# St Kitts



## indyhorizons (Jul 14, 2013)

I am back from a week at St. Kitts.  I want to provide my observations/experiences. Some of the things that have been noted elsewhere.  The 12.5% Service Fee and VAT charges are quite annoying. This is applied to just about everything at the resort. I did not go to the Spa, so I cannot speak to that.  This leaves the guest feeling nickled and dimed for everything. We went to MFC last year- so I was prepared for the slowness of island life. Let's just say I was not disappointed in that regard. 

About the resort itself. I understand this is slow season for them, but I was disappointed by the lack or few activities that were offered - not sure if there are more when the season is current. The resort was pretty much a ghost town.  This was quite shocking.  The other thing that I found annoying (someone mentioned this in another thread) how the children of the employees (hotel and/or timeshare) are obviously out of school for the summer and apparently come to work with the ees and wander the property (using the facilities) some were sitting around the lobby for long periods of times, the children weren't a nuisance- I just found it to be quite odd/annoying. I have never seen something like this.
My last comment- I feel this resort could be so much more- if the staff put forth an effort by offering more activities, also the upkeep of the resort doesn't seem to be a priority. I would be a very unhappy owner at this resort.  There are many "small" things that were falling to disrepair and when it comes time to do a refurb etc- it will be more costly, because the staff doesn't appear to take care of minor repairs- which will only become bigger-(eventually). This obviously will equal more costs down the road.  And maybe this is due to humidity but why are there so many things rusty on such a fairly new property?
Great location, potential for great resort/property but I felt they are falling short. No offense to any owners of this property.

My last comment is just a warning to everyone- this is a cashless resort- we had 4 separate instances where charges were incorrectly applied to our room.  The first or second time- Id say mistakes happen- but it got to the point it was pretty ridiculous. One glaring mistake/error- we were charged for 4 buffets when we clearly had only 3 guests.  Others were 1 charge applied to our room and after asking to see the receipt- someone had charged and signed (and even tipped- how generous).  I think there was something suspicious about that whole transaction- but can't prove anything so I digress. I do understand there are advantages to the resort for being cashless- but as a guest- it is a huge hassle (I know some prefer it- not looking to debate that), because it requires you to be very vigilant and scrutinize each charge. Our family prefers to pay as we go- and while I know we miss out on Marriott rewards points- it keeps things balanced for us.


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## jimf41 (Jul 14, 2013)

I thought all the MVCI properties were cashless now.


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## indyhorizons (Jul 14, 2013)

jimf41 said:


> I thought all the MVCI properties were cashless now.



Jim,
That may be- I hadn't seen that anywhere- (but that doesn't mean it isn't so). I guess if I had to reflect back- if we rent a car (as we most often do) we don't charge as much to the room because we don't eat on property etc. So it's more noticeable when we are in locations such as MFC and MSK. I have not personally noticed this at other resorts I have visited in say the last year- but- we rented cars in those cases. Thanks for sharing.


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## riverdees05 (Jul 15, 2013)

Thanks for you recap of the resort.  Makes me think twice about trying to get an exchange there in the future.


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## MALC9990 (Jul 15, 2013)

indyhorizons said:


> I am back from a week at St. Kitts.  I want to provide my observations/experiences. Some of the things that have been noted elsewhere.  The 12.5% Service Fee and VAT charges are quite annoying. This is applied to just about everything at the resort. I did not go to the Spa, so I cannot speak to that.  This leaves the guest feeling nickled and dimed for everything. We went to MFC last year- so I was prepared for the slowness of island life. Let's just say I was not disappointed in that regard.
> 
> About the resort itself. I understand this is slow season for them, but I was disappointed by the lack or few activities that were offered - not sure if there are more when the season is current. The resort was pretty much a ghost town.  This was quite shocking.  The other thing that I found annoying (someone mentioned this in another thread) how the children of the employees (hotel and/or timeshare) are obviously out of school for the summer and apparently come to work with the ees and wander the property (using the facilities) some were sitting around the lobby for long periods of times, the children weren't a nuisance- I just found it to be quite odd/annoying. I have never seen something like this.
> My last comment- I feel this resort could be so much more- if the staff put forth an effort by offering more activities, also the upkeep of the resort doesn't seem to be a priority. I would be a very unhappy owner at this resort.  There are many "small" things that were falling to disrepair and when it comes time to do a refurb etc- it will be more costly, because the staff doesn't appear to take care of minor repairs- which will only become bigger-(eventually). This obviously will equal more costs down the road.  And maybe this is due to humidity but why are there so many things rusty on such a fairly new property?
> ...



Very much reflects my own experience back in May 2012. Very laid back staff and signs of neglect from both Hotel and TS resort staff. e.g. of four elevators in the hotel 2 were out of order for our whole stay. Looks like the new TS resort manager has not yet had the desired impact and he has now been there for over a year.

The TS units were in good shape but the pools and pool chairs were not so good and the landscaping was quite neglected.

Later this year I will be at Frenchman's Cove so I will be able to make a comparison.


