TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands First and last night in STT

Never tried the first and last night in STT on my Tortola trips. Never been too fond of STT. Any advice on best place to stay before and after Tortola ferry would be appreciated.

We have stayed many times at windward passage if arriving late knowingly..or delayed. It's across street from ferry dock and close to many pretty good eateries.

These days we are going/coming to Virgin Gorda. If we have a flight landing in STT before 4pm we always try to make the ferry. Going home we always select an afternoon flight, usually after 3 pm..we never go to STT the night before and have never missed a flight. I have never heard of Windward Passage turning away anyone being full but suppose could happen during spring break etc.

Just stayed again at " The Windward Passage"...rooms are very nice the layout of the hotel is funky but works..right across from ferry dock and a short hop to the best dining in St Thomas in Frenchtown..we love " Oceana".."Hook ,Line and Sinker", Belle Bleu"..

We've stayed a few times at the Best Western Carib Beach. The rooms are decent and you can literally walk to the airport. If you so desire, they have a free shuttle to the Best Western Emerald Beach down the beach.

We stayed at Best Western Emerald Beach last April for our first night before going to St. John the following day. We loved it!! Gorgeous beach and pool, and our room was fine, with a balcony overlooking the beach. We ate at the bar restaurant there and were happy with it. Fancier food can be had at the Caribbean Fusion restaurant right next to the beach bar. We're planning a return visit for a few nights next year prior to and after our villa stay.

The Island View B&B is outstanding!

We stayed at the crystal palace, a traditional West Indies " town house".
The proprietor even retrieved us from the airport saving us taxi fare. It was nice being in old town and the view from the verandah was to die for

We stayed at Windward Passage on previous trips and it is very convenient to the ferry. This part May, our flight got in fairly early and we tried Best Western Emerald Beach. It was nice to get in the water and hang out at the beach after the plane trip and start to relax right away and then took the ferry the next day to our boat.

We have stayed at Emerald Beach 3 or 4 times. It is nice, but rather expensive. Last time we stayed (in April), they tacked on a $20 per person resort fee, so made it even that much more. We are going to try Best Western Carib on our next trip.

not about hotel-
but the food at Gladys restaurant is fantastic. they close early, though...

Emerald Beach outpriced us after many years..we now spend the $$ on a nice dinner at "Oceana" and a very comfy, reasonable room, at Windward Passage. If Emerald Beach goes down to $200 a night again we'll return..dont think it's worth close to $400 plus service charge plus tax..

Wow - We stayed before and after at our sail in May and paid just over $200.00 per night - Maybe 218.00.
(Wouldn't have paid $400.00 for sure !)

Ditto, Loretta!! our total for one night, tax included, was $253.72.

Reservation at Emerald Beach for December 5 - $201

Would be interested in your opinion of BW Carib. Thx

We stayed at BW Carib a year ago. It is a very simple place with basic amenities that is walking distance to the airport. It worked for our friends who had very early flights. For us, it was a bit too basic and lacked decent dining/bar options. I'd rather stay at BW Emerald Beach or Windward Passage, definitely Crystal Palace if Ronnie had space.

BW Carib advertises a shuttle to BW Emerald Beach, but it was not running when we were there.

Cheers, RickG

Thanks everyone.

I'll keep check Emerald Beach but we have found them to be close to $400 every time we have checked..summer and winter..as said Windward Passage has worked well for us and we do love dining in Frenchtown which is very close by..

No way I would pay $400 per night for Emerald Beach.

We've stayed at BW Carib, Emerald Beach, and Green Iguana for first/last night on STT. My pick is The Green Iguana. A balcony room with killer view and either fridge/micro or full kitchen for about $165/night total in the off-season (not sure what the rates are in high season). Rooms were comfy with nice linens, freezing cold a/c, and even the rooms with just a micro & baby fridge had some dishes and essentials for eating in. The onsite managers are super nice and very helpful. They have beverages for purchase (cash) in the office, will send a cab to meet you at the airport, and when we were there last year they even let us do a load of laundry.

