# St. Kitt's Marriott



## nanceetom (Feb 26, 2008)

Does anyone have any info on the Marriott in St. Kitts?  We're thinking of using points for it and was wondering on things like rental cars, restaurants and the resort itself.


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## jasfan (Feb 26, 2008)

I was there for a week in early February, and stayed at the MVCI St. Kitt's Beach Club.  It is actually part of the hotel grounds, and the units are completely converted hotel rooms.  They are just like new construction, yet one of the by-products of this is that you are actually on the hotel property.

As you are using points, I would request an ocean veiw room, rather than an island view room if you want to see the water.

Loved the island, just know it is very laid back, and a great place to go to do almost nothing.

The resort has 8 restaurants.  They are predictable Marriott resort restaurants.  Actually, the seafood, steak, and Italian restaurant were all very good.  They are somewhat Americanized, and a bit more expensive than elsewhere, yet we found them all very good and would go back to each of them.

And the pool-side pizza shack makes great pizza.  And the outside grille by the pool is great as well for a burger or sandwich.

I cancelled the rental car at the last minute.  I NEVER go without a rental, yet thought I would try.  I will not rent a car when I return.  The cabs are not like some other islands.  They are trained to give tours, are respectable, and have set rates.  I was in St. Thomas last year and heard horror stories of cabbies - of course I had a rental.  They were great in St. Kitt's.  The Marriott actually set up a cab to pick us up at the airport for a flat fee of $12.00 for up to 4 people.  It worked out great.  And the airport moved slow, both inbound and outbound.  Customs and immigrations were painfully slow, and checking in to leave St. Kitt's was also very painful.  Having a cab waiting was great.  We actually had a cab driver on the second day of our journey that we ended up calling directly for the remainder of the trip.  He was delightful - knowledgable, courteous, dependable.  His name is George Scarborough and his phone number is 869.663.1909.  You can mention Jay, Joe, and Laurie from Michigan referred...we spent most every day with him for a bit of time.  Bottom line, the cabs are cheaper and easier, and that is from a guy that ALWAYS rents.  And George, or any other cab driver will give you a certified tour of the island.  It is $80.00 for 3 to 5 hours, up to 4 people.  It is worth it if you know it that this is a very basic island.

Other restaurants we went to and liked - 

The Ginger House - a $6.00 cab ride from the hotel (each way), or long walk (with some up-hill).  Great little place in a house.  Lobster dish (I think it was Florentine) was raved about by everyone in our party - I had chicken, which was great.  Affordable, casual, friendly...very nice.

Serendipity is a $12.00 cab ride to the city (each way).  This restuarant gets rave reviews, yet was a disappointment for us.  Everyone else we met loved it, so maybe we just missed.  The food was cold, the service was spotty, and it just wasn't good, and it was a not cheap.  I would try it again, as it is so highly recommended, yet must tell you of our first experience.

Marshall's is a $6.00 cab ride (each way) from the hotel.  It is close to the Ginger house, yet further up the hill.  This was our best meal.  If you have an early dinner you can watch the sunset over the caribbean.  Great food, great service, great atmosphere.  We ate here our last night, and it was a wonderful send off for the week.  Highly recommend this one.  Expensive, and worth it.

There is also series of shack-bar-restaurants that you can walk to or take a $6.00 cab to on Timothy beach.  The most know is the Shigiddy Shack - we only had a drink, yet people loved the lobster.  It is outdoor, beach dining...I would do this next time.  Another great sunset place.

You may also want to take a taxi to the peninsula of the island, and the beach that overlooks the island of Nevis.  Very nice, peaceful, serene, and shacks for food and drink.  I would spend a day on that beach if I went back.

The concierge at the Marriott has menus for each of these places, so you can shop menu and price before going.  They were very pleasant and made reservations as well.

The resort is great - predicable Marriott.  I would recommend spending one day on the beach in front of the hotel.  Nice beach, nice views, nice breeze.

If you are going in the summer, you can catch good rates at this hotel, or on skyauction.com.  You may want to compare before using points.

We loved the island, yet know it is very quiet...let me know if you are wondering anything else and I will reply if I can...


