautiful, the pool and the spa are clean, the staff is friendly, the food is great, the view is amazing! The rooms are also neat and comfy. Furthermore, the resort is close to Philipsburgh and Grand Case, where you can find great restaurants and shops.

Just returned from 4 nights at OBBR. Oyster Pond is the absolute best spot on the island.
If I could go 4.5 I would.
The only reason I am not giving a 5 is because the room, which had a spectacular view, was a bit small & the bathroom shower could use a face lift.
Staff was amazing, loved the pool, access to the beach & Mr Busbys where which we ate every meal. Stop into the Marina grocery if you want to pick up a few things for the mini-fridge.
Will go back without question...probably before years end.

Short Version:
Great location, very nice room, other guests are very friendly mostly 45 years of age +, staff mostly friendly and accommodating, a couple of hiccups that were resolved. Time share facility with motivated time share sales staff. Saying no did work for us.....

Long Version:
We booked Oyster Bay Beach Resort through cheap Caribbean Vacations dot com. We paid $2,500 for 6 nights, airfare for two and trip cancellation insurance included. We traveled with another couple who had actually booked the trip and paid the same amount. We requested rooms close to each other with ocean view.

Upon arrival we were given rooms on opposite ends of the resort, our friends had a room in building 12, on the ocean, we were given a room in building 25 which faced Dawn beach and is also the location of Beau Beau's, the resort's "night club". We asked about having rooms together and were told that wasn't possible, the couple we were with were told their room was really nice, I asked about our room and was told our room was "nice too".

The room in building 12 was as advertised, the room building 25, while not as nice was certainly acceptable except there apparently had been an issue with the septic system outside the room that day and the smell was unbearable. After a short conversation with the lady at the desk where we were informed that our friends were in an upgraded room, to which I shrugged my shoulders, she found us another room in building 12. The only caveat was we needed to change rooms on our last night, we stayed from Monday until Sunday. Fair enough, we took the room.

We were told there was a welcome party at 5:30 that evening and that we should pickup our welcome package from the concierge desk. I went to the concierge desk and was given a packet with information, told who my reservation "specialist" was and asked what time I would like to meet this specialist for cocktails or dinner to "discuss the island". Having read other Tripadvisor reviews, I decided I did not want to sit through a time share spiel and politely declined the invitation. I was told that this was my specialist for the week and I needed to meet this person, I said that I would find her when I needed a reservation and that was it.

We went to the welcome party at 5:30 that night, the party had music, an open bar and was well attended. We met many couples that night and had a good time with great conversation. There was a raffle table set up where you could sign up to win prizes, sensing another time share spiel in the making I decided my anonymity was prize enough and skipped that line which was quite sizable. A gentleman I met at the party had a colorful wristband on. He told me he got it at the raffle table and asked me where mine was, I told him that I skipped the raffle, he then remarked to me " I guess this marks me as fresh meet" to the sales staff and promptly ripped it off.

When I first got to the party there was a line for the bar so I tried the rum punch which I didn't like. I stood in line at the bar, when I got to the bar, the young lady turned around and started working on something else, the gentleman finished up with another customer, I asked him for a tropical drink. He asked me what type of liquor I liked, I told him rum. He asked what I wanted in it, I said I don't know, something tropical, so he poured coke in it. I asked him if that was tropical, he told me "Yes sir" with a straight face. So I laughed, I did think it was funny, took a sip, then dumped it in the trash and went to another bartender for a Tanqueray with a splash of tonic. My staff interactions ranged from this, which I would qualify as a very respectful passive aggressive exchange, to very courteous and helpful.