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## Weimaraner (Jul 15, 2013)

Haven't stayed at St. Kitt's yet but did want to mention we had an issue of someone billing their dinner to our villa at Frenchman's Cove. We were in Red Hook at the time of the villa charge and they printed off the receipt to compare signatures. The signature was basically a straight line so I'm s bit surprised waitstaff accepted it and appears to be intentional rather than a mistake. It was a hassle having to track down the restaurant manager and working it out with the front desk but MFC took it off our bill.  I agree it's important to carefully review bills on property. That was the only negative of an otherwise great stay.


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## indyhorizons (Jul 15, 2013)

Weimaraner said:


> Haven't stayed at St. Kitt's yet but did want to mention we had an issue of someone billing their dinner to our villa at Frenchman's Cove. We were in Red Hook at the time of the villa charge and they printed off the receipt to compare signatures. The signature was basically a straight line so I'm s bit surprised waitstaff accepted it and appears to be intentional rather than a mistake. It was a hassle having to track down the restaurant manager and working it out with the front desk but MFC took it off our bill.  I agree it's important to carefully review bills on property. That was the only negative of an otherwise great stay.



Eventually St, Kitts staff took off the charges too- but in each example I felt like I was the person who committed some crime rather than the offended party.  The total of all "errors" would have been about $75 USD. Maybe some people would say no big deal- but it was a big deal to us. In fact, to have to call back after the fact to resolve this could cost some people more than just letting it go. I wonder if that is the plan.... Probably not- but these issues (along with other as stated above) left things with a sour taste in my mouth. I had planned on returning next year- now I am scrambling looking for a substitute location - as I will not be returning.


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## indyhorizons (Jul 15, 2013)

MALC9990 said:


> Very much reflects my own experience back in May 2012. Very laid back staff and signs of neglect from both Hotel and TS resort staff. e.g. of four elevators in the hotel 2 were out of order for our whole stay. Looks like the new TS resort manager has not yet had the desired impact and he has now been there for over a year.
> 
> The TS units were in good shape but the pools and pool chairs were not so good and the landscaping was quite neglected.
> 
> Later this year I will be at Frenchman's Cove so I will be able to make a comparison.



MALC9990, I am so glad to have a respected member of tug share that they also had these observations/experiences. I often feel like maybe its just me.  I don't feel this resort lives up to the Marriott standards- the elevators were out on our last day (so we ended up lugging our luggage upstairs to checkout). The blender was broken at the Pizza Shack- which resulted in them charging my son for the same smoothie twice. They ran out of peppers for the bbq chicken pizza. Attitude- tough- what else do you want?  Its just these small things- and then to top it off - the service failures that make this a resort I would not return to.  And I agree wholeheartedly about the landscaping. It definitely does not have the wow factor.  Another item I noted- a huge part of the wall to the beach was broken off- no attempt to repair this- just dumped into the trash. Also- I meant to take pictures of this- but in our unit (3205) both the master bath and the kitchen, there were huge cracks in the vanity that had been "repaired". In the bath- it was like the whole vanity had come away from the wall (the "crack" ran the entire length of the wall) and was then "repaired" unevenly.  In the hotel- there were many things like missing outlet covers, in the public bathroom - it was very "used" looking and worn.  It didn't look like anyone cleaned it "regularly"- maybe once per day - with all the traffic it needed more. The staff spends more time standing around "looking" busy then actually doing something useful.  Very rarely did I see anyone from the staff doing things like picking up trash that was strewn throughout the property; wiping down windows that had fingerprints on them (Pronto, calupso café-etc). Just the things we expect to see at a Marriott.  This staff just doesn't "get it".

I have now been to both MFC and MSK- and were it not for the lizards- I would return to MFC (Don't laugh at me).


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## jimf41 (Jul 15, 2013)

MALC9990 said:


> Later this year I will be at Frenchman's Cove so I will be able to make a comparison.


 I think you'll like Frenchmans Cove but I do want to point out that the current GM  there came from St Kitts. He's been great at MFC though.

As for the resort itself I've never been there so I can't comment. I think Marriott had high expectations for this location but so far they haven't materialized. One of the big stumbling blocks is the airfare. No non-stops from NYC area and the flights are long (6-12 hours) and expensive, $700 on average for a RT.

St Thomas on the other hand is 3.5 hrs non-stop and about $350 RT. If you go to St Kitts you really have to want to go there.


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## TravlinDuo (Jul 15, 2013)

I will chime in and agree with the OP's observations/experiences.  We stayed at St. Kitts last fall for two weeks and experienced/saw the same issues.  It was quite obvious the GM is not managing or cares to manage any area of responsibility, nor do the staff care about the resort or even have a desire to do any work.  We also saw above norm co-worker "contact."

We own at MFC and can honestly say that Pieter manages his staff and sincerely listens to owners and appears to follow through with items/issues that are within his control.  His Owner's meetings are always informative and he has always been straight forward in his answers to Owner questions.

The lack of upkeep at MSK makes one wonder if it will remain long-term as a MVCD resort.   Based on what we saw, even the plan to sell and maintain the Marriott Residences that were built appears to have been abandoned - the buildings all look to be unoccupied and the grounds are in serious disrepair.


