TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Soggy Dollar Bar

I have heard both sides of this story.

Mic will be fine.

SDB will be fine.

This will all be forgotten in a few short months.

I have no idea why Mic left Soggy Dollar Bar. But if it was a 'cost cutting' maneuver, they just shot themselves in the foot. That guy can whip out more painkillers per hour than anyone. Whoever comes in next will make that 'drink line' a long wait

I just cannot imagine how someone can make a policy of no alcohol in a hotel room. How in the world is someone supposed to enjoy a night cap, glass of wine, celebratory champagne, whatever, in the privacy of their room???

Is there any other tropical vacation hotel that has that policy?

POSSIBLY with regard to Mic, the SDB will be fine. With regard to Sandcastle, this BS about no alcohol in the room and the mandatory tips for maids, that is a whole different story. If they continue those policies, it will probably be really easy to get a reservation at Sandcastle in the future.

Hmmm.......the base problem to my way of thinking is the "cargo cult" mentality that sees many people believe that any bar will make money even with crap service, crap management, crap facilities and expensive food and drink viz a viz cost of facilities, booze and labor.

It goes without the need for too much emphasis that Mikey is a great character and gave wonderful service to customers from far and wide and was very slick serving the drinks. These qualities are rare in the BVI. He will be missed make no mistake.

The owners Jerry & Tish really are not bar people well not Soggy Dollar Bar type bar people anyway. They would IMO be better suited to running an antique store in Maine.

The bathrooms are awful and the new management husband and wife team seem to think that they are running a place where you bring your kids.....wrong! Soggy is an adult bar with plenty of drinking and dare I say it raunchy behaviour by grown ups from time to time because of the sun, sand, liquor and more! They do after all advertise the place with stickers that you can buy in the shop that say "3.2 Painkillers to nude".

I see reference to B Line.....yep its a great little spot with a nice bit of sand but very basic facilities where again its obvious that the owners/managers think that if you build it people will come.......they won't come if the vibe is wrong, the service awry and the facilities not kept up. A rough shack, some corn hole boards, stinky basic bathrooms, some loud music and booze from a rough bar.........well maybe it passes the quaint test for some but not near to enough of those that visit the east end of Jost.

Its a curious thing the competition for the day boat, charter yacht and small cruise ship bar & restaurant trade on Jost van Dyke amongst the resident entrepreneurial types......I won't say more than WTF

There have been more staff than Mikey who have been dismissed, left or whatever.

Sure hope there is a think about how people deal with this as for many who work in the service side of these establishments its their daily bread particularly the lady employees.

Soggy Dollar Bar will do fine without Mic because their business model is now built on day trippers from the USVI and cruise ships not charter boats. For the most part these are not repeat customers. They just want to buy a T shirt and say they have been there.

NC Sailor .....the new bar right next door will take trade away from SDB it will do that because the day trippers will soon learn from their charter boat skippers that "next door is good" and I'd reckon we will find a few familiar faces amongst the staff

Totally agree....one of the biggest reasons it will not be a stop for us in May when we're on the boat.

Well look what happened to Pirates on Norman Island. They went from cheap beach bar with good reasonable food to a semi-swank bar with 9.00 well drinks and very overpriced menu. And they are still in business.

And now pirates is changing the temporary restaurant into a high end restaurant.

Keep in mind that DR. Jerecki's plan all along has been to turn Norman into a high end ecco-resort.

"The times, they are a channnnnnnng-innnnn..."

Does anybody have any pictures of this new bar next to SDB or where it's going?

I don't have pics but it is literally right next to it - if you are standing on the beach, facing SDB, it is to the right and set slightly back. We could watch the workers from the parking lot at SDB.

Here's a blog post I found that has a couple of recent pictures:

http://www.rumtherapy.com/2015/11/new-bar-on-the-block-white-bay-jvd/

We were there in March and noticed construction. Looks like it's come a long way since then. I wonder when it's due to open?

I was told that the place next door will also have a pool ...

Thanks all. It's hard to even picture a building there. It's been a while since we've been there and the last trip was full of the blasting country music that I can't stand. It's starting to sound like my beloved JVD is turning into something less appealing.

I'm sure I'll be back at least once more, though.

Things have a way of changing over time. Imagine if there was good inter island ferry service?

Post deleted by HillsideView

Just at soggy dollar this afternoon. Not the same vibe s when Mic was there. There's a new lunch ticket system where you fill out what you want, take it to the bar and wait over 1 1/2 hrs for lunch. Shaneek was pouring drinks - she seemed very sweet. Claire on the other hand should stop screaming "who's next" in very impatient tone. Construction going intone right (as you're facing soggy dollar)

We are heading down 11/27. Looks like we will be spending our money at Ivan's or One Love.

NCSailor, look for us! Dharma will be arriving Thursday morning, I'll get to STT Monday 11/23 & we're down until 12/3.

Kristine,
Will do! We'll be on a Moorings 3900.

There is a good inter-island ferry system, PA-Ron Rowe, but you've chosen to give the spotlight to the 1 (sometimes 2) that can't run a regular schedule.

Funny that you mention inter-island because the most reliable is called Inter-Island. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" />

I'll keep a lookout for you... we're easy to spot- black boat, black rig, sail number 60056.

Oh sure....that's the only thing that makes her noticeable...<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" />....just look for the most beautiful 56 footer in the anchorage and that will be her....oh....with the hot blonde on deck <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" />

That is an awesome photo StormJib. Thanks for sharing.

Since this thread is now at 105 responses and has kind of gone all over the place, will close it now. If anyone wants to start a new thread about Soggy Dollar--or any of the ten other things we seem to be talking about--please start a new thread. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Smile.gif" alt="" />