I had one other encounter worth mentioning when I had to change rooms on Saturday. I was told when I checked in that I would have to pack my bags and they would be moved from room to room for me when the new room was ready and that I had to be out of the room by 10 am. I went to the front desk to change rooms, the lady at the desk told me I would have bring my bags to the lobby to be stored and to check in with her around 2 to see "if my room was ready". Needless to say I wasn't happy so I told her that I was told my bags would be moved and that the new room would be expedited. She looked perplexed and asked who told me that. I told her that the lady who checked me in had told me that and that I was not happy that I was going to be without room for which I was paying for at least four hours maybe longer. She replied to me "Well that's the way it is", just to be clear, she was not snotty when she said this, it was more like she was perplexed, but it was not the right thing to say. Seeing that I was getting nowhere, I asked to speak to a manager. While I was waiting for a manager, the lady at the desk called an assistant, who went to my room and retrieved my bags. I spoke to the manager and explained my displeasure with waiting four hours to see if my new room was going to be ready. She excused herself and a few minutes later I got word that my new room would be ready in 45 minutes, and it was.

All in all, this was a nice place on a nice island. The rock and roll night at Beau beau's, the bar on the resort was fun and crowded, it was over by 10pm. Most of the other nights we drove to restaurants on the island. Driving was easy, although some of the roads were narrow with large, drive ending drainage gutters on the side. The people of the island seem very courteous. Air conditioning among the residences is not prevalent and many sit on porches, utility boxes or whatever else is on the side of the road and watch traffic. We saw this throughout the neighborhoods. We never felt unsafe while driving.

I'm undecided as to whether I would return. We met many people who have been staying at this resort via timeshares for years and are very satisfied with it. If you expect 5 star Four Seasons type service then I would stay away. I did focus on the incidents that irked me a little in this review, but all in all most staff was very helpful and wanted to satisfy, with very few exceptions. There is not much to do on this island as far as night life for us middle aged folks. We were told that all the clubs are geared to younger people with techno type music. We verified this with several people who have been coming here for years. I like a little more action hence my reservation about returning. If warm weather and laying by the pool or beach is what you are looking for than this is probably a great place for you.


PS, after going over some other reviews here, it seems the septic smell has been an ongoing problem here. As an engineer, I saw several "vents" near the entrance to the resort from where the smell seemed to be emanating. It seems to me that extending these pipes up 15 or 20 feet combined with some type of charcoal filter may alleviate these issues, but what do I know?

This will be brief, but I hope that it will help someone considering staying at Oyster Bay. I would not stay here again, nor would I recommend staying here if you are not used to this type of accommodation. Generally, when I travel, I stay at a Westin or Renaissance, or on the low end, a Hampton Inn & Suites. The accommodations at Oyster Bay are more on par with an Econo Lodge. The towels were rough and some were tearing, the sheets had a spot here or there, the pillows were flat, and the bedspread was old and pilling. I took a peek in other rooms and they were all the same. While I guess that I could tell that they had done some sort of renovation, it was not a quality one. The bathrooms have no tile, just the very cheap plastic shower walls and basin.

Be aware that there are mostly seniors with timeshares at this resort, so if you are looking for a more lively area, you should stay near the airport/golf course area or the Phillipsburg cruise ship port area. Driving from Oyster Bay to some action takes about 20 minutes.

As far as views, the marina view, while pretty (even though it is overlooking the parking lot), is not as nice as the ocean view. The marina view will not provide the relaxing breeze and sounds of the ocean. The pool and beach are nice, and lunch by the pool is excellent (grilled fish, seasoned rice, fries and plantains).

There are nice restaurants within walking distance (highly recommend Big Fish for ambiance, food, service). To eat anywhere on the island, try to head to dinner around 6:30 before the rush- restaurants on the island cannot seem to handle a full house (waits across the board were minimum 1 hour) and after exploring all day, you will be exhausted and starving!

Oh, if you need to rent a car (you will), go with Sixt! Great service and perfect little car. Note that the office is not in the airport terminal, but they have a super friendly shuttle or you can easily walk across the street to the office. We were in and out in 5 minutes. I highly recommend purchasing traveler's car rental insurance via Travelocity or other booking company. It is much cheaper than obtaining on-site.