Followup and Thanks!
First - thanks very much to those who responded!
I wanted to follow up with some info to share with others who might read this thread in the future:
1) Maximum guests for a 2 bedroom unit: I think there are 5 or 6 different 2 bedroom unit configurations, each has it's own maximum occupancy: You can look at the layouts here:
https://www.starwoodvacationnetwork.com/villa-collection/the-westin-st-john-resort-villas/villas
2) I've been reading about the sea-lice issue on this and other forums (trip advisor, etc). Sounds like it's abating, but should still be on our radar before choosing a destination beach each day.
I'd like to pose a couple more questions:
1) Coffee - we're planning to bring our own ground coffee. What type of coffee filters will we need? (Cone, flat, keurig, etc) Does the resort supply them or are they available at the convenience store?
2) Inexpensive way to get to the Baths? I searched and found some roundtrip excursions for ~$140/each. Is there a less expensive way to get there? I guess chartering a boat might be less expensive since there's a bunch of us?
3) Arrivals in STT - we're getting in around 1:45pm, and hope to catch the 3pm ferry and not have to wait for the 5pm. We'll have some checked luggage. Any chance we'll make it, or should we plan to hangout at the airport, or perhaps consider the public ferry?
4) Is it reasonable to skip renting a car and depend on the open air taxi's to get to/from beaches? Will they come back and pick us up if we arrange a time?
Thanks again for any advice!
We're back from a great vacation at WSJ, and I wanted to followup on a bunch of my questions that ya'll answered, and share some of our experiences:
1) Max occupancy in a 2 bdrm. They put us in building 22, which I think (based on reading posts here) is a rebuilt hotel room. It was definitely smaller than any other 2 bdrm we've ever had at any of the westin villa's. (Maui, Princeville, Orlando, SBP, or Colorado.) The kitchenette wasn't really acceptable as a kitchen - almost no counter space, only a 2 burner stove, etc. We made the best of it, but, it was definitely disappointing. On the positive side, we had a nice view, the balconies were nice,and we were only in the unit a few waking hours per day. We used the grills to cook a few evenings. They were clean, and well maintained, but often had to call services to get them to ignite. It was a nice way to meet other residents as we'd all share the details of beaches and excursions while cooking.
2) Sea lice - stinging plankton: We encountered a few on the very first day - we went to trunk bay, and were snorkeling out by trunk cay, and all of a sudden there were swarms of them. Headed back to the beach, and no more issues the rest of the time. We did see some small jellyfish - I'd guess 1-2 inches across, and one even bounced off me, but I never felt any kind of sting from it. We visited Trunk, Honeymoon, cinnamon and Salomon. All were amazing - white sand, clear blue water, just wonderful.
3) Hiking to Salomon - We hiked to Salomon a couple times from the visitors center. Definitely a nice hike, with a great prize at the end. (a swim at Salomon) Highly recommend it!
4)Coffee - we brought our own Peets ground coffee and used the coffee makers provided. They were drip coffee makers that had a reservoir built in so you could dispense one cup at a time. Was a great way to have an iced coffee later in the day.
5) Going to the Baths: We went on "Bad Kitty". It was a smaller boat than we expected for 26 people, however, the crew was really great, and we had an excellent time. We had a great day, the highlight was snorkeling at "The Indians" - which was some of the best snorkeling we'd ever done anywhere. While I still wish it was a larger catamaran, I'd recommend it to anyone.
6) Arriving in STT - it went quickly - we split up, half went straight to the westin desk to check in, and the other half grabbed our luggage. We easily made the 3pm ferry. I question whether it was worth the $$. 4 adults and 4 kids was $840 roundtrip. I'm guessing a van would have been around $80 from STT to the ferry, $56 ($7 each) for the ferry, and then $40 from the port to the WSJ, each way, so roughly $350 total roundtrip. Is it really worth the extra $500? I'm not sure...
7) Using the taxi's vs renting. We decided to use the taxi's to get around the island. On average we took one rd trip each day, which I'd guess averaged a little over $100 per day. I guess convenience wise, it would have been nice to have a vehicle, however, some of the days we went to the beaches, there weren't any parking spots, and in Cruz bay parking spots looked like they were hard to find, so it would have been frustrating. Not sure I can say either way is better.
8) Restaurants: We went to the FishTrap and Rhumb Lines. Both were good, but not great. At the FishTrap, the service was really great, but the food was just OK. At RhumbLines, the food was good, but service was terrible. We also went to the ice cream place in Mongoose Junction. A little on the expensive side, but very, very good - highly recommended!
9) The market just outside the Westin grounds - we found this to be very convenient - it was a 5 minute walk from our villa, and had pretty much everything we looked for. Definitely made our stay better to have this so close by. (And the staff there was very helpful and friendly)
Thanks again to everyone that answered my questions.
) said 5mins in "you must be on TUG"...
