St. Thomas - Favorite Beach Vacation

Photo above: Taken on the island of St. John
Picture below: Entrance to Bluebeard's Castle

Our two-week visit to St. Thomas turned out to be a dream-come-true beach vacation. During our first week, we stayed in Bluebeard's Castle--an RCI extra vacation. Then using Marriott points--a cost effective way to extend our vacation--we stayed the second week at Frenchman's Reef. There is really no comparison on these two properties.... Frenchman's Reef was far superior to Bluebeard's Castle.

As shared above, Bluebeard's Castle was an RCI extra vacation and was a St. Thomas bargain at less than $450/week for a one-bedroom unit. It is a unique property with a thousand, million steps in disrepair. Well, that is probably exaggerating the step situation a bit...but there are a lot of steps and they are in disrepair. The castle sits up on a hill with spectacular views of the port. Several restaurants at the resort are known for their excellent service and food. We did have positive experiences at the restaurants we tried.

Photo Below: View of Bluebeard's Castle during our water taxi trip to St. John. The Castle sits high on the hill with incredible port and ocean views.

Out by the pool, we visited with many guests staying at this property. Some were owners who were disappointed because they have returned here for years and were concerned with the lack of maintenance. Owners shared with us that a recent investigation of these issues revealed maintenance fees were diverted to another property. Their current understanding was that the issues had been resolved, the monies reimbursed, and all the maintenance to be addressed in the near future. (November 2008).

http://www.bluebeards-castle.com/

Photo above: Bluebeard's Castle pool area. While enjoying the pool, guests can also enjoy incredible ocean views. But the pool area needed some attention. (Pool bar, pool canopies, some pool tiles, hot tub, and pool wall--all needed some or a lot of repair.)
Bluebeard's Castle could be an above average choice if the maintenance issues are addressed. We hope they are because it would be a shame to let this property deteriorate any further. Photo above is the view of the port docks from our unit balcony. We enjoyed great sunsets while watching cruise ships depart at the end of the day.

This is an older property (they advertise historic) with basic units. They have tried to dress them up, but with little success. Our unit was sparse and clean. For the bargain price we paid--it was fine. The partial kitchen was poor and had a very small fridge and few utensils. If you preferred to eat every meal in, you would have difficulty with food preparation.

Photo below: Sapphire Beach

But this is St. Thomas. The weather is fantastic and the views are incredible from most locales on the island. The property is clean. Would I stay here again?....If the price was right? You bet! We just weren't in the room that much. We felt safe and the property is close to town so we walked most places. (Beware the hill--we were out of breath every time we climbed the stairs to the resort.) We did not rent a car, preferring to take day trips to different beaches via taxi. Sapphire Beach (photo above) was our favorite. We liked Sapphire Beach better than Megan's Bay, a popular St. Thomas destination. We took a day trip to St. John (Photo at top of blog) via water taxi. (FYI: Rental cars and gasoline are expensive on St. Thomas. We were quoted $350 rental for one week. We spent about $100 in taxi fares for that same week because we enjoy walking as much as we can. And they drive on the opposite side of the road as mainland USA...a concern that left us uncomfortable renting a car on the island.)

Photo above: View of Marriott's Frenchman's Reef Resort from the ocean.

We had visited St. Thomas via several cruise ships over the years and had longed to extend our stay. Since we were flying from Oregon...one week was just not going to be enough time on this Caribbean island. Yet, the island is expensive. Good food is especially spendy. My work requires several weeks away from home at a time...but the perk to all this traveling is Marriott points. At first, I just booked a room with points. Then, after investigating food prices on the island, I decided that we might want to upgrade our stay at the Marriott to all-inclusive (more points) and am so glad I did. We worried about nothing. If our slushy drinks melted, we ordered more. When hungry, we ordered what we wanted. Breakfast was enjoyed in the open-air restaurant right on the beach with views of sailboats, cruise ships, and other ocean activity. My favorite evening restaurant was "Windows On The Harbour" where the ceiling to floor windows provide excellent views of the Charlotte Amalie city lights. The first time we walked into this restaurant, the view took my breath away. The food was expensive, but since we were all-inclusive, we ordered our favorite meals without worry. We had an over-the-top great experience at the Marriott's Frenchman's Reef Resort. http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/sttfr-frenchmans-reef-and-morning-star-marriott-beach-resort/

Photo above: The view from our ocean view room at the Marriott.

Photo Left: One of the two Marriott Frenchman Reef pools...

incredibly beautiful as well as relaxing.

Photo below: Our breakfast view at Coco Joe's (on the beach) outdoor restaurant every morning...

paradise!

Please be aware...no matter where you stay in St. Thomas, it is highly recommended by hotel staff to be extremely cautious after dark. We did not venture off the properties at night for this reason.

Having said that, we felt safe at both properties. The islands are gorgeous and we cannot wait to take another extended vacation to St. Thomas and/or St. John. And I certainly hope to have enough Marriott points to take advantage of their all-inclusive option next time--because when we checked out--our bill was ZERO!