We booked on-line about 6w out for a stay in early August. The rate was $172 but after taxes and service charges it was around $210.

It's a really nice place with a very nice pool, beach,nice bar and a restaurant but it's pricing itself out of the market it seems. I'll be looking around next time based on comments here.

When we stayed at Emerald Beach two years ago for our last night the beach/bar/restaurant was literally swamped with hundreds of cruise ship passengers who are brought there to use the facilities during a day stopover. Much like CGB they left around 3ish.

Several times we have spent our last night at Island View Guest House - fantastic

You'll get lots of preferences and valuable opinions here on the forum. I have a pre-done email with a comprehensive list of accommodations on St.Thomas, which includes links to their web sites and reviews. It might serve as a helpful reference while you are weighing out your options.

You (or anyone else) are welcome to email me at monk@madriver.com, and I'll shoot it right out to you.

I'll second http://angelinacat.com/Preparingtogo.htm for great info.

We just booked Emerald Beach for our return to Sonoma night of Nov 13..ended up $250ish with all the tax and service..I think that's high but we'll give it one more try..by the time they'd added the bullsh%t charges at Windward Passage last time it was over $200..

****FLASH ****
BW Caribe Beach doesn't come up any more on the BW Site, and a search to get to the hotel web page loads a page that says that it is now CLOSED.

This will affect my options for those later flight arrival trips and quick overnight before morning flights leaving. They have been doing renovations for a while, but may have finally hit the wall with BW? Or are the renovations now in High Gear? Or did something else happen?

I generally pay about $180-200 at BW Emerald beach (before BS)by booking ~3 weeks out.

Sorry to hear that - we have stayed there many times. They were definitely raising their prices over the last couple of years - that may have been what did it.

We are braving the Island Beachcomber next Saturday night - we don't get into STT until after 4 p.m. and we're taking the 10 a.m. ferry over to St. John in the morning so it's really just a place to crash. Yes, I have seen some VERY sketchy reviews...but we're not expecting the Ritz Carlton for $119/night <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" /> Emerald Beach wasn't dropping much below $250 and for that short a time? Just not worth spending the extra money.

Well, that sucks! We liked the Carib Beach for its ease to get to the airport. Hopefully, it'll re-open soon.

How is Frencmans Reef?

Frenchman's is very much a big resort hotel..not my style but others would probably love it..it's past the cruise ship docks so its away from the airport..

We stayed at Frenchman's Reef in June on the way to STJ. It was good enough for one night. Very resort-y and it felt like being in Florida. The rooms were fine but not as up-to-date as a mainland Marriott. The price was right and we enjoyed a great dinner at the restaurant down by the Morningstar section of the resort.

It looks like it changed names:

http://www.lindberghbayhotelandvillas.com/

I wouldn't bother with Frenchmans Reef for one night. With traffic it can take 30 minutes to get to the airport.

Yeah, but if we leave from Yacht Haven

Best Western Emerald Bay has a resort feel, beach, decent cocktails and a pretty good breakfast, Windward Passage has Betsy's walkable with late night food and a half dozen restaurants and a new quite good brewery.

Cheers, RickG

If you are leaving from Yacht Haven Grande, the Reef is very convenient. If you are at the end of a sailing trip, they have a great spa, pools, etc.

We have a reservation for the end of our Trip in Janurary and we got an email from BW saying the Caribe is no longer a part of BW. It went on to say, since the reservation is with the hotel...we "Should" still have a reservation. There is no contact information and as has been said previously, the hotel no longer comes up on Trip Advisor or the BW site. Not totally sure how to proceede...Id hate to get there with no reservations. Does anyone local know the story? Have they closed? Thanks in Advance!

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />Thanks Colleen- I just saw your post...It does look like they have a new Name- Lindbergh Hotel and Villa's- Looks like the BW Carib

honestly, it's mediocre sat best. We have stayed there twice, both times got in around 10pm and took a morning ferry out. They are in need of some serious upgrades and better training in customer service.