TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Emerald Beach stay

We arrived STT this past Sat 4/15. (we arrived STT too late to make the last ferry to Tortola so I made reservations at Emerald for the one night)
Have to say, we wouldnt stay there again.
Pros: room is large, bed comfortable, ocean view is nice
Cons: We checked in and went to the restaurant. Were told they were running behind in the kitchen and couldn't seat us yet. We asked if we could just sit down, have a drink, and wait - told them we were in no hurry. Waitress/hostess said no. We could go sit at the bar if we wanted.
Ok, we go sit at the bar. It's loud, crowded, but that's ok so far. Bartender was really gruff - I think he was trying to be funny when he said "ok, everyone at my bar needs to calm the f&*( down" No, literally he said that. Now I've got a mouth like a sailor at times, but it's a little bit shocking to hear it from a server. Drinks were ... eww. Too sweet, syrupy. Finally had a carib. We ended up getting carry out from the restaurant and eating in our room. you could hear the music from the bar in our room with the door closed. Next morning, no hot water - front desk person didn't really seem to care when we brought it to her attention.
Long story short, we won't stay here again. Just wasn't worth it. We can't get to STT in one day from where we live; I would have rather spent the night in ATL in a hotel on the way down.
(I'm sure others have a different experience, this was just ours).
One last note: I'm always so happy when we get to Tortola - the people are so friendly and warm and welcoming!

Sorry to hear this..we will be there tomorrow night on our way back to Sonoma. Must say we have had pretty good experiences there in over a dozen stays. Restaurant is certainly not the best..we splurge and go to " Oceana". Sorry we will miss you here..bags are out and its kind of sad although we'll be back in 7 weeks..

We have experienced the same at Emerald. We actually got charged twice for our stay, which the staff was not real excited about refunding after showing both sets of charges.... With that being said, nothing beats being able to relax on the beach and walk to/from the airport, when travel arrangements can't get us all of way there or home.

We've had hit or miss experiences at Emerald Beach as well. We decided to mix it up and stay at Hotel Mafolie on the first night of our January trip. Really liked the view, the pool and the restaurant so we are staying there again when we're down in a couple of weeks.

Amy

We had an impromptu stay at the Mofolie on our last trip thanks to some mechanical issues with our plane and a delayed arrival into STT. We had no reservations on the island as we were planning on catching the last ferry to Tortola. As an entire plane had their travel plans altered there was a natural rush to the nearest/least expensive lodgings, we reached out to a cab driver who called Adam the owner at Mofolie. We spoke briefly and withing minutes he had called us back and had us reserved in two rooms overlooking the harbor. Someone had to meet us at the office as it was after hours, and had our names and rooms all ready to go. We sat at the bar, ordered drinks and appetizers and had a great time enjoying the view considering the situation. Can't thank Adam and his staff (and the cab driver) enough for the quick and top notch service. If we plan a night on STT we will stay at the Mofolie again.

Aw crap. Starting to rethink our post sail stay there for one night prior to flying home. Figured beach location near airport would be perfect. One last morning on the beach...

Been to Emerald min of 2x's a year since 2008. Some stays for more than 1 night. Also have had 3 other couples stay often. Rooms are good,clean and the AC works. View is perfect from just about every room.

In over 8 years never had a bad experience with the staff. We always greet them with a smile and ask them how there day is going.

Have had the no hot water issue once.
Also had the no water at all issue once.(14 year old son just soaped up in the shower when it quit...rinsed off in the pool LOL) lasted about an hour.
And no electric once.

We prefer to eat at the bar. The restaurant is ok, can't say I ever had a horrible meal. Love the wings at the bar and you can't beat being 25 steps from the pool or the beach.

Dont forget your still on an island. But that's no excuse for bad customer service.

Our next stay prior to BVI and after is November. With 3 other couples.

We think it's a great spot.

Here's a link to some photos
http://www.castinephotography.com/Emerald-Beach-Shoot/

Stayed there three times in the last 15 years or so and each one a bad idea. Last time we did the long drive to red hook, stayed there, and ferried in and out from there. Much better plan.

Love the Red Hook area and know it pretty well. Was just thinking the last night (post sail) and morning would be easily spent close to the airport. Rather a long cab ride from Red Hook. And I can't think of a spot you can spend just one night on a beach near Red Hook either. Maybe I'm missing something.

What wildly ranging impressions of Emerald Beach.

As with most hotels, charter companies, etc. everyone probably has a different experience. This was just ours.

Didn't I read that Emerald Beach changed owners/management within the last year or so?

I believe so..its no longer as Best Western and has moved upmarket a little..

We've stayed there on and off for the last 35 years.
Sometimes good, sometimes meh.
It's just a place for us to crash for the night, so I don't get too worried about it.
I'd be more demanding if I was actually trying to "vacation" there. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" />

Here right now..everything so far is fine..but the price with "extras" now is just under $300 a night.hmmm. Feels more like Waikiki than the Carib.but..off to "Oceana" for a terrific din dins..We'll rethink it again..we live on the ocean at CRC so we don't need to "view" of Waikiki...

Right now, if I were spending a night on STT, I would definitely consider Olga's Fancy. It sure looks nice..

$300 a night is outrageous...

Booked a room (for Jan '18) a few weeks ago and got a decent AARP rate, around $200/night. A week later another couple on our charter found the rate had jumped a full hundred dollars. So...they booked next door at Island Beachcomber.

Olgas Fancy is right next door to Oceana. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/circle.gif" alt="" />

We're staying at Olga's Fancy one night next week. I can report back how it was. Looked at Emerald beach but it was too expensive.

Would appreciate hearing about it.

Mal, that's what I thought - with the loud music, disinterested staff, it felt like spring break in Cancun or Ft. Lauderdale (no offense to those places). It just didn't feel like the Caribbean we're used to. Our rate was $209 but with fees & taxes it ended up at $257.

Just my two cents -- I was at the bar yesterday for a few hours yesterday since I ended up having to jump on the 10:30 a.m. flight from VG to St. Thomas as Air Sunshine cancelled my 12:30 p.m. (thank God we called to check on the flight two days prior....) - my flight from STT to Tampa wasn't leaving until close to 5 so I headed on over to just relax and have lunch since it seemed a much better alternative to hanging out at Hibiscus for 4 hours <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" />

The place was packed with cruise ship passengers. Didn't really bother me since I was just chilling and having something to eat....but if I was paying that kind of money for a room and couldn't get a chair on the beach because all the cruise passengers were parked in them? It might bug me a bit. They are not allowed at the pool but the hotel does not charge a "day pass" fee so it's basically a place the cruisers can taxi to and rent chairs on the beach and buy drinks at the bar, according to the bartender. There were three ships in town yesterday so it was busy! Had a good sandwich and found the bar staff to be very friendly and very efficient, as crazed as they were! We have stayed overnight there during its Best Western days and had a nice time - no real issues - but I think for that price and just needing an overnight spot, I'd look elsewhere. We've stayed at Island Beachcomber too - very, very simple and relatively inexpensive but somewhat along the lines of Rhymers with a bit higher pricetag and not nearly as good a view so just something to keep in mind when you're considering that option. GREAT beach bar there, though, and we had really good food.

Its the extras that get you..I think the base price for our room was about $230 but with service charge and Gov tax it was just under $300. That said the room was very nice and right on the sand..but we don't need that when we have CRC! My point..dont be fooled by that base price they quote!