Ritz Carlton -St Thomas., Club Access question

[KS2beach]

Just booked 4 nights 2 bedroom club suite with MVC points for April 2024 (planning to add on to front or back side with Westin St johns/Frenchman or Westin hotel when allowed to book my vistana options). If my reservation says Club suite- does it allow Club Access? Also any other tips would be great for the Ritz or area around it. We were in St Thomas at Frenchman cove and Westin St Johns' past November and loved it.

 

[Mroze]

Suite at the Ritz in St. Thomas is the smaller 2BR-Unit [I believe the kitchen has less space but still full]. It has nothing to do with "Club".

These rooms are in 1 building [Heliconia-Bldg].
For a few years, all Suite bookings received Free-Breakfast for all guests in the Suite at the resort [Gardenia-Bldg]. This was offered as a benefit due to the smaller kitchen.
Unfortunately, after the hurricane, the Top-Floor restaurant closed down [stayed a couple of times] and the Free-Breakfast was not restarted.

Stayed at Frenchman's Cove & Westin St. John. Once we stayed at the Ritz, we never want back to the others.
The resort is beautiful. However, I hope the weed problem at the beach has improved.

For the best beach experience we go to Maegens Bay or any of the multiple beaches on St. John [Hawkesnest is our personal favorite].

 

[mjm1]

We just booked a stay at the Ritz for next April too. We will be in a 2BR Suite as well. The rep I spoke with wasn’t sure if the “kitchenette” includes a larger refrigerator or a small under counter one. Any insights would be appreciated.

Best regards.

Mike

 

[Mroze]

We just booked a stay at the Ritz for next April too. We will be in a 2BR Suite as well. The rep I spoke with wasn’t sure if the “kitchenette” includes a larger refrigerator or a small under counter one. Any insights would be appreciated.

Best regards.

Mike

It is a full-size refrigerator.

 

[Mroze]

It is a full-size refrigerator.

Oops. I take that back.

Went back and looked at old pics from 2019 and it is a Small [Under-Countertop] fridge.
We last stayed in a 3BR and remembered the Full-Fridge.
Sorry for the misinformation.

 

[KS2beach]

Suite at the Ritz in St. Thomas is the smaller 2BR-Unit [I believe the kitchen has less space but still full]. It has nothing to do with "Club".

These rooms are in 1 building [Heliconia-Bldg].
For a few years, all Suite bookings received Free-Breakfast for all guests in the Suite at the resort [Gardenia-Bldg]. This was offered as a benefit due to the smaller kitchen.
Unfortunately, after the hurricane, the Top-Floor restaurant closed down [stayed a couple of times] and the Free-Breakfast was not restarted.

Stayed at Frenchman's Cove & Westin St. John. Once we stayed at the Ritz, we never want back to the others.
The resort is beautiful. However, I hope the weed problem at the beach has improved.

For the best beach experience we go to Maegens Bay or any of the multiple beaches on St. John [Hawkesnest is our personal favorite].

Thank you for the info, just was confused when booking said "club suite" and then read about club level access- must be for the hotel side. We 100% agree on the beach choices. Secret Beach also had some great snorkeling.

 

[hangloose]

Stayed at Frenchman's Cove & Westin St. John. Once we stayed at the Ritz, we never want back to the others.
The resort is beautiful. However, I hope the weed problem at the beach has improved.

Is the Ritz worth it with two teenage kids in tow? Or is Frenchman’s or Westin more appropriate with kids?

We are looking to grab one of the three for next year, wife and two kids in tow.

 

[Mroze]

Is the Ritz worth it with two teenage kids in tow? Or is Frenchman’s or Westin more appropriate with kids?

We are looking to grab one of the three for next year, wife and two kids in tow.

If staying for 5-Days [Check-In on SUNDAY] its worth it.
If you want to stay longer the next would be 12-Days [Sunday to following Friday] to reduce the overall Cost/Day.
This is because weekends [FRI/SAT] points cost is very high [almost the same as 5-Weekdays].

The cost is reasonable if staying during the summer months [Jun/Jul/Aug which is average/low season in the Caribbean].

Hybrid: You could do a 1-Hop by staying 5-Nights at the Ritz preceded/followed by a week at Frenchman's-Cove or Westin St John.

