# St. Kitts vs. St. Thomas vs. Aruba



## beachdiva (Mar 14, 2008)

3 very different islands and resort experiences.  Has anybody been to more than one of these properties for pros and cons?  Differences in trading power?
I've read everything I can find.  Any additional info would be appreciated.  So many choices!!!


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## m61376 (Mar 14, 2008)

You'll get different answers depending upon who you ask, so which island is nicer is a personal decision. 

Aruba is more Americanized- can be a plus or a minus depending on your perspective. Great selection of restaurants. Casinos if you are interested in that, which I don't think the other two islands offer. It is a safer island than St. Thomas, at least IMHO.

As for trade value- a winter week at any of them will trade well. Aruba's climate makes it a year-round destination, so summer weeks there will likely be better traders. Aruba is below the hurricane belt, so Fall weeks are better there than St. Thomas or St. Kitts. 

St. Kitts is quieter, less developed than the other two. 

I'd also consider airfare and availability from your residence when comparing the three locations. A quick check on Kayak.com or similar should give you some insight there.


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## MikeM132 (Mar 14, 2008)

I have been to the US Virigin Islands before but not St Kitts and not any Marriott. Vigin Islands were D E A D in my opinion. That was a long time ago, however. Big minus for St Kitts for me is you can't fly in on a big jet--you fly in on a commuter-type plane. Wife will NOT do this. This is why we are going to Aruba Jan 09---can fly in on 757.


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## dougef (Mar 14, 2008)

MikeM132 said:


> I have been to the US Virigin Islands before but not St Kitts and not any Marriott. Vigin Islands were D E A D in my opinion. That was a long time ago, however. Big minus for St Kitts for me is you can't fly in on a big jet--you fly in on a commuter-type plane. Wife will NOT do this. This is why we are going to Aruba Jan 09---can fly in on 757.



Not true - we are booked on a non-stop from JFK to St Kitts this summer on American - a big jet.  AA also flies jets there from Miami.


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## KathyPet (Mar 14, 2008)

I was at St. Kitts last month, went to Aruba in 2001 and was in St Thomas at the Frenchmen's Reef in 04.  Of the three I much favor St. Kitts.  It is lush and green and quiet and laid back.  I loved the resort with the low rise garden villas laid out around meandering paths.  It is not a high energy experience but very low impact.
To be frank I hated Aruba.  It is dry and arrid.  The whole island is brown except for the hotels.  Beach is windy with sand blowing at you constantly and the time share is nothing but a high rise building that reminds me of a huge hotel.  Restaurants are Extremely overpriced. 
Have not seen the TS at Frenchmen's cove but the island of St. Thomas is tourist city to the max.  If you love to shop then St Thomas is the place for you.


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## beachdiva (Mar 14, 2008)

Thank you all for your comments.  I didn't think the airfare would be that much different, but St. Kitts is about $250 more per ticket than St. Thomas or Aruba.  There are pros and cons to each location. I think I would choose St. Kitts over St. Thomas, but the difference in airfare can add up.  I mostly prefer a laid back vibe with nice beaches and clear warm water.  Again, I truly appreciate the feedback.  Now if only I was on one of those beaches right now. . . . .


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## BobG7734 (Mar 14, 2008)

We were in St. Kitts for the first time in January and loved it.  It is like Aruba was 20 years ago...just gearing up for the tourist industry.  People are very friendly...taxis are terrific.  We took one to one restaurant and the driver gave us his cell phone to call hime when we were finished.

St Kitts is more lush than Aruba...Marriott is very nice and the new TS are first class and in preconstruction prices now.


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## sun&fun (Mar 14, 2008)

We are owners at St. Kitts and Aruba Surf Club.  The 2 bedroom units at St. Kitts are larger than Surf Club and have a more private feel since there are only 11 units in each building.  For vacationing, we like each location for many of the reasons given by other responses to this post.  We spend 2-3 weeks each year in Aruba but have only one week in St. Kitts.  We love St. Kitts and knew it was a destination where we wanted to go regularly. I only wish we had bought 2 weeks in St. Kitts when we first purchased in 2006 as soon as sales were first announced, but we decided to wait and try to get another later through resale.  

As for trading power, I thought St. Kitts would trade well, but I have been unable to trade a January week in St. Kitts for an August 2009 week in Aruba (either Surf CLub or Ocean CLub).  For a number of reasons we were unable to use our St. Kitts week in 2007.  This request is now a year old with no success. My experience may be a fluke; it's most definitely a surprise!  Does this suggest that Aruba may be a better trader?