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## MALC9990 (Jul 15, 2013)

jimf41 said:


> I think you'll like Frenchmans Cove but I do want to point out that the current GM  there came from St Kitts. He's been great at MFC though.
> 
> As for the resort itself I've never been there so I can't comment. I think Marriott had high expectations for this location but so far they haven't materialized. One of the big stumbling blocks is the airfare. No non-stops from NYC area and the flights are long (6-12 hours) and expensive, $700 on average for a RT.
> 
> St Thomas on the other hand is 3.5 hrs non-stop and about $350 RT. If you go to St Kitts you really have to want to go there.



Well St. Kitts is a very, very long haul from London Gatwick. Just two flights per week via Antigua. As for the cost - no change out of $1100 for coach and then up from there if you cannot face 9 hours in coach.

We did it in Business last year and the cost for two would have been well in excess of $9000 for two, except we managed to get Premium Economy seats upgraded to Business using FF miles on BA. Still cost over $4000 for two.

For St. Thomas we have to fly via Miami and fortunately we have FF miles Tix in F and then FF miles Tix on AA to STT after a 6 night stay at Crystal Shores.

All the reviews I have seen of St. Thomas paint a better picture than those for St. Kitts so we are more hopeful for this trip. We did enjoy our stay in St. Kitts but we probably would not return unless we see some better reviews.

My feeling on St. Kitts was that they had no GM for at least a year so things were let go. The hotel was also a disappointment and the whole place felt like it needed a real tough GM to go in and kick some butt. The shame is that we loved the island and the people.


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## MALC9990 (Jul 15, 2013)

indyhorizons said:


> MALC9990, I am so glad to have a respected member of tug share that they also had these observations/experiences. I often feel like maybe its just me.  I don't feel this resort lives up to the Marriott standards- the elevators were out on our last day (so we ended up lugging our luggage upstairs to checkout). The blender was broken at the Pizza Shack- which resulted in them charging my son for the same smoothie twice. They ran out of peppers for the bbq chicken pizza. Attitude- tough- what else do you want?  Its just these small things- and then to top it off - the service failures that make this a resort I would not return to.  And I agree wholeheartedly about the landscaping. It definitely does not have the wow factor.  Another item I noted- a huge part of the wall to the beach was broken off- no attempt to repair this- just dumped into the trash. Also- I meant to take pictures of this- but in our unit (3205) both the master bath and the kitchen, there were huge cracks in the vanity that had been "repaired". In the bath- it was like the whole vanity had come away from the wall (the "crack" ran the entire length of the wall) and was then "repaired" unevenly.  In the hotel- there were many things like missing outlet covers, in the public bathroom - it was very "used" looking and worn.  It didn't look like anyone cleaned it "regularly"- maybe once per day - with all the traffic it needed more. The staff spends more time standing around "looking" busy then actually doing something useful.  Very rarely did I see anyone from the staff doing things like picking up trash that was strewn throughout the property; wiping down windows that had fingerprints on them (Pronto, calupso café-etc). Just the things we expect to see at a Marriott.  This staff just doesn't "get it".
> 
> I have now been to both MFC and MSK- and were it not for the lizards- I would return to MFC (Don't laugh at me).



I thank you for the kind words - my fellow British Tuggers will never let me live that one down. Reports from one fellow Tugger who was in St. Kitts recently were similar to yours so my heart sinks and I worry for the owners there. 

Also sounds like the first step would be to replace the TS GM and the Hotel GM.


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## MALC9990 (Jul 15, 2013)

TravlinDuo said:


> The lack of upkeep at MSK makes one wonder if it will remain long-term as a MVCD resort.   Based on what we saw, even the plan to sell and maintain the Marriott Residences that were built appears to have been abandoned - the buildings all look to be unoccupied and the grounds are in serious disrepair.



Now that really would be a big disaster for the owners.


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## indyhorizons (Jul 15, 2013)

TravlinDuo said:


> The lack of upkeep at MSK makes one wonder if it will remain long-term as a MVCD resort.



This mirrors my thoughts exactly.  My original post got so lengthy I left this out. lol. However, I wonder if in the long run- if things don't turn around if this resort doesn't make it. As I said- the potential is certainly there. Prime beach location.  But that unfortunately is not enough to get me back there. Again, glad it isn't "just me".


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## sun&fun (Jul 15, 2013)

It is distressing to read these observations of poor management at St. Kitts. We are owners there and have enjoyed our January vacations at the resort for the past 7 years. On our last trip in January 2013, I did not notice that the grounds and pools were not well kept up nor were the children of employees hanging around the lobby or elsewhere. In fact, there were few children over the age of 3 to be seen.  

We usually stay in the same building each year and have often been assigned the same unit. My complaint wasn't so much with staff as with guests who seemed to think it was acceptable to leave their trash bags, dirty diapers and linens, pizza boxes and beer cans in the common lobby. 

I agree that island time often dictates the responsiveness but I thought staff attitudes and customer service had improved over the past. We don't miss the activities, we are pretty much stick to the beach and snorkeling around. Perhaps there is a difference in the resort experience between high season and other times.


