Questions on Marriott St. Thomas villas/St. Kitts

[nanceetom]

We're planning next year's vacation and our children and grandkids will be coming. So we're looking at a 3 bedroom. Based on the time of year and the points we will be using, we only have enough points for St. Thomas and St. Kitts. We think we've narrowed down to St. Thomas since we'll have our 5 grandkids who will be 7,6,4+ and 2+. The kids and their parents love to swim in pools and ocean. Is there enough to do at St. Thomas? What about the restaurant situation. I imagine most of the time we'll be cooking in,but would like a few early evenings out. Any info on Marriott restaurants and how $$ are they for families?
Or, are we looking at the wrong carribbean resort?

 

[jimf41]

The choice between SKB and STT is personal and depends on a lot of factors. The first is airfare. Living near ROC there are no non-stops to SKB or STT from ROC. There are from NYC and the fare is about half but that's a long drive to the airport.

I think STT would have more stuff for kids in the area around the resort but probably both resorts are about the same as far as in-resort activities. Cabs are way to expensive for a group as large as yours in STT but a car rental is a virtual necessity there anyway. If you rent a car you'll have to do it early if you want one big enough for eight people, they don't have that many big ones on the island.

I'd have to give a big edge to STT as far as restaurants are concerned. The ones in the Marriott are OK, standard hotel fare. Sometimes god most times barely average. The restaurants on the island are excellent with a wide variety of choices and there are a lot of them.

Beaches, hands down STT and STJ are probably the best in the Caribbean. The down side is that some of the better known ones can get very crowded when you have a lot of ships in port. The cruise ship folks never seem to populate Secret Harbor or Smith Bay on STT or Cinnamon or Majo on STJ. All four are pretty nice places to spend a day at the beach.

If shopping is your thing STT wins again although I believe shopping is evil and kids of the age your bringing shouldn't be exposed to it.:rofl:

A SKB owner will have to chime in about some good points about SKB. As you might have noticed I'm not exactly "fair and balanced" as they say on FOX news.

 

[suzannesimon]

I have a family group of 15 that go to Frenchman's Cove every other Christmas - ages 1 to 70 and it is grest. It's a compact resort. All units are Oceanview and you can see the pool, beach and "playground" in the ocean and the restaurant from most balconies so it is easy to keep track of everyone. The restaurants are great. We rent 2 8-person vans and you have to make your reservations early as there aren't many of them. Lots of activities on St Thomas and easy day trips to St John and BVI. I've looked into St Kitts for a change but the travel there is complicated. Since we're arriving from different cities, many of us would be traveling overnight because the connections are not good.

 

[nanceetom]

Thanks so much for the comments. We're going to call marriott tomorrow and book St. Thomas. Two other questions, are the 3 bedroom located in every building? and which building would you recommend.
Probably the more timely thing is the car. Who is a reliable car rental for vans. The van for 8 will be what we need also.
Thanks

 

[suzannesimon]

I'm not sure if there are 3 bedrooms in every building. There are only 7 or 8 of them in total and they are all on top floors or one floor from the top, I think. We've stayed in Jost Van Dyke and Tortola. The views were amazing in both. Tortola is the newest building and Jost Van Dyke is the oldest. The BBQ grills are right by the front door of Tortola and you can see the pool and beach better from Tortola so that is the one I would request. We rented from Hertz but Hertz won't let you take it to St John. We did anyway because I didn't read the fine print. Now I know better so I'd probably go with another company.

 

[jimf41]

I believe there are one or two 3b in every bldg. As Suzzanne said they are all on the top floor of every bldg so the views will all be top notch. You didn't mention which month you want to visit and that could be a factor. If you want February you will have a more difficult trade than in other months but using DC points I think you will find some availability. I'd go with Tortola also although you won't be able to request that at this date for 2013.

I've never heard of any rental car company that's bad so I'd go with the best price. Just remember Hertz won't let you take it to St John. Good luck!

 

[bobpark56]

<snip> We think we've narrowed down to St. Thomas since we'll have our 5 grandkids who will be 7,6,4+ and 2+. The kids and their parents love to swim in pools and ocean. Is there enough to do at St. Thomas? <snip>

Coral World on St Thomas (down towards Red Hook) is worth a visit...both for kids and grandparents.