Heading to St Kitts this June - need some advice

[Beverley]

Hello everyone.

We are heading to St Kitts this year at the end of June. Do we need/ should we get a rental car? Any better places to buy food? Any suggestions for must sees or activities? We will be there with another adult couple, no children.

Thanks in advance to all.

Beverley

 

[Howiereed]

Things to do

If you are interested in history, Brimstone fortress is pretty cool.

 

[BonBiniGirl]

Hi Beverley -

We went to St. Kitts a couple years back. I posted a review when we returned that has some good info for you: http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122956.

Our one MUST is to take a day tour with Thenford Grey. You will not be disappointed!

These are our photos if you're interested: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7817147@N02/sets/72157624181694933/

Have a great trip. It really is a beautiful island.

~Liz

 

[Beverley]

Thanks ... We do like history and historical places so that is an appealing idea.

Thanks Liz for the link. I'm taking a look right now.

Beverley

 

[Beverley]

You have some really nice pictures. We are looking forward to going and hoped it would be a quieter island.

I take it we might not really need a car?? A short walk is fine with us. We would likely be looking to do some cooking in the unit but can then check out the two areas - Marriott and Rams - to see if the meats/ seafood look good. I recall being in Aruba and going to the local supermarket before we found the IGA ..

Thanks again for the links.

Beverley

 

[normab]

We own there and we do not rent a car. We originally decided to go without based on several factors, and it worked out well. We take taxis--and if you find one you like you can use them exclusively. (Some don't have AC in the taxi and you will likely want it in June.)

We also recommend Thenford Grey for his tour, he is a very good guide and he is also accomodating to your requests.

To be honest, our only complaint is that the food stores are nothing like Aruba or Saint Marten. You may be somewhat disappointed... There is less fresh food than we expected.

Have fun! We will be nearby in Saint Martin in May-June.

Norma

 

[KathyPet]

We were in St. Kitts in January for our fourth year in a row. We have never rented a car. We find the taxis are plentiful and cheap. The most expensive taxi trip is the one out to Beach House Restaurant (a can't miss experience). Round trip there is $48.00. However even if I had a car I would never drive myself out there. The roads are in terrible shape. You go up and down mountain roads and there are no lights. If you get a taxi to the grocery store the taxi driver will wait for you and drive you back. If you take a taxi most times the drivers will give you their card and the restaurant calls them to come back and pick you up. If you expect to be out and about every day then yes you probably will come out ahead with a car. After visiting there for 4 years we have done the "tourist" thing and find that we spend most of our time at the beach or pool.
Also I agree about the grocery store thing. I cannot believe the small size and limited selections they have. When we went in January to do our shopping they had no fresh milk in either of the stores we stopped in. They told us they didn't expect any to arrive for two more days. Can you imagine a store in the US being out of fresh milk for 3 days???.

 

[siesta]

Hello everyone.

We are heading to St Kitts this year at the end of June. Do we need/ should we get a rental car? Any better places to buy food? Any suggestions for must sees or activities? We will be there with another adult couple, no children.

Thanks in advance to all.

Beverley

we did not rent a car, stayed at resort for most of the week, and did a few nature tours. It was new years eve week. There is a club on premises, but mostly younger crowd. Nice small casino.

A must do, is eat at Mr X shiggity shack bbq. Its a short taxi from hotel, outdoor bar and restaraunt with picnik tables, we enjoyed fresh lobster grilled outside, steps away from us.

 

[mkahanek]

Wife and I along with 3 friends went last May. I am a car freak. Rent a car everywhere. Aruba, St. Thomas you name it. However, we did NOT rent a car in St. Kitts and were fine.

We did zipline and enjoyed that. Wife and girlfriends did Thenford Gray tour and enjoyed. We did Nevis. eh won't do it again. Thursday night bonfire at Shiggidy Shack was cool. Couple rounds of golf for me and the other guy on the trip. We had a dusk dinner at Serendipity downtown, that was nice.

June.... Maybe Frankie G will be down at the Piano bar. he was entertaining. Our group took advantage of the foot massages at the beech. That is not for everyone. But, we enjoyed.

Overall quiet island if that is your speed.

 

[TravlinDuo]

St. Kitts - Preferred Room location

Hello.

We loved St. Kitts when there last year and have confirmed reservations to return later this year in a 2BR for 2 wks. When there last year, we were placed in a 1st floor room by the ocean but weren't able to see anything due to a wall along the property. We'd appreciate any suggestions on room location so we can submit our request. thanks !

Sue

 

[KathyPet]

All I can say is good luck getting your request. We are owners there and did not receive either building we asked for. However I would specifically ask for a second floor. My understanding is that the third floor units are all 3 bedrooms, ocean front units so getting one of those is virtually impossible. We were on the second floor of Camp Bay and had a decent oceanview.

 

[Beverley]

Thank you to all who let me know I do not really need a car. I think a few cab rides will probably serve us better than a weeks car rental. Wow, no milk?? I may just bring some dry milk or creamer on the plane.

I can't wait to go.

As for the unit, we booked using destination points and asked for and used points to get a unit closest to the ocean. Hopefully, we will not have a problem when getting there. I believe w also asked for an upper floor so maybe we will have a view. What do you think?

Beverley

 

[KathyPet]

Beverly, IMHO the best units for a view for a 2 Bedroom are the second floors of Westbury, Palmetto or Trinity. THird floor is the best of course but I do believe that the third floor units are all 3 bedrooms. The buildings I mentioned face the ocean with the least palm tree growth and on the second floor you should be high enough to see over the wall that surrounds the property.