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## bazzap (Jul 15, 2013)

When we stayed there in May 2013 villa occupancy rates were as I recall 93%, so I would not be too concerned about the resort remaining within MVC ( no more than a number of other MVC resorts anyway).
There is more of an issue with the hotel and the need for them to work better together is clearly true and well understood by the MVC GM there who explained some of the things he has done and plans to do to address this.
Standards in the MVC resort had improved since our previous visit and whilst there is still room for improvement it didn't seem all doom and gloom in our opinion.
As for activities, for sure there is not too much going on but that suits us just fine as we go there for peace and relaxation on a friendly, picturesque island that has not yet been overdeveloped.
It is lucky we all have different priorities.


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## dougef (Jul 15, 2013)

We have been going to St Kitts annually for several years and have done both hotel and MVCI.  We go in Jan / Feb, so peak season.  While I agree there is much that can be improved, we happen to really enjoy it there.  Minutes from the airport.  Beach is never too crowded.  Food in the restaurants is pretty good - not great - but fine for us. When in the hotel, as platinums, we have always received nice room upgrades.  The MVCI villas are the largest we have seen.  

And, BTW, there are nonstops from NYC.  AA runs nonstops from JFK on Sunday and Wednesday.  We always book Sunday to Sunday.

I think if you go to ST Kitts expecting a 4 1/2 to 5 star resort you will be disappointed.  If you expect a 3 1/2 to maybe a 4, I believe you will be satisfied.

Just my 2 cents.


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## jimf41 (Jul 15, 2013)

dougef said:


> And, BTW, there are nonstops from NYC.  AA runs nonstops from JFK on Sunday and Wednesday.  We always book Sunday to Sunday.
> 
> I think if you go to ST Kitts expecting a 4 1/2 to 5 star resort you will be disappointed.  If you expect a 3 1/2 to maybe a 4, I believe you will be satisfied.



Thanks for the correction, I was unaware of any airline flying non-stop to SKB out of NYC area. However it is only one flight on one airline with 128 seats. The Wednesday RT is useless to most TS owners and the Sunday RT only covers one checkin day for $691. Compare that to Aruba at $441 or St Thomas at $323 with multiple non-stops on multiple airlines seven days a week to either. 

If you have never been to any of the three locations and traveling with a family of four where are you going to pick, Aruba with great reviews and $1764 total airfare any day of the week non-stop with a wide choice of airlines, St Thomas with great reviews and $1292 total airfare any day of the week non-stop with a wide choice of airlines or St Kitts with $2764 with at best mixed reviews on two days of the week only one being a checkin day and on one airline with 128 total seats?

I stand by my comment that if you go to St Kitts you really have to want to go there.

For a Marriott owner I find your comment about only expecting 3.5 to 4 star properties odd.  Of all the years I've been on TUG I've never heard of anyone expecting a 3.5 star resort at an MVCI property.


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## pedro47 (Jul 15, 2013)

jimf41 said:


> Thanks for the correction, I was unaware of any airline flying non-stop to SKB out of NYC area. However it is only one flight on one airline with 128 seats. The Wednesday RT is useless to most TS owners and the Sunday RT only covers one checkin day for $691. Compare that to Aruba at $441 or St Thomas at $323 with multiple non-stops on multiple airlines seven days a week to either.
> 
> If you have never been to any of the three locations and traveling with a family of four where are you going to pick, Aruba with great reviews and $1764 total airfare any day of the week non-stop with a wide choice of airlines, St Thomas with great reviews and $1292 total airfare any day of the week non-stop with a wide choice of airlines or St Kitts with $2764 with at best mixed reviews on two days of the week only one being a checkin day and on one airline with 128 total seats?
> 
> ...



The OP expecting for a MVCI property are very low.


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## indyhorizons (Jul 15, 2013)

pedro47 said:


> The OP expecting for a MVCI property are very low.


I am the OP and my expectations for Marriott are far from low. I choose Marriott because I expect consistency across their brand. St. Kitts is not. And to the poster who stated we all have different tastes. This is correct. I am not knocking the tranquility of the island/resort or even your choices, I am simply sharing my opinions/observations in case there are others with similar expectations so they can have an idea of what to expect when/if they decide to choose this resort. Thanks!


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## amanda14 (Jul 16, 2013)

I can safely cross this resort off my list by seeing the responses of these respected Tuggers.  Thanks.


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## bazzap (Jul 17, 2013)

Well, I guess those of us, especially owners, who do find this resort a better match for their needs than other more hustle bustle MVC beach resorts in the Caribbean should find securing their preferred weeks and villa requests rather easier now? 
There is always a positive to every negative.


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## MALC9990 (Jul 17, 2013)

bazzap said:


> Well, I guess those of us, especially owners, who do find this resort a better match for their needs than other more hustle bustle MVC beach resorts in the Caribbean should find securing their preferred weeks and villa requests rather easier now?
> There is always a positive to every negative.



Yes we would go again. After this year's trip to Frenchman's Cove we can decide on a trip for later in 2014.


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## indyhorizons (Jul 17, 2013)

bazzap said:


> Well, I guess those of us, especially owners, who do find this resort a better match for their needs than other more hustle bustle MVC beach resorts in the Caribbean should find securing their preferred weeks and villa requests rather easier now?
> There is always a positive to every negative.



Barry,
I feel like you are offended by my comments- even though in my OP, I stated- no offense to owners.  You are right- everyone's needs are different. We have a 14 year old son- who is very sociable and outgoing- but due to the lack of other young people his age- he was quite bored for 1 week.  We are very close to him, but 1 week of boring mom and dad- and... well you get the picture.  

