Westin St John Master Thread - Part 3 [Dec. 2017 and forward]

[tomandrobin]

Crappy part is the bogus $25/night fee - adds $175 to the week.

Or $525 for my three weeks in July

St John trips are really starting to hurt the bank account.

 

[cubigbird]

MF huge increase + $25/nt fee is starting to add up. What’s the breaking point where it becomes more economical to rent?

I have found places to rent on VRBO and AirBnB at places like Sapphire Beach, Secret Harbor and Bolongo in St Thomas for 1/2 the cost and no $25 per night tax.

 

[schafercpa]

Something you don't see every day!

 

[SandyPGravel]

What? Easter Rock? JK

 

[carpie99]

MF huge increase + $25/nt fee is starting to add up. What’s the breaking point where it becomes more economical to rent?

I have found places to rent on VRBO and AirBnB at places like Sapphire Beach, Secret Harbor and Bolongo in St Thomas for 1/2 the cost and no $25 per night tax.

But you have to be in St. Thomas

 

[DavidnRobin]

Photo by Steve Simonsen
(Renowned St John Photographer)

Overlooking Great Cruz Bay
(Westin St John)

Jenn (News of St John) took similar photo (no filter) - looks like at a slightly earlier time. I think she lives right up the hill from WSJ.

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[cyntravel]

OH how breathtaking!

 

[PainKiller]

I was looking for info on WSJ and mold and stumbled onto this blog. A lot of great information here. I emailed Larry Pelletier and Phillp Schrag following the December 2019 letter but I don't think I received a response. I was hoping to find out the extent of the affected WSJ pool units and if they will be ready in June. We have 4411. Does anyone have a contact and email or phone number, for finding out the affected units. Thanks

 

[DavidnRobin]

I was looking for info on WSJ and mold and stumbled onto this blog. A lot of great information here. I emailed Larry Pelletier and Phillp Schrag following the December 2019 letter but I don't think I received a response. I was hoping to find out the extent of the affected WSJ pool units and if they will be ready in June. We have 4411. Does anyone have a contact and email or phone number, for finding out the affected units. Thanks

I think the WSJ GM could help with this question. Use to be Sam Hugli, but he is unexpectedly gone.
You could call front desk and ask for GM. Not sure Phil or Larry can answer this question as to the specific units beyond what is stated in their email.

Good luck - let us know what you find out.


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[Helios]

I was told by a rep that all Building 43 and some Building 44 were affected.

 

[SRG53]

We are heading to St John on the 24th. Wondering what the situation is like for parking at Honeymoon Beach. I also wondered if parking in Cruz Bay is same as before the storm? Thanks

 

[DavidnRobin]

We are heading to St John on the 24th. Wondering what the situation is like for parking at Honeymoon Beach. I also wondered if parking in Cruz Bay is same as before the storm? Thanks

There is no parking for Honeymoon - never was. Did you mean parking at Caneel and walking in? No

But, they are running (or did in June) a shuttle from the Caneel entrance for a small fee. Honeymoon has changed considerably - there is now a concession stand and rentals. This could be good or bad - depending on view of such things. We have done both - we are okay with both.

Cruz Bay parking is bad, and worse than it ever was. The public lot is filled with abandoned cars and police vehicles. Plenty of paid parking though (at least in June).

Check out Lime Out (Coral Bay) - floating taco bar - if you can. We loved it - the East Enders, not so much...
Not allowed to swim out - we went during a Charter (Island Roots).

Also Maho Crossroads (at Maho Bay) - again... locals seem to have love/hate relationship - depending on outlook (and bias). Personally, they need more above water activities - the reefs were severely harmed by H.Irma.

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[SRG53]

Thanks for your help, have not been there since Jan 2017. I did mean walking from old Caneel bay parking lot. Guess we knew it would be an adventure to get back and see what's changed. Have rented a Jeep again for this trip. hope it's not a waste of $$.

 

[DavidnRobin]

For those that enjoy The Lime Out (Floating Taco Bar in Coral Bay) - you may want to sign this Change.org petition.

Sign the Petition

Keep Lime Out Open

www.change.org

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[okwiater]

We arrived to WSJ yesterday for the first time since Irma. Lime Out is closed btw. First impression is the resort looks great overall. Definitely evidence everywhere of the hurricanes but they did a nice job on the restoration, particularly the landscaping. Granted, the landscaping better be nice since the landscaping contractor they hired flies his own helicopter from San Juan. Maybe I’ll be a Caribbean landscaping contractor in my next life.

We are in a building 44 pool villa. Home resort reservation but not our unit. All the furnishings are new but according to the housekeepers the unit we are in sustained only minor damage. Perhaps that’s why it’s not affected by the HVAC mold issues? Also, does anyone know which units have the “new” pool villa floor plan vs the “old” with sliding wall? We’ve stayed in both, and I had previously thought all building 43 and 44 units were of the “new” variety, but the layout of this is “old”, save for the sliding wall being replaced by a permanent wall. (Hooray!)

