Hi everyone, have I mentioned that we love it here?!?!
Jen and I were discussing how we could definitely understand how one could make an "impulse timeshare purchase" here! That said, this is definitely a "destination timeshare". You MUST assume that most who purchase here are doing so (or should be doing so) for the purpose of coming here. Things happen, of course, but I couldn't imagine buying here for any reason other than to come here and not exhange out! Anyway.
Friday:
Friday was "moving day" as we switched from the resort/hotel to our 3 bedroom villa in the Bay Vista section. Our first bad experience: even though I notified them at least 3 times that we were changing rooms, and they knew our villa location the night before, and I called that morning to remind them that we would be at the resort waiting to enter our villa, etc... we were still not in our villa until almost 5pm. In fairness to them, checkin is not until 3pm so anything earlier than that would not be expected. I went up to the front desk several times and they were supposed to call, which they never did... anyway, no big deal. We got in the villa and it is very nice (sorry again I can't post pics until I get back). The 3 bedroom is perfect for two families with kids (more than that would be a bit cramped). There are two kinds of 3 bedroom Bay Vistas. One has what they call two masters and one additional room with two double beds. The other has one master with two extra rooms with two double beds. We have the former, the one with two master bedrooms. Of these (the rooms that we have), some are like ours with two balconies - one off the master bedroom (our room) and the living/family room. Others have three balconies - one off the main master bedroom, the second master bedroom, and the living/family room. All of the three bedroom (in Bay Vista) are the same in their size (1470 square feet) and their staroptions count (125,000 in summer, 196,900 in platinum plus season). They have the contemporary Westin look with some "local" touches. I'm not an artsy person so I think they're great; but if you want a better analysis I'd get other's opinions. Anyway, if you come with two families (and not too many kids) - each "couple" or parental units, etc... could have a master bedroom and the kids could share the room with two double beds (any leftovers could sleep in the sofa sleeper). If you're traveling with two couples and no kids I'm thinking the 3 bedroom is not needed. The three bedroom could also be ideal if you travel with kids and a "nanny" type caregiver (sorry, I don't make nearly enough to even contemplate having that situation!).
While waiting for our room we let the kids hang out by the pool, swim in the ocean here at the resort (they enjoyed jumping on the trampolines and "rock wall" at the resort beach, etc. For dinner, we went to Cruz Bay and ate at the Banana Deck. Highly recommend it - very good food and neat atmosphere. Nothing here is fancy - I haven't even put shoes on - flipflops only.
From what we're told the Bushwacker is the most popular drink here and is good (if you like strong drinks), however, it does have amaretto. I drink coffee but I'm not a fan of "coffee alcohol" drinks. Don't get me wrong, not bad, but just not my personal favorite. However, given that it is the most popular drink here (according to several waittresses/bartenders), you can't leave here without getting at least one.
My favorite drink has been the Banana Slide at Banana Deck. Don't be fooled by the tasty banana flavor, there is certainly alcohol in there. One Bushwacker and a couple of those and I was glad I wasn't driving.
Saturday:
Went back to Cinnamon (Jen's favorite so far). The day was perfect we were all by ourselves in our far corner of the beach. No one within 200 feet or more and only one other family within eyesight for most of the day! Since we were in the far right (standing in front of the ocean) corner, near the rocky formation, quite a few snorkelers came walking in front of us to enter the ocean and go about their snorkeling, but other than that we were there by ourselves. Obviously this is one of the reasons that so many (understandably) rave about St. John. Cinnamon is VERY easily accessible and the corner of the beach that we were at was only a 5 minute (or less) walk from where the campground path leads to the beach, yet we were almost by ourselves on this beautiful beach. Cinnamon has been (by far) Jen's favorite because the sand is so soft - she calls it pillowy. I tried to ruin it for her (what a jerk I am right?) by telling her how much of the sand here is formed (from the parrotfish and other fish who eat algae from coral and, in essence, "poop" out the coral which their bodies have turned into sand and absorb the algae).
A few other observations here. This is definitely not a place to come if you are in a hurry. People are generally very nice, although there is a much more slow pace as everyone goes about their distance. The resort has been great so far. A few small things but I don't want to list because that would seem petty and trivial and would contradict our overall satisfaction here. One observation worth noting is that the front desk/service express staff clearly does not seem to trust their staff because the few times we have called for something they ALWAYS call to make sure that we got what we called for. For example, we never got our "starters kit" of dish soap, laundry detergent, etc.; or when we called for the crib for my nephew. Pool towels have been no problem. They give you cards when you check but there doesn't appear to be a limit - we have never asked for more than six with each card so I don't know what would happen if you asked for an absurd number of towels.