As for St. Kitts and the resort- it is a great destination with much potential.  I am not talking about commercializing it and making it another cookie cutter destination. I do think however at the resort - they could offer more "options" for their guests.  Not everyone has to participate- but those who want to can.  Additionally, as for the property and its upkeep, perhaps you are so enamored by the location and the tranquility of the island you are willing to overlook the "small things". But if I were an owner there (and I am not) I would be concerned about the upkeep (or lack thereof) of the property.  Eventually you will have to pay the piper when it comes time to refurb and repair and you will wish that they did more routine maintenance.

I could probably name 10 things that I didn't even mention in my thread. This is not a bash on the owners at St. Kitts or even the island or resort. I simply was providing my experience to share with others who might be considering going there.  Some will use this in making their decisions, and some will not. No worries. For me and my family- we are far from wealthy.  My vacation $ and time are limited. I want to go to places where we can relax *and* enjoy ourselves and that match our vacation needs.  Unfortunately, this destination did not.  Nothing more nothing less.


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## bazzap (Jul 17, 2013)

No not at all, I am not even remotely offended and really value your views and those of other TUG members. I would be very interested to know some of the things you didn't mention, in case I have been looking with rose tinted spectacles.
Certainly I would be worried about the potential for major refurb / upgrade bills in the future. I am not clear what these might be though, as from what I have seen and having had long discussions with the GM I know of the significant investments that have either been completed or costed in already for aircon replacement, furniture replacement, phased interior and exterior villa redecoration, pool repair... Etc it is not obvious to me that there are large scale projects not accounted for.
For sure, it is not perfect, but I can't say I noticed any significant difference from what I saw when we stayed at Frenchmans Cove and what friends have told us from their stays in the Aruba resorts.
As I say though, I really do value your views.


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## amanda14 (Jul 17, 2013)

Same here.  No offense, but for my needs this would be a definite no go.  In addition to the flights and the cost from NY, the issue of employees kids lingering around, etc makes this one not a viable one for us when we have choice.  Just returning from MFC, sure the room we were in could use a reface but I didn't go there for the room.  I can say that short of the front desk staff, the staff at MFC and the actual hotel were superb.  Less than stellar service would be a no go for us.  I am in a job (Sales) where I service at a high level all day long and that is what I want when I go away and why I choose Marriott.  I can deal with Island time with no issue but having 3 kids and what sounds like a lack of activities, it is just easier for me to pass on it.


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## flyboy0681 (Jul 17, 2013)

jimf41 said:


> I think you'll like Frenchmans Cove but I do want to point out that the current GM  there came from St Kitts. He's been great at MFC though.
> 
> As for the resort itself I've never been there so I can't comment. I think Marriott had high expectations for this location but so far they haven't materialized. One of the big stumbling blocks is the airfare. No non-stops from NYC area and the flights are long (6-12 hours) and expensive, $700 on average for a RT.
> 
> St Thomas on the other hand is 3.5 hrs non-stop and about $350 RT. If you go to St Kitts you really have to want to go there.



Many people don't take transportation into account when they purchase timeshares. Many years back a friend of mine who lived on the east coast was proud of the week he purchased in Hawaii. Only problem is, he couldn't afford to fly his family of four there every year and always had to exchange.

I have to admit that I was guilty when I placed a recent exchange request for St Kitts and I didn't think of the airfare aspect. I live in South Florida and have easy access to Ft Lauderdale and Miami airports. While I was shocked to see the email from Interval that my request was fulfilled for the middle of December,  the elation soon turned to frustration when I started searching for flights. The cheapest I could find was $700 per person and I even wrote about it here on TUG. Eventually I got creative by cutting down on the days at the resort by flying on off days and using some frequent flyer miles.

My point here is that the purchase price of an offshore week should not be the only factor in the decision to buy. Getting there will sometimes take a huge hit to the budget as well.


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## bazzap (Jul 17, 2013)

amanda14 said:


> Same here.  No offense, but for my needs this would be a definite no go.  In addition to the flights and the cost from NY, the issue of employees kids lingering around, etc makes this one not a viable one for us when we have choice.  Just returning from MFC, sure the room we were in could use a reface but I didn't go there for the room.  I can say that short of the front desk staff, the staff at MFC and the actual hotel were superb.  Less than stellar service would be a no go for us.  I am in a job (Sales) where I service at a high level all day long and that is what I want when I go away and why I choose Marriott.  I can deal with Island time with no issue but having 3 kids and what sounds like a lack of activities, it is just easier for me to pass on it.


Yes, I can understand entirely the issue of flights and costs, as well as the lack of activities.
I  guess we are lucky that we have direct flights from the UK, so it is  cheaper and quicker for us to go there than to MFC or Aruba and our  children have grown up now.
I can only comment from personal  experience on the other points, from when we were there for nearly 5  weeks in May/June 2013 and -
- the only time we ever saw any children  (and I am not sure whether they were employee's children or a party of  school children) was for an hour or so on one 
Saturday morning when they had an organised session in one pool, whether this is acceptable is a matter for debate, but it was only once in 5 weeks and well controlled
-  whilst the service levels can indeed be variable, many of the staff are  friendly, efficient and helpful (perhaps our extended stay had some  influence on this) and the standard was at least equal to that we  experienced at MFC previously, with the exception of Pieter Knot the GM  who went there from St Kitts and does manage his resorts exceptionally  well.
I will be particularly interested in comments on how standards compare from others who have stayed at St Kitts, MFC and Aruba.


