I was just over at WSJ. We just went to see the property for future reference. It was very empty. It looks a little rundown to me and a dated 80s style, not having seen it pre-hurricane. I am sure the interiors are fabulous as Westin probably put more focus on the insides and just repaired the exterior. The landscaping is okay but could be better. More grooming is needed. The natural trees are pretty high already, which surprised me that they grow so fast. This is good and bad, since the views look like they will already be blocked, but nice to see all the foliage growing back. I am just giving my first impression of an outsider’s view who has never been to WSJ before. I did not like the layout of the resort. The villas are too far from the main pool and beach. The hillside section felt like a separate resort. Even the closest villas on the resort side are a bit of a walk to the pool and not beachfront. It feels like the layout of the villa sections on the resort side are too clustered together giving me a bit of a claustrophobic feeling. I would have liked to see more open space between villas within each section. The open space seems to be between the various phases and not within phases. I was also surprised at how run down the neighborhood and roads are from the ferry to WSJ.
I was on the Caneel Bay side pre-hurricane and I recall it being so different. Maybe because we only drove from the ferry area though the national park to get to Caneel Bay. We did not go over to the National park side yesterday since the mission was just to see WSJ. I would like to visit that side next to see if my memories are the same or not. I did see Caneel Bay from the Tortola ferry. Before I knew it was Caneel Bay, I told my husband that looks like some beautiful beaches better than any we had seen in the BVIs, then we realized it was Caneel Bay. The structures on Caneel Bay look intact from afar but I am sure there must be a lot of damage. However, I suspect whoever gets the next lease could have it open pretty quickly. My impression from reading about the problems at Caneel Bay is more about the current leaseholder not wanting to invest in recovery rather than the extent of damage. I really hope it re-opens. It was (and possibly still is) one of the most beautiful places in the Caribbean.