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## KathyPet (Feb 27, 2008)

We just came back Sunday from a week there.  I had requested a trade using my Manor Club Platinum week and at the same time I made a hotel reservation using Marriott reward points just in case the trade did not come through.  Good thing I did as the trade did not happen and when I checked the week before leaving just to see if there were still rooms available for that week out of curiosity the only way to get one was to use Stay Anytime awards but when I booked it was just regular points.  DH is a platinum and we did receive a upgrade to a Deluxe Room.  We were in one of the garden buidings on the second floor (turtle Bay house) and we had a nice ocean view.  The room was quite spacious.  All of the garden viilla buildings on the right hand side of the hotel as you face the ocean will be converted to MVCI units.  The big hotel building and the garden units on the left side will remain hotel rooms.  I loved the garden units.  It was very quiet and private.
I would not get a rental car.  First of all the rates are very high and you must also obtain a temporary St. Kitts drivers license which will cost you another $25.00 on top of the car rental costs.  Taxis are plentiful and quite reasonable.  As the prior poster indicated $12.00 for up to 4 people to or from the airport and you do not tip the cab drivers in St. Kitts.  If I recall a cab from the hotel to Basseterre was $10.00
I really liked St. Kitts.  The island is not over touristed and the people are very warm and friendly.  The beaches are public so when you go down onto the beach in front of the hotel you will be solicited for a massage, hair brading etc but the push is not hard core and they easily take "no thank you" for a response.  We ate in all the restuarants.  The food at Blu (sea food) was excellent.  Try the tuna.  We also very much enjoyed the Royal Grille (steak).  We ordered the Ceasar salad and they made it tableside.  It's been a long time since I have seen that done.  Service at all 3 restaurants was good but it was exceptional at the Royal Grille.  The only restaurant I really did not like was the casual dining restaurant off the main lobby.  I thought the food there was quite horrible.  Every single thing at the hotel restaurants (even the take out coffee stand) automatically had a 10% service charge automatically added on so don't tip twice.  
All in all we had a great stay and I certainly would like to go back.  The only things I did not like at the hotel were pool related.  Many of the pool longe chairs were broken and yet they remained out for use.  It seems like they should have paid a lot more attention to removing broken chairs.  You must get out early in the morning and put a towel and book or beach bag on a chair in order to reserve it.  Otherwise if you try to get a chair after 11 AM there probably will not be any left.
I also found the "pool towel" policy to be restrictive and quite insulting.  When you checked in you are supposed to get two "towel cards" in your envelope.  We did not get any and had to make a special trip to get them.  God help you if you try to get towels without these keys or try to get more than one towel per key.   THeir entire attitude is that you must be there solely to steal their cheap towels.  Very childish and insulting!
We took a half day island tour which was very good and took a full day catamaran sail and snorkle over to Nevis which included a buffet lunch and lots of run punch.  Very enjoyable although rather pricey at $100 PP.
Make sure you get to the airport a full two hours prior to departure time.  The security screening process is very long and they have very limited staff and security screening stations.  Also don't forget that there is a departure tax of $22.00 a person which must be paid in cash or by VISA or Master Card before you can leave the island.  US dollars are accepted everywhere.


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## BobG7734 (Feb 27, 2008)

I agree with the two previous postings.  We were there in January and loved it!  St. Kitts seems like Aruba was 20 years ago and is now just beginning to really get geared up to travellers.  The restaurants mentioned out side of the Marriott are exceptional!

Do not rent a car...the taxies are inexpensive and the drivers are very good at giving info on the island.  When we went ot Shiggaty Shack the driver gave us his cell phone to call him when we were ready to leave...you don't find that kind of service anywhere!

We did the tour which was very low pressure and are considering buying there.


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## mruss12 (Jun 2, 2008)

*Additional St. Kitts info requested*

Greetings all -
  Read the reviews of the St. Kitts Marriott with great interest. My wife & I bought a Garden view there sight unseen last fall, & our first trip is this October. Are we crazy or what?
  We have a couple friends we are trying to wrangle in with us - my friend's wife claims she read an article on tripadvisor where a lady is claiming she paid $200 per person fee at the airport to leave the country?!?! this flies in the face of everything else I've read thus far about exit fees, can anybody validate?
  Also, we are both big fans of greyhound racing, I understand they are constructing a racetrack on the island due to be completed sometime in '08. Does anybody have any updated info on this?
Would truly enjoy reading anybody else's posts about the Marriott or the Island in general. Thanks all!