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## icydog (Mar 15, 2008)

KathyPet said:


> I was at St. Kitts last month, went to Aruba in 2001 and was in St Thomas at the Frenchmen's Reef in 04. Of the three I much favor St. Kitts. It is lush and green and quiet and laid back. I loved the resort with the low rise garden villas laid out around meandering paths. It is not a high energy experience but very low impact.
> To be frank I hated Aruba. It is dry and arrid. The whole island is brown except for the hotels. Beach is windy with sand blowing at you constantly and the time share is nothing but a high rise building that reminds me of a huge hotel. Restaurants are Extremely overpriced.
> Have not seen the TS at Frenchmen's cove but the island of St. Thomas is tourist city to the max. If you love to shop then St Thomas is the place for you.


 
We are not Aruba fans either. The timeshare is a gigantic hi-rise which reminded me of a NYC hotel not a beach property. The island was brown. Everywhere we looked we saw brown, no trees and not our cup of tea. What bothered us most was the lack of shade and the problem reserving a palaba. There was limited shade by the pools and I had to get up at 7 to get any. Also there are very few palabas and they must be reserved by waiting in line at 7 am and they cost money to boot. Also not our idea of a lazy beach vacation. I guess if you want action then Aruba would be a fine place but since we rarely gamble it lost on that count for us. The food was super expensive in grocery stores and in restaurants. We simply could not afford another week there. We traded into a two bdrm using an AC and would never trade there again. The airfare was high, the people seemed unfriendly, the island was not attractive, the food was expensive and the aggravation of having to search for shade was  infuriating. 



sun&fun said:


> We are owners at St. Kitts and Aruba Surf Club. The 2 bedroom units at St. Kitts are larger than Surf Club and have a more private feel since there are only 11 units in each building. For vacationing, we like each location for many of the reasons given by other responses to this post. We spend 2-3 weeks each year in Aruba but have only one week in St. Kitts. We love St. Kitts and knew it was a destination where we wanted to go regularly. I only wish we had bought 2 weeks in St. Kitts when we first purchased in 2006 as soon as sales were first announced, but we decided to wait and try to get another later through resale.
> 
> As for trading power, I thought St. Kitts would trade well, but I have been unable to trade a January week in St. Kitts for an August 2009 week in Aruba (either Surf CLub or Ocean CLub). For a number of reasons we were unable to use our St. Kitts week in 2007. This request is now a year old with no success. My experience may be a fluke; it's most definitely a surprise! Does this suggest that Aruba may be a better trader?


 
This surprises me as well. I am waiting to close on a Frenchman's Cove and figured it would get me into any of the other Marriotts including HI. Now I am concerned that this may not be true.


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## Cathyb (Mar 15, 2008)

Just returned from Aruba -- lots of beautiful beaches, but not alot of culture.  You can hop a plane to Curacao which is worth the short trip. However we live near San Diego and the trip home is grueling.  We went to St. Maarten after Aruba and it took 20 hours from the time to be at the airport (3 hrs) to changing planes to getting back to lax then driving home.


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## 1sland (Mar 15, 2008)

sun&fun said:


> We are owners at St. Kitts and Aruba Surf Club. The 2 bedroom units at St. Kitts are larger than Surf Club and have a more private feel since there are only 11 units in each building. For vacationing, we like each location for many of the reasons given by other responses to this post. We spend 2-3 weeks each year in Aruba but have only one week in St. Kitts. We love St. Kitts and knew it was a destination where we wanted to go regularly. I only wish we had bought 2 weeks in St. Kitts when we first purchased in 2006 as soon as sales were first announced, but we decided to wait and try to get another later through resale.
> 
> As for trading power, I thought St. Kitts would trade well, but I have been unable to trade a January week in St. Kitts for an August 2009 week in Aruba (either Surf CLub or Ocean CLub). For a number of reasons we were unable to use our St. Kitts week in 2007. This request is now a year old with no success. My experience may be a fluke; it's most definitely a surprise! Does this suggest that Aruba may be a better trader?


 
Hello, If I understand your request correctly-wouldn't it be true that the August 2009 weeks in Aruba haven't even been reserved yet? Therefore, wouldn't be able to match your request until Aug 2008, when most people will make their August 2009 reservations?