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## sun&fun (Jul 17, 2013)

As noted previously, we have been going to Marriott's St. Kitts for 7 years now. We also vacation 4 weeks a year in Aruba. We purchased St. Kitts because it offered us (no kids) so many of the attractions of Aruba without the increasing over-development of Aruba. A reliably comfortable and safe Marriott resort, great beaches, some great restaurants, and beautiful weather, at least in January 

I agree that airfare is high, but manageable for 2 of us; not so much for a family with kids. The travel time isn't that much greater than to Aruba -- about 6+ hours rather than 4+. 

We find that if you take the time to get to know the locals, including staff, and express appreciation of their island beyond the resort, they are warm, friendly, and helpful. You have to get off the resort and experience the island, it's history and culture to enjoy it. 

We have not seen neglect or disrepair in any of the TS units we've stayed in. Groundskeeping was out raking and cleaning every day and the pools seemed OK to me, but I'm not a pool person when the Caribbean is just a few steps away. 

It really does come down to what you want in a Caribbean vacation an dhow much the resort amenities factor into it. I would not expect St. Kitts to satisfy all and I hope that resort problems noted are not the result of ongoing  poor management. BTW, I'v had erroneous charges on my bills in Aruba that took time to resolve so I don't think this is unique to any resort.


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## m61376 (Jul 17, 2013)

They do accept charge cards at the "cashless" resorts if you want- my kids have felt badly about charging things to the room so have used their charge cards at times (even though I've told them it's not necessary).

I was at Harborside a couple of years ago and had an extra charge on the bill- they were going to "look into it" but insisted I was responsible for it- I told them simply that it wasn't my charge and I wasn't going to pay for it, and if they charged my cc I would call the card company. Ultimately, it was removed. Interestingly at Harbour Lake a few weeks ago there was no bill under the door to review; they let you know you would receive a bill by email within 48 hours. I did wonder what would happen if there was a disputed charge.

What I find surprising is they never run your room key as a charge card. Frankly, half the time I'm away I have to think twice about my room number; I think it is easy for people to make an honest mistake, to say nothing of those wanted to avoid paying their bills. Why don't they swipe the room keys as a credit card rather than just providing a room number?


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## flyboy0681 (Jul 17, 2013)

m61376 said:


> What I find surprising is they never run your room key as a charge card. Frankly, half the time I'm away I have to think twice about my room number; I think it is easy for people to make an honest mistake, to say nothing of those wanted to avoid paying their bills. Why don't they swipe the room keys as a credit card rather than just providing a room number?



Seems to me the simple fix for this would be for the patron to clearly print their name on the bill in addition to a signature. The person who forgets their room number and uses an incorrect one won't match up in the system. When a person simply scribbles an indecipherable signature there's no way of knowing what the name is. And frankly, I'm surprised that the key is not actually swiped to verify the person is who they say they are. And it's not a matter of inconvenience either, I just returned from two weeks in Europe and every single restaurant (without a single exception) that I went to had a wireless terminal brought to the table for credit card transaction.

 It can be done here folks, we have the technology.


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## bazzap (Jul 18, 2013)

I could not agree more.
I have had charges wrongly added during  several stays, both at St Kitts and other MVC resorts, for one stay  totalling around $200!
These have always been removed without question when I have pointed this out.
However,  I can't be certain I always spot these and the onus to check really  should not be on the owner, when as mentioned simple technology can  avoid the issue.
Sad I know, but I tend now to keep a copy of  receipts for all room charges until the end of our stay so that if any  dubious items jump out at me from the bill I can quickly check them. If  ever there were an issue having these removed, I suspect presenting a  pile of every valid receipt might help convince them to do so.


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## MALC9990 (Jul 18, 2013)

Obviously having a card reader at each pay point to read the room key would help solve the problem - that is until you lose your room key card !!!

At Son Antem when charging items to the villa, the process is that the sales assistant will ask for your room number and then ask for your name. The name given needs to match that shown against the villa number on the screen. Again not 100% foolproof so I would like to see the room keys swiped also. That should remove most problems.


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## flyboy0681 (Jul 18, 2013)

bazzap said:


> I could not agree more.
> 
> Sad I know, but I tend now to keep a copy of  receipts for all room charges until the end of our stay so that if any  dubious items jump out at me from the bill I can quickly check them. If  ever there were an issue having these removed, I suspect presenting a  pile of every valid receipt might help convince them to do so.



You know what would really be helpful is being able to see the charges listed on a hotel services TV like we can at full service Marriott's. When I'm at a hotel I always check it once a day just to verify they got the rate correct and that the room charges are up to snuff. Deploying this at the TS' should be a no-brainer but I don't know anything about the technical aspects.