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## DanO (Jun 2, 2008)

MRUSS12 check out this link, lots of info on all things St Kitts

http://myislands.myeyez.net/index.shtml


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## KathyPet (Jun 2, 2008)

The exit fee to leave st. Kitts is $22.00 per person.  Anyone who says they paid $200 pp is smoking some fine island weed .


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## normab (Jun 2, 2008)

We are at the St Kitts Beach Club right now--we also bought sight unseen based on our overall enjoyment at other Marriott timeshares.   We were not disappointed.

The Units are spacious, we have an end unit which means we have 2 balconies too, and lots of light comes in the slider doors.  We like the proximity of the Marriott hotel--a 3 minute walk to the lobby, and the huge hotel pool is about 3 minutes also--a busier pool if you like activities.  We have been to both pools and we are enjoying the quiet of the TS pool. Te grounds are gorgeous, reminds us of the Hawaii Marriotts.

We did a tour with Thenford Grey--we found his name on a St Kitts web forum and booked directly by emailing. He picked us up the hotel lobby and there were 5 other people--we went on a small AC'd bus with clean windows that we could take pictures through!! He is a really good guide and our tour was almost 5 hours for $40 each.  It was a great bargain so we tipped big.  We stopped at an old plantation Romney Manor with amazing flora and at the Brimstone fort national park.  We would recommend him highly--www.thenfordgrey.com.

There is a racepark under construction--I don't know the timeframes.  There is also construction of condos ongoing on the island, but Marriott by far has the largest presence.

Re Food, we chose to purchase the escape package all inclusive.  Normally we don't since we are in a timeshare, but we decided to try it and see the quality of food here.  If you are interested in this, you need to purchase it ahead of time by just contacting the hotel.  So far we ate at Blu and La Cocina, and have lunched at the Bohemia poolside grill and the Pizza Shack.  I am pretty fussy and so far these meals have all been good.  The portions are large, and the prices are not astronomical considering you are on an island.   Hawaii Marriotts are more expensive.  We also have had breakfast at the Calypso restaurant and that is okay--to me breakfast is not a gourmet experience wherever you go so eggs, pancakes whatever!  I always think breakfast in a Marriott is the most overpriced meal--including when I travel on business and my company is paying!!!

Another thing we really like is that Marriott had the good sense to put in US electrical plugs.  We had packed converters and adapters since the island is set up for 220 V, but were very pleased to not have to use them.   Go Marriott!!

One final note, we got here early--9 am since we came from a week on St Maarten.  Since the room wasn't ready, they let us change at the spa, and we had no trouble getting 4 towels at the pool hut by just telling them we didn't have a room assigned yet.  So keep that in mind if you have to wait to check in.

Since we are only here a few days, I may post more later.  

Enjoy your stay in October.

Norma


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## dougef (Jun 2, 2008)

How much is the "escape package" and exactly what is iincluded?

I have a trade in to St Kitts this August and might be interested.


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## Steamboat Bill (Jun 2, 2008)

KathyPet said:


> Anyone who says they paid $200 pp is smoking some fine island weed .



I thought that only described Jamaica


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## BobG7734 (Jun 2, 2008)

Do you have a current price list for St. Kitts?


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## tmoscola (Jun 2, 2008)

Any pictures?


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## Eric F (Jun 3, 2008)

St. Kitts Marriott direct prices: 2 BR (non-lockoff)

Plat: $30,900 to $42,100,  MR Points EOY 100K to 120K
Gold: $22,300 to $29,700, MR Points EOY 75K to 100K
Silver: $17,600 to $22,800, MR Points EOY 55K to 75K

MF: all seasons & views = $1,165

Are there any units on the resale market that your looking at purchasing?

Eric


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## normab (Jun 3, 2008)

*all inclusive pricing, photos to come*

The charge in the off season is 99 per adult per day.  Adult is defined as 13 and over.  It is a huge savings for families with children.  Less so for us  with no young ones, but still we are charging well over the listed cost and I really get to vacation this week since I am not cooking!!  

I didn't bring anything to download photos with, but I will add some after I get back.  This really is a beautiful hotel and timeshare property.  And the island is fairly lush compared with some of the neighboring islands.


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## mishugana (Jun 3, 2008)

*timeshare booth or office*

Do they have 1 near the cruise pier?


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