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## sun&fun (Mar 15, 2008)

oops.  That should have read August 2008.  This exchange request has been in effect since March 2007.


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## jimf41 (Mar 15, 2008)

*Differences Of Resorts*

The OP asked for the differences of the resorts. All three have their pros and cons but a little research on GOOGLE EARTH will reveal some interesting stats.
I've been to Aruba and I own in St Thomas. I've never been to St Kitts but my son and his wife spent a week at the hotel about 4 years ago and he has also been to St Thomas. Here then is my take on the three places.

ARUBA: Most expensive to get to from the NYC area. Not outrageous but a few dollars more than the other two. Non stop flights are available on 737 or larger aircraft. Lowest ratio of units per linear footage of beach, about 10" of beach per TS unit. This IMO is what causes the complaints about getting a lounge chair on the beach. No natural shade on the beach, get up early and get a palapa or sit in the sun the whole day. Aruba has casino's that are a big draw to some folks. I didn't find the restaurants particularly good or a wide choice. One notable exception was the restaurant in the Radisson hotel that was excellent. Getting around the island was easy enough as it's not that big. We rented a car one day and taxied the rest. I don't recall either being particularly expensive. IMO Aruba will have much better trade power at least for the next 5 years because it has better name recognition. Ask somebody who doesn't vacation a lot where they would like to go in the Caribbean and chances are they'll say Aruba. St Thomas and St Kitts are nice places but they don't have the star power that Aruba enjoys.

ST THOMAS: Also easy to get to and a little cheaper from the NYC area. About 30-40 minutes less flight time from NYC. Ratio of units to beach about 1.3 feet per unit. If you include the hotels beach and add the units in the hotel it's about 2 feet per unit. At the TS you can get a lounge chair any time during the day, there is limited natural shade and umbrellas rent for $5 per day. At the hotel beach there is a lot of natural shade and umbrella's are free to guests. Arrive by 0930 and you have the whole beach to chose from. About 1030 folks from the cruise ships show up and it gets progressively more crowded until 1430 when they start to leave. I've never seen anyone leave a towel on a chair to "reserve" it. Restaurants are numerous, good and expensive. No casino's and not a great amount of night life IMO. Actually there is a casino that the locals use but I've never bothered to find out about it and I doubt it would compare to anything on St Kitts or Aruba. Taxi's are prohibitive, you have to rent a car IMO. Much more to do as far as day trips. Sailing, snorkling, trips to St John & BVI, seaplane flights, submarines, shopping and they even have a cable car to a hilltop overlooking the harbor. Trading power, probably about equal to St Kitts but less than Aruba IMO. When the resort is finished in 2012 it might improve and even be stonger than Aruba but I don't see it happening before then. One big advantage, you are under the US flag here. US currency and the US legal system. At this time no passport required although I wouldn't go without one.

ST Kitts: I can't say much about it because I haven't been there although I plan to go in the next year or so. About the same airfare, flight time and service by major carries as ST Thomas. And I think more flights will be added as it's popularity grows. From other threads it appears taxi's are cheap and good, no need for a rental car IMO. Unit to beach ratio about 1.45 feet of beach per unit. I don't know about the crowding or "chair hogging" but it doesn't seem to be an issue from other threads on this board. No natural shade on the beach but they seem to have plenty of palapa's. They have casino's and pretty good restaurants in the hotel. My son didn't like it because he said there was nothing to do outside the hotel. Trading power probably about the same as St Thomas but less than Aruba IMO. I understand that the units are large and very nicely appointed. They also have a large "super shower" I think they call it as opposed to the soaker tub in St Thomas. I would prefer that over the tub but that's a personal choice.


While I was working out the beach/unit ratio I did Ocean Pointe as I own there also. 4.68 feet of beach per unit. I guess why I like the beach at OP so much. Owners in all three resorts love their resort. But for different reasons. To me casino's don't interest me but having a relaxing day at the beach does. I don't frequent the pools in any resort so I didn't comment on them. It looks like all of them have nice pools though. I like a wide choice of good restaurants but I don't care about the night life so much. I would advise buying where you would like to go rather than getting hung up on trade power as I think all of them will trade pretty well.


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## normab (Mar 15, 2008)

You have gotten lots of info already, but I here are my thoughts.

I would go back any day to St Thomas and we own in St Kitts.  St Thomas is a bit more lively and has pretty good shopping if you like that.  The weather on both these islands is somewhat similar, they are not that far apart.  We like the fact that St Kitts is unspoiled by too much development.  One note, if I recall correctly, both these islands drive lefty as the British do. (DH always drives so my memory could be wrong but I think I am correct here.)