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## indyhorizons (Jul 18, 2013)

bazzap said:


> No not at all, I am not even remotely offended and really value your views and those of other TUG members. I would be very interested to know some of the things you didn't mention, in case I have been looking with rose tinted spectacles.
> Certainly I would be worried about the potential for major refurb / upgrade bills in the future. I am not clear what these might be though, as from what I have seen and having had long discussions with the GM I know of the significant investments that have either been completed or costed in already for aircon replacement, furniture replacement, phased interior and exterior villa redecoration, pool repair... Etc it is not obvious to me that there are large scale projects not accounted for.
> For sure, it is not perfect, but I can't say I noticed any significant difference from what I saw when we stayed at Frenchmans Cove and what friends have told us from their stays in the Aruba resorts.
> As I say though, I really do value your views.



Barry that's good to know. I think that as long as you and other.owners are satisfied that things are being addressed and there is adequate funding to do so that is all that matters. I.guess the way I look at it is like my car (or my house). If.I take care of routine maintenance and not wait.until things go wrong in the long run I should save $. Just because I have the $ doesn't mean I want to spend it on needless repairs and replacement of things that may have been avoided or prolonged if I had been.a bit more fastidious.


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## normab (Jul 18, 2013)

flyboy0681 said:


> Many people don't take transportation into account when they purchase timeshares. Many years back a friend of mine who lived on the east coast was proud of the week he purchased in Hawaii. Only problem is, he couldn't afford to fly his family of four there every year and always had to exchange.
> 
> I have to admit that I was guilty when I placed a recent exchange request for St Kitts and I didn't think of the airfare aspect. I live in South Florida and have easy access to Ft Lauderdale and Miami airports. While I was shocked to see the email from Interval that my request was fulfilled for the middle of December,  the elation soon turned to frustration when I started searching for flights. The cheapest I could find was $700 per person and I even wrote about it here on TUG. Eventually I got creative by cutting down on the days at the resort by flying on off days and using some frequent flyer miles.
> 
> My point here is that the purchase price of an offshore week should not be the only factor in the decision to buy. Getting there will sometimes take a huge hit to the budget as well.



Actually when we bought the timeshare there were lots of flights. After the 2008 recession many were discontinued.  So it's made it tough for us as owners.

Regarding St Kitts and the resort, we love this resort/island but we also see the island as a newbie to tourism compared to the other islands, so we take that into consideration.  We hope that as tourism grows there the problems people see will diminish.


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## dougef (Jul 19, 2013)

flyboy0681 said:


> You know what would really be helpful is being able to see the charges listed on a hotel services TV like we can at full service Marriott's. When I'm at a hotel I always check it once a day just to verify they got the rate correct and that the room charges are up to snuff. Deploying this at the TS' should be a no-brainer but I don't know anything about the technical aspects.


When we are at St Kitts, I simply go to the front desk after about the 2nd or 3rd day and again after about the 5th day and ask for a copy of my folio to date.  They are happy to print it out.  That way I can review it so no surprises at final check out.


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## dougef (Jul 19, 2013)

sun&fun said:


> As noted previously, we have been going to Marriott's St. Kitts for 7 years now. We also vacation 4 weeks a year in Aruba. We purchased St. Kitts because it offered us (no kids) so many of the attractions of Aruba without the increasing over-development of Aruba. A reliably comfortable and safe Marriott resort, great beaches, some great restaurants, and beautiful weather, at least in January
> 
> I agree that airfare is high, but manageable for 2 of us; not so much for a family with kids. The travel time isn't that much greater than to Aruba -- about 6+ hours rather than 4+.
> 
> ...



Well put and I agree totally.  For us, St Kitts is a terrific resort.  Couple near retirement (not quite there yet) with no kids.  A great relaxing week at the beach. And we have been to Aruba many times - we stopped going there and switched to St Kitts.


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## KathyPet (Jul 19, 2013)

