MOXJO7282, wondering how your St. Thomas trip went and if you were happy with your decision of it over Maui for this trip. How is the resort, and the island looking post hurricane?
Thanks for asking. In spite of some misfortune for me it was a very nice trip. I knew it would never match Maui because nothing does for us but it was a chance to share a vacation with my wonderful SIL and her kids and it fulfilled that extremely well.
They had an absolute blast hanging out for the whole week without her PIA husband around. My SIL and wife were the most impressed with the resort and pool/ocean setting. They thought the ocean scenery with the island backdrop absolutely beautiful. I don't think I've seen my SIL so relaxed and enjoying herself so much. My family adores this woman and she brings so much positive light into out lives it really was the best part of the trip for me to see her enjoy herself so much.
Unfortunately for me I dropped a dumbbell on my foot and broke a toe the second night at FC so I was hobbled for the entire week and really couldn't do as much as I would've liked because it was difficult to walk on it at all for the first few days so I was driver for the most part and just hung by the pool and ocean and drank "Painkillers" to take the edge off as soon as my driving assignments were over and it actually did help because when I first did it it was bad and still is. I'm sure I broke it but its not displaced so nothing really to do anyway but grin and bear it.
My wife also wasn't feeling great so we didn't make any boat excursions because of my foot and her illness but still enjoyed 2 nice beaches later in the week, Magen's Bay and Coki's. Both really beautiful and extremely family friendly.
Here is my PROs/CONs list;
Pros;
- Nice proximity to airport. I love landing and getting to the resort without driving too far. The FC is like 20 minutes.
- Loved our 3BDRM 2nd floor Crown Bldg unit. Would've loved one of the other 3BDRMs because they were top floor and closer to the pool/ocean but we still had an amazing view from room.
- Infinity Pool area very nice with ample seating. This was off-season so to speak so not sure if this is a problem at other times but for us we always found seats in the shade by the pool.
- Beautiful ocean setting. We all thought it was really nice having the ocean so close to the pool and what a beautiful setting looking out to the water and the rest of the island.
- Gym was good. Although I missed out on using it extensively like I would've, it was still a very good workout facility. Later in the week I could at least do upper body and ride the exercise bike. They had the first bikes that I've seen where you can use Netflix on the TV screen. They had a link and you just had to sign into your account and you were connected as if you were in your house. Also they had a nice sauna and steam room which I love.
- Weather was surprisingly temperate. We expected HHI and So Fla hot and humid but were surprised it was only moderately hot and not really that humid.
- Very good snorkeling at both the resort and at Coki Beach
Cons;
- Groceries stores left a lot to be desired. Pueblo's and the Fruit Bowl were pretty old and dirty. The Pueblo parking lot was like driving on the back side of the Road to Hana. We did find a Moe's supermarket that was much better and Kmart actually had food products so it wasn't a huge deal but if you're someone who buys meats and vegetables locally it is definitely not what you would experience in the 50 states. You may want to do what we did which was bring a cooler of frozen meats and seafood. I saw the recommendation on Facebook and decided to try it and boy glad we did. Eating out for 7 would've been expensive and it was nice to have dinners that were really delicious.
- No ability to walk from the resort to other resorts or restaurants. This is very limited especially with the Marriott hotel closed next door.
- We didn't get our room until 4:45pm. This is the first time this has happened to us. We weren't the only ones so not sure if this is a pattern at FC. Not a huge deal and they did give us snacks and beverages from the market and paid for my SIL cab from the airport to make up for the inconvenience.
- The restaurant on-site wasn't very good. We weren't expecting too much but it didn't even meet the standard Marriott fare so that was disappointing.
- The elevators were a hassle especially for me with my toe problem. It really wouldn't have been a big deal for someone who is mobile in my opinion but for anyone who is limited I'd view it as a real con. Plus later in the week the middle one kept going out of service so that made for even more effort to get to the pool.
Overall considering my injury it was a very nice vacation. Not sure if we'll make it back anytime soon but I wouldn't rule it out if another 3BDRM came around for a HP gold week. I could however see myself buying a unit a few years from now when we have more time to travel because if I had a good chance of getting a nice 2 bdrm close to the beach that would be a very nice vacation as the resort and the pool and ocean is one of the nicest setting we've experienced... not counting Maui.