We rented a car from Discount on St. Thomas this time (no availability with Amalie) and the pickup was fine. We arrived via cruise ship and they picked us up from Crown Bay and will take us to the airport upon our return. The Jeep Unlimited we rented is relatively new (12k miles) and in good condition overall.

On a bit of a somber note, while waiting at Snorkels yesterday for our room to be ready, a young man went into cardiac arrest with numerous bystanders attempting CPR. I was surprised how slow the resort’s response was. Don’t the resort staff working near the pool know how to escalate an emergency? I don’t expect top notch emergency response on a somewhat remote Caribbean island, but it took a loooong time for help to arrive. I don’t want to put anything else in writing here, but St. John rescue did eventually take him away. Not sure how things turned out after that, but I hope for the best for his family. :’(

 

[SRG53]

With as many folks around with basic life support or advanced life support training like me, i sure hope they have some AEDs onsite. Scary

 

[DavidnRobin]

Thanks for the update - sorry to hear about the incident.

Lime Out decided to close to resolve DNPR issues - even with an outpouring of support.

They may have replaced the sliding walls (they wanted to anyway) after the H.Irma damage. I recall the sliders being in the 2 older buildings (41 & 42 ?).

Our friend that use to travel with us to STJ stopped going when she discovered there is no hospital on STJ after an incident she had.

The closest is STT and Tortola (and they are not much) with medical evacuations likely to Miami with the devastations in PR.


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[okwiater]

The building 44 mystery is solved. We just spoke to the pool cleaners and they said only one unit in buildings 43 and 44 has the “old” floor plan. The new floor plan (with an additional bathroom and sleeps 10 instead of 8, as well as with a hot tub) was implemented after construction of the newer buildings began. For reference, unit 4415 is the one that still had the “old” building 41/42 style layout.

 

[alexadeparis]

We are in a building 44 pool villa. Home resort reservation but not our unit. All the furnishings are new but according to the housekeepers the unit we are in sustained only minor damage. Perhaps that’s why it’s not affected by the HVAC mold issues? Also, does anyone know which units have the “new” pool villa floor plan vs the “old” with sliding wall? We’ve stayed in both, and I had previously thought all building 43 and 44 units were of the “new” variety, but the layout of this is “old”, save for the sliding wall being replaced by a permanent wall. (Hooray!)

 

[alexadeparis]

This is phase III’s layout; all of building 43 and 44 except 4415.

 

[cubigbird]

Where can we find a resort map of WSJ that includes building numbers?

 

[SandyPGravel]

Map

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[mjm1]

We plan to rent a car on STT and take one of the car ferries over to WSJ. It appears the options are with Big Red or Love City Car Ferries. Prices are the same and we would reserve a round trip. Any recommendations between the two would be appreciated.

Best regards.

Mike

 

[SandyPGravel]

Not exactly a WSJ question, but someone might be able to answer from this thread.

We've gone around the island through Coral Bay to Salt Pond/Ram Head. We've never gone over Bordeaux mountain to 107 to get to Lamshur.(See thumbnail) Can someone that has done this comment on it. Is it doable? Would we be better off going the long way down 10 and around the edge to get to Lamshur? Will I need valium to handle the road? (DH drives, not me!)

I ask, because once our GPS tried to take us over Bordeaux mountain on 108 to get back to WSJ and we just kept going up and up on narrower and narrower roads until I was convinced we made an incorrect turn and were in someones driveway. We turned around, not fun, and went back down and through Coral Bay back to Rt 10. (As you all know not a lot of signage even before IrMaria.) My hands were sweating because of the steepness of the road and turns. I am very uncomfortable with heights, my hands sweat watching someone else up high on TV. We do take 104 east, to cut out going through Cruz Bay, to get to Coral Bay.

TIA, Gina (Stay Left)

 

[DavidnRobin]

Not exactly a WSJ question, but someone might be able to answer from this thread.

We've gone around the island through Coral Bay to Salt Pond/Ram Head. We've never gone over Bordeaux mountain to 107 to get to Lamshur.(See thumbnail) Can someone that has done this comment on it. Is it doable? Would we be better off going the long way down 10 and around the edge to get to Lamshur? Will I need valium to handle the road? (DH drives, not me!)

I ask, because once our GPS tried to take us over Bordeaux mountain on 108 to get back to WSJ and we just kept going up and up on narrower and narrower roads until I was convinced we made an incorrect turn and were in someones driveway. We turned around, not fun, and went back down and through Coral Bay back to Rt 10. (As you all know not a lot of signage even before IrMaria.) My hands were sweating because of the steepness of the road and turns. I am very uncomfortable with heights, my hands sweat watching someone else up high on TV. We do take 104 east, to cut out going through Cruz Bay, to get to Coral Bay.

TIA, Gina (Stay Left)

View attachment 16619

The trip up to Bordeaux Mtn from Coral Bay is easier than going down.
It does not save time.

I would not depend on a map App.
Just head up (and stay left).


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