We are also St. Kitts owners.  Bought resale 3 years ago and were there last in Jan 2012.  We exchanged twice before buying there.  We are empty nesters and while the airfare is high it is OK for the two of us.  The high airfares greatly reduce the # of families with children which suits us just fine.  We went to Aruba once and I just hated the entire atmosphere there.  Small footprint of the property, screaming children running around, being elbow to elbow with lots of other people at the pools.  Not my idea of a relaxing vacation.
The layout of St.Kitts with its low rise villa buildings spread out among the property with lovely landscaping and walking paths reminds me of GO. We have only been there in the winter so have never noticed unattended kids of staff on the premises.  The hotel is not one of Marriotts primo properties.  I understand that it is not a Marriott owned resort but it definitely needs a face lift and I do not understand why Marriott continues to allow the rather shabby appearance to continue unabated.  It is not like they are unaware since the last time we were there Mr. Marriott had been there the week before.  The local newspaper had pictures of him meeting with various St.Kitts officials to discuss future development plans none of which appear to have gone beyond the discussion phase.
I would give very high marks to the exterior grounds keeping and maintenance.  Every time we have been there I found the grounds and landscaping to be very well maintained with grounds staff working diligently to keep it up.  I have also seen constant maintenance on the exterior of the villas.
The level of service on the part of housekeeping needs some improvement.  Our villa was in perfect condition when we arrived last time but I found no list of items that were supposed to be included in the kitchen for us to check against.  I determined quickly that there were a couple of kitchen items missing and it took 3 calls to housekeeping to get the items delivered.   We had a mid week cleaning since we were there for more than a week and came back to find that all the towels had been replaced.  The problem was that the room service person left us not a single face towel.  She left us over a dozen face clothes and half a dozen bath towels but not a single face towel.  Now who does that???  Another call to housekeeping needed.
Another minor but annoying missing item was no reference card or sheet listing the available TV channels for easy channel changing.  The only way to determine what was available was to use the incredibly slow on screen guide.  I mentioned that to the acting resort manager at the owners breakfast and she seemed quite surprised that we did not have one.   Evidently very little effort is made to inventory the units to ensure that all the items Are there.
My biggest complaint was the absolutely awful condition of the pool chairs and loungers.  Most of them either broken or very dirty.  Again mentioned to the acting timeshare manager who said that the replacement of pool chairs was the responsibility of the hotel management.
When I was there last ther was no GM and had not been for many months.  I understand that there is a GM there now who,used to be GM at MMC.  We have a week booked in January 2014 and if I do not see new pool chairs I will make my extreme unhappiness known to him directly.
As far as activities go outside the resort there are very few available.  We always do the day sail and snorkel trip to Nevis which is fun.  We don't demand constant activity while all on vacation preferring just to rest and relax around the pool or at the beach so the limited # of activities does not bother us at all.  
We eat most of our dinners out and have found several restaurants that we have gone back to each year.  Food is very expensive as is true on every Carribean island we have been too. However we enjoy a good meal and since we don't spend a lot on activities we do treat ourselves to a meal in a good restaurant every night.  However if you are taking a family out the cost can be very high for good dining.
St. Kitts is a VERY poor island.  The government which flip flops control between two parties appears to be particularly ineffective in taking advantage of the tourism opportunities that this lovely island has naturally available to it.    Unemployment is very high and educational attainment is low.  The two sources of income are tourists and working for the govt.  We find the people to be very friendly for the most part although people not connected directly with the tourists industry (like workers in the local grocery stores) can be quite rude.  The Marriott resort and time share are the largest private employer on the island and we have been told that landing a job with Marriott is considered quite a coup.

Overall we have been pleased with our purchase and enjoy our visits there.  IF you are looking for lots of activities off the resort and ya exciting night life then this is not the resort for you.


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## bazzap (Jul 19, 2013)

KathyPet said:


> We are also St. Kitts owners.  Bought resale 3 years ago and were there last in Jan 2012.  We exchanged twice before buying there.  We are empty nesters and while the airfare is high it is OK for the two of us.  The high airfares greatly reduce the # of families with children which suits us just fine.  We went to Aruba once and I just hated the entire atmosphere there.  Small footprint of the property, screaming children running around, being elbow to elbow with lots of other people at the pools.  Not my idea of a relaxing vacation.
> The layout of St.Kitts with its low rise villa buildings spread out among the property with lovely landscaping and walking paths reminds me of GO. We have only been there in the winter so have never noticed unattended kids of staff on the premises.  The hotel is not one of Marriotts primo properties.  I understand that it is not a Marriott owned resort but it definitely needs a face lift and I do not understand why Marriott continues to allow the rather shabby appearance to continue unabated.  It is not like they are unaware since the last time we were there Mr. Marriott had been there the week before.  The local newspaper had pictures of him meeting with various St.Kitts officials to discuss future development plans none of which appear to have gone beyond the discussion phase.
> I would give very high marks to the exterior grounds keeping and maintenance.  Every time we have been there I found the grounds and landscaping to be very well maintained with grounds staff working diligently to keep it up.  I have also seen constant maintenance on the exterior of the villas.
> The level of service on the part of housekeeping needs some improvement.  Our villa was in perfect condition when we arrived last time but I found no list of items that were supposed to be included in the kitchen for us to check against.  I determined quickly that there were a couple of kitchen items missing and it took 3 calls to housekeeping to get the items delivered.   We had a mid week cleaning since we were there for more than a week and came back to find that all the towels had been replaced.  The problem was that the room service person left us not a single face towel.  She left us over a dozen face clothes and half a dozen bath towels but not a single face towel.  Now who does that???  Another call to housekeeping needed.
> ...


Hello again Kathy
I hope you do find new pool chairs and loungers when you next visit.
This would be the number one priority for me and I made this very clear when talking to Thomas Jordan, the new GM, during our recent stay.
To be fair, he totally agreed. 
He has already replaced patio / balcony furniture with better and more suitable quality products.
He  is also as a temporary measure repairing / cleaning / replacing  material on the pool loungers, but acknowledges this is a "sticking  plaster" solution.
He is now trying to find a permanent solution jointly with the hotel  GM to replace the pool furniture with better and more suitable quality  products.
He does not say this is a "responsibility of the hotel  management", but he does confirm that he needs joint agreement because  although for example he could make his own decision now to replace all  the furniture around the "timeshare" South Pool he does not know how  (without fencing and gating the area off) he could practically stop  hotel guests removing these and taking them to the hotel Main and North  pools or even the beach to use if the hotel do not replace theirs too.
I can understand his dilemma, but there has to be a solution and I trust it does not take him too long to find it.


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