My Rating: 7
If you're staying in St. Thomas and can't afford the Ritz, this is the place to stay. It's located on the east side of the island close to the town of Red Hook. Don't stay in Charlotte Amalie! See our trip blog for more details. This place is great for couples and families but doesn't look like it'd be good for single people.
Rooms are clean and adequate - a good size bed and full bathroom. Almost every room has at least a partial ocean view.
The resort has various activities organized on different days of the week including iguana feedings (super cute), poolside bingo, pool tables, ping pong tables, foosball, etc. Three spacious pools were a little chilly but the resort was empty so we almost had it all to ourselves!
A nice beach is located on the property where you can rent kayaks, jet skis, parasail, etc. Snorkel gear is complimentary but the snorkeling wasn't so good in that particular location.
Food is rather expensive and will run you about $20 each for a lunch buffet and $28 each for a dinner buffet (Mangrove Restaurant). Pina coladas are delicious but we particularly enjoyed the Coco Motion - a blend of coconut cream, coconut milk, pineapple juice, and nutmeg. Drinks cost about $7/piece, $4-5 for beer. Barista, located on the second floor of the lobby, makes nice espresso drinks. Veggie options are few and far between but the buffet has a nice salad bar and a veggie burger. Seafood/fish lovers will have plenty of options. The Manor House restaurant, the fancier restaurant on site, was a little pricey and made an abominable steak. The dessert was only halfway defrosted as well. The salad bar was decent though. However, if you're going to eat on site, head for the buffet. An all-inclusive option is available and although we didn't splurge for it, in hindsight it might make more sense economically.
Staff was for the most part friendly. A tour company, Caribbean Tour Services, has a desk located in the hotel lobby and set us up with three tours around St. Thomas, St. John, and Virgin Gorda. Pricing was reasonable and most tours include lunch. See our trip blog for specifics.
DAY 1
Summary: Rum, rum, and more rum. Rum punch, pina coladas, Bushwhackers. Yummy! Oh, bring bug spray.
On our first day we took a tour around St. Thomas with Reggie from Caribbean Tour Services/Tropic Tours. The tour picked up conveniently from our hotel. January is normally a busy time of year at St. Thomas but we lucked out and only had 2 blue-hairs on our tour. You're transported in an open-air safari bus which puts you up high and is perfect for picture taking. You look like a tourist but so does everyone else and you can drink rum all day long and not have to worry about driving! :)
Our first stop was a nice overlook of the west side (Charlotte Amalie) of the island. You can see massive cruise ships in some of the harbors and can see clearly to Water Island and other smaller bays and inlets - very scenic! A local fellow with a mule was hoping we'd take a pic with his mule and give him a tip but we declined. The poor mule looked bedraggled - covered in red and yellow baubles.
We then proceeded to the botanical gardens (http://www.greathouse-mountaintop.com/about.htm) - entry fee is included with tour and we had about 30 minutes to stroll around. We first made our way over to the bar area and helped ourselves to a complimentary rum punch or three (virgin rum punch is also available). We went on the Nature Loop Trail - won't take you too long as it's a small garden - and snapped some pics from some very scenic overlooks of the east site of the island including panoramic views of St. John, Jost Van Dyke, Tortola, etc.
Don't be surprised if you run into random jungle kitty cats while cruising the islands. They're all over the place, along with iguanas, chickens, and goats, and were very friendly.
After the botanical gardens, we headed to Mountain Top for 30 minutes which is really just a tourist trap. It's basically a mall located in a very nice location. You get a free drink ticket with the tour so we headed to the bar first where they're known for the banana daiquiris. The lady blue-hair on our tour asked for extra rum and we should have followed her lead. :) One store had some nice skirts from India which are worth checking out: http://www.karizadesigns.com/.
After Mountain Top, we proceeded to downtown Charlotte Amalie where we had an incredible 3 hours - wayyyy to long. The main downtown area is just about 4 blocks by 8 blocks and takes no time at all to traverse. The perimeter is actually rather sketchy and run-down. We got some good pics while exploring the perimeter but ran into a nice man who warned us to go back to town, as this part of town was dangerous. It looked it, so we made our way back but not before snapping a few more pics of various doors and archways - every window and door has a colorful storm covering which would make for an artsy photo project one day.