 

[stevenalmquist]

St. Kitts Room Request Info

Beverly, IMHO the best units for a view for a 2 Bedroom are the second floors of Westbury, Palmetto or Trinity. THird floor is the best of course but I do believe that the third floor units are all 3 bedrooms. The buildings I mentioned face the ocean with the least palm tree growth and on the second floor you should be high enough to see over the wall that surrounds the property.

Do you have an email contact at St. Kitts Beach Club to request a particular building and floor. Our daughter is going there for honeymoon in October.

 

[KathyPet]

No I do not have a E Mail contact. I simply called and requested a second floor unit with two different buildings as my choice. As I said I own there and I did not receive either building I asked for. We were staying on our own week and own multiple MVCI weeks and still did not get either of our first two requests. Room assignment there is really bad.

 

[MALC9990]

Do you have an email contact at St. Kitts Beach Club to request a particular building and floor. Our daughter is going there for honeymoon in October.

A vacation planner will be in touch before you are due to arrive - about 3 or so weeks before you arrive. We were just at St. Kitts for two weeks at the start of May. We were contacted before we were due to arrive. We were able to request a villa location. We were on an II exchange for 2 weeks and were supposed to get an Oceanside unit - which we did get. We had a very good unit 7207 in Westbury House. This is right by the ocean.
The best two bed units are on the end of each block and ideally on an upper floor. Each block is only 3 floors and no lifts. If you are booked for a 2 bed unit then you want a villa on the end of a floor at either end. Each block has 4 units on each floor but the two units in the middle are smaller and a different design to those on the end of each block. the 3 bed units are awesome but there is only one in each block and it is on the top floor.
I can recommend the Carambola Beach club as a place to spend a day at the beach where the sea is more calm and you can snorkel safely. Taxis are easy to get and reasonable and very friendly. A driverwilltake you where you want to go and give you a card to allow you to call them to collect you when you whatnot return.

 

[stevenalmquist]

St Kitts Room Info

Thanks so much. We own multiple weeks in Aruba but have always gone there. They want something different for their honeymoon. Is it correct that the third floor is all 3 bedroom units?

 

[MALC9990]

Thanks so much. We own multiple weeks in Aruba but have always gone there. They want something different for their honeymoon. Is it correct that the third floor is all 3 bedroom units?

No, only 1 unit on 3rd floor is 3 bed. The rest are 2 bed units. Friends we were there with got a 3 bed and it was huge.

 

[normab]

.
The best two bed units are on the end of each block and ideally on an upper floor.

Just an fyi-we own an end unit 2BR--they were priced at a premium because they are "better"--they have 2 balconies and the layout is preferred.

However, we have had trouble getting our request for a 2nd floor unit (and typically have to wait when we arrive after we re-request one), because if you count how many end units there are, there are not that many per view!!!

It's a small resort so I guess it's hard to please everyone.

 

[pedro47]

Do not take the tourist train ride around this small island. It is a nice ride around the island and they served some fruit rum drinks on the second deck of the train. There are some beautiful views of of the ocean, some villages, a church, some old sugar cane fields factories and her sister island called Nevis.

Save your money and go pn a 6 hrs snorkling boat excursion that served a snack and lunch.

 

[stevenalmquist]

I don't know that they need an end unit for just the two of them. One balcony is fine But they would like to be able to see the water. Is there a pool view and ocean side or ocean view?

 

[pharmgirl]

Very interested in going to st kitts from nj in feb next year
Flights seem to be very expensive
Anyone here that can tell me how much they paid for winter flights from ny nj area?
Thanks

 

[TravlinDuo]

we've book flights to St Kitts spring, summer and fall times and have found that they typically range from mid $600 to high $800; depending on day of week flown and whether the week is a holiday week. We've never seen anything lower to SKB than about $650. We always check fares from BWI, DCA, IAD, PHL AND EWR... and they are for the most part about the same from each airport. JFK fares tend to be lower, but too far of a drive for us from southcentral PA.

 

[KathyPet]

Our flights were approximately $725.00 pp R/T in Feb of this year. A limited # of US airlines serve the island. Two I think (AA & US Air) so there is no reason for them to lower prices as there is no competition. Last Feb when we went we flew from Dulles to Miami and Miami to St. Kitts. Our return flight was supposed to land us in Miami about 7PM with a connection to a 9 PM flight to Dulles. A couple of months before departure AA informed us that our departure time from ST. Kitts had been pushed back a hour and we would no longer be able to make the connection to DUlles. That was the last flight to DUlles that evening so they informed us that they had booked us on a flight to Reagan National instead that arrived at 12:30 AM.
I am sure many of you know that Reagan and Dulles are a 45 minute drive apart from each other and the inter airport shuttles do not run at that time of night. Our car was obviously going to be parked at Dulles and we live 45 miles west of DUlles near Winchester. Flying to Reagan was not a viable option. We ended up staying over at the Miami airport and flying home the next day which used up a additional vacation day.
I was not happy with the entire flight thing and if we run into this problem again we may very well stop using our St. Kitts week.

Edited to add that appears now that Delta is also flying there. I just checked prices for all three on the ITA website and prices from IAD in Feb are running about $725.00 to $800.00 pp

 

[pharmgirl]

Thanks for the info on flights
I'll look at going through Miami or San Juan
can usually get ff tix to either of those then probably a short flight to st kitts
L
Seems to be a nice island but more difficult to fly to than st Thomas or st John