The one thing I did not like about island Aruba was it was so windy it really was annoying.  My 90 lb mother was almost blown away as we would walk around the front corner of the Surf Club. I think it's interesting that some people say it's more americanized--I would rate St Thomas more so and even Sint Maarten--although that is not part of the discussion here. I found the grocery stores in Aruba exceedingly Dutch--not that it is a problem, but just my perception.  I would agree that the tourist population is mostly American, so the restaurant menus, entertainment and services cater to an American crowd.

If we do go back to Aruba someday, we would probably stay at the Rennaissance. Plenty of chairs at the pool (unlike the Marriotts), it felt like a higher end resort than the Marriotts.  Sometimes bigger is not better.  It's also in a different area than the Marriotts and more protected from the wind.  In Aruba you drive on the right like the US.

Since we fly out of Newark, St Kitts is a bit more work since we need to change plans--but it's worth it to us.  

In any event, I would think all Carribean Marriotts  should be fantastic traders.  The only reason a trade might not come through is because others are in line ahead of you or few are depositing.  We have not always been able to trade back into Hawaii with our banked Hawaii for our first choice week, so not having a trade come through is not necessary ONLY related to trade power.


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## beachdiva (Mar 15, 2008)

Thank you all so much!!  This has been a huge help.  This was the kind of comparison I was hoping for.  I think St. Thomas will be a good compromise in all the factors my SO and I are considering for a home resort.   I'm still considering St. Kitts or even Ocean Pointe to add at another time.


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## m61376 (Mar 16, 2008)

For what it's worth, I found all the comments about the wind in Aruba interesting. Admittedly, there is one area by the front that they were going to be doing something to mitigate the wind tunnel effect (I think it already has been corrected), but other than that small area, the wind that has elicited so many complaints was one of the things that enhances our stay. We have not experienced sand blowing in our faces that others have complained about, but just found the breeze very refreshing.

My 81 year old mother with rheumatoid arthritis had no problem keeping her balance; as a matter of fact, she enjoyed laying on the beach there because it was so comfortable, whereas in other places she hates to lie on the beach.

I also think there is a great variety of excellent restaurants, most of which I think are reasonably priced, but again that is our vantage point. I do know that I have paid more for inferior meals elsewhere.

Again, I realize and respect that others have different preferences. If you are considering the three locations and haven't been to them, and if you like cruising, you might consider a Caribbean cruise that visits them to experience the areas yourself. As you have seen, most of the posters here have their favorites, and you may not want to rely on strangers' opinions for a purchase. On the other hand, all three will give you a great vacation experience.


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## icydog (Mar 16, 2008)

m61376 said:


> For what it's worth, I found all the comments about the wind in Aruba interesting. Admittedly, there is one area by the front that they were going to be doing something to mitigate the wind tunnel effect (I think it already has been corrected), but other than that small area, the wind that has elicited so many complaints was one of the things that enhances our stay. We have not experienced sand blowing in our faces that others have complained about, but just found the breeze very refreshing.
> 
> My 81 year old mother with rheumatoid arthritis had no problem keeping her balance; as a matter of fact, she enjoyed laying on the beach there because it was so comfortable, whereas in other places she hates to lie on the beach.
> 
> ...


 
That's exactly what we did. We got to St Kitts on our 10 day QM2 Cruise in November. We took a cab in St Kitts to tour the island and we asked the driver to let us off for a few minutes in the Marriott there. We liked it very much. 

When we got to St Thomas on the same cruise we took a cab to the Marriott hotel and spent a few hours there. We walked over to the Marriott beach and spent a little time at the hotel pool which was wonderful. We loved it so much we bought there when we got home. 

We went to Aruba on a week's vacation. I think if we were at another hotel that was more centrally located we would have liked it. I would trade my Marriotts to get into another resort in the middle of the Island. I really HATED fighting for shade everyday. I don't believe this situation is condusive to a nice, quiet, holiday.


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## Kazakie (Mar 16, 2008)

beachdiva said:


> St. Kitts vs. St. Thomas vs. Aruba



passport, No passport, passport 
drive left, drive left, drive right
casino, no casino, casino
Non-touristy, Touristy, Touristy
Nature, overdeveloped (but worth a trip to STJ), overdeveloped


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