If you need to do some SERIOUS jewelry shopping, then you'll have a great time in Charlotte Amalie. Otherwise, there ain't much to do. Literally store after store is a jewelry shop. The local market square was a former slave market…much like St. John.
Churches, churches, and more churches! Everywhere you look you see Pentecostal this and Evangelical that. Religion is everywhere! Billy Graham (ahem) has had a big impact here.
Parts of Charlotte Amalie are reminiscent of ghettos you'd see in the crappier parts of L.A. and New York City. You can see rejuvenation is in progress, but if we did this again, we'd stay in the more rural, scenic, and mellow St. John.
Our recommendation: take a private tour of St. Thomas instead. You'll see more off the beaten path locales and won't need to waste 3 hours in downtown Charlotte Amalie which is really just a tourist trap for all the massive cruise ships that dock there.
DAY 2
After the action-packed day 1, we were ready for some relaxation poolside and beachside. We made sure to catch the 10:30 iguana feedings (they're vegetarians) located near the pond at Wyndham and then enjoyed some sun.
DAY 3
We woke up nice and early and took a boat tour on the Limnos V with Captain Scott and Akim (booked through our hotel and Caribbean Tour Services). It included an open bar, banana bread for breakfast, make-your-own-sandwich lunch, and stops at Virgin Gorda (that's right, "fat virgin" - those island-naming sailors are delusional), Norman Island, and a brief pit stop at St. John for customs. Passport required for this bad boy as Virgin Gorda and Norman Island are located in the BVI (British Virgin Islands).
The crew was super friendly and informative. Akim kept the drinks coming and as we sailed the 2 hours to Virgin Gorda, he occasionally would fill us in on the islands we were passing, their history, recent purchases, and more. We found that Akim's estimates were always 45 minutes. How long will we be here? 45 minutes. How long will it take to get here? 45 minutes. And then the joker tried to steal my fancy cap! :)
We sat on the top of the boat and relaxed in the sun. Normally the Limnos V can hold up to 75 people but we lucked out an only got about 16 folks which meant no rushing for food or drinks and made for a mellow sail.
We docked at Virgin Gorda and took a short safari bus ride to the famous Baths where Akim took us on a guided boulder-strewn tour and we swam for about 1 hour. This place was really awesome!
We then re-boarded the Limnos V and headed for Norman Island, a little over an hour away. We dropped anchor and jumped right off the boat to explore the Norman Island caves via snorkeling. We saw some really cool purple coral and barracudas.
After Norman Island, we took a quick sail to St. John to pass through customs and then headed back home. I got to hop in the captain's chair for a bit and steer the ship which was pretty cool. After all this touring, we were ready for a couple days of doing nothing.
DAY 4
Rum, rum, rummy rum.
DAY 5
On Day 5 we finally made it over to St. John - an island we'd heard so much about and were excited to see. It's 75% national park and home to the second most beautiful beach in the world, Trunk Bay.
We took a short ferry ride over to St. John - about 1/2 hour - and then hopped in a safari bus with our guide, Jupiter (from the reggae band Inner Visions, http://www.innervisionsreggae.com/). The tour was nice and leisurely and Jupiter gave us tons of history on the island while still slowing to down to say hello to all the folks he knew - he must have been local famous hero.
The tour stopped at a few impressive overlooks (Coral Bay, Maho Bay, and more) and past some massive termite nests (gnarly!). We took a brief stop at some sugar mill ruins (saw these crazy caterpillars that were about a quarter in diameter and a good 8 inches in length) and then stopped for lunch at Shipwreck Landing. The land was super lush - lots of jungle with mango, papaya, avocado, coconut, and castor bean trees!
The tour wrapped up back in town at Mongoose Junction where we took a look at some super high-end shops. We picked up one of Jupiter's albums and then headed back home.
DAY 6
Our last few hours of relaxation before flying back to Cali, to Cali, to Cali. :(