 

[Eric B]

Just wrapping up a week in a 2 BR Residence at the Ritz Carlton STT. They were doing beach nourishment this week with loads of sand from Barbuda as it most closely matches the sand here. Beach is now slightly wider but a foot or two higher, making up for some erosion loss. We got here for the week using a ThirdHome exchange rather than Abound points; I’ll be trying the 5 or 12 night stay method in the future now that we’re in the system.

 

[KS2beach]

Suite at the Ritz in St. Thomas is the smaller 2BR-Unit [I believe the kitchen has less space but still full]. It has nothing to do with "Club".

These rooms are in 1 building [Heliconia-Bldg].
For a few years, all Suite bookings received Free-Breakfast for all guests in the Suite at the resort [Gardenia-Bldg]. This was offered as a benefit due to the smaller kitchen.
Unfortunately, after the hurricane, the Top-Floor restaurant closed down [stayed a couple of times] and the Free-Breakfast was not restarted.

Stayed at Frenchman's Cove & Westin St. John. Once we stayed at the Ritz, we never want back to the others.
The resort is beautiful. However, I hope the weed problem at the beach has improved.

For the best beach experience we go to Maegens Bay or any of the multiple beaches on St. John [Hawkesnest is our personal favorite].

I was able to get Ritz and Frenchman both for May 5th-13th 2024, i cancelled our April Ritz that i had booked orginally. I am really wanting to get Westin St Johns, have to wait til 8 month mark if use our vistana options planning to try as 12 month mark with MVC points see if i can get in with those. Do you own at any of these resorts or just plan out 13 months ahead to get in?

 

[Mroze]

I was able to get Ritz and Frenchman both for May 5th-13th 2024, i cancelled our April Ritz that i had booked orginally. I am really wanting to get Westin St Johns, have to wait til 8 month mark if use our vistana options planning to try as 12 month mark with MVC points see if i can get in with those. Do you own at any of these resorts or just plan out 13 months ahead to get in?

We don't own at either Frenchman's or Ritz or Westin St John.
Have stayed at all 3.

• For Frenchman's we have always exchanged via INTERVAL [best value exchanging a Studio/1BR for a 2BR/3BR].
• For the Ritz we usually book at 13-Months.
• For Westin St John we booked using Bonus-Points via VSN.

BTW: I don't believe the Ritz provides free breakfast anymore [still prefer the Ritz anyway].
Stayed twice since the hurricane and breakfast was not offered.
The evening Tea/Cookies is still offered for all guests.

 

[Eric B]

Our last stay at the Ritz, they had a nightcap sampling of the Botany Bay rums at 8:30 PM daily. Only did it once as we had plenty of rum elsewhere.

 

[mjm1]

We were hoping to stay at Frenchman’s Cove for 3 nights after our stay at the Ritz, but there is a 5 night requirement. I just looked and there is a 1 or 2 night stay at the Ritz that would work for us to add, but they have a 3 night requirement. I booked an apartment near town to cover the 3 nights.

Best regards.

Mike

 

[TravelTime]

The ocean in front of the Ritz is really beautiful. It can have a little seaweed at times but that really did not affect the experience for me. The beach is narrow but there are chairs under trees all along the beach. That is really all I need and I am an ocean fanatic. The beaches at Frenchman’s Cove and Westin St John are not better. I would say the beach at Frenchman’s Cove is not nice for many reasons. If you want an ideal beach with beautiful ocean water then you need to drive to the great beaches on STJ and STT.

 

[DanCali]

And if you go to some of those beaches on St. John, I highly recommend a GoPro or similar camera. You never know who/what might pop out of the water

 

[Eric B]

WRT the seaweed at the beach, the Ritz has a floating barrier system in place to direct it to the shore north of the resort. You can see the barrier in the pictures I posted here:

Marriott - View from the Balcony

Maui Ocean Club Lahaina Towers unit 1310

tugbbs.com

The barrier ends at about the place where the mouth of Great Bay shields the Ritz beach from the prevailing currents and wave action, which drive the seaweed to the shore where the barrier ends. Once it washes up there, they scoop it up with front loaders to dispose of it. As a result, there is no seaweed on the beach. Also, they just finished a beach nourishment project, but didn’t add anything to the width.

IMHO, the beach at WSJ is marginally better as there is more room, but I do agree that the other beaches on St John are superior by far to either.