Westin St. John [Master Thread]

[GeneNWendy]

Website for info at WSJ

This website gives the official status of what's going on at WSJ:

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/westin/property/overview/announcements.html?propertyID=1098#conditions

 

[Robin&Mark]

Upcoming trip November 27 WSJ

We are scheduled for a week Nov 27- Dec 4, we are taking our parents who are all in their 80's to WSJ. With what I have been reading not sure this is the best idea. The appeal of the beach at the hotel is that our folks would be able to just walk in the water and not have to worry about a long walk to get to the beach. They would not be able to sit on the beach at Hawks Nest or Trunks without beach chairs. Has anyone been or know of anyone who has been to the resort? We are trying to figure out if we should cancel our reservations or wait a bit to see how much more of the cleanup and beach restoration gets done in the next couple of weeks.
Anyone willing to offer any advice based on any past experiences with something like this I would appreciate hearing what you have to say.
Thank you
Robin

 

[DavidnRobin]

tough choice - supposedly everything at the resort (except the tennis courts I guess) should be finished before Nov27. It seems like the real issue no matter is that the folks need beach chairs because it would be a shame to go all that way and only go to the Westin beach (Great Cruz Bay).

If you decide to go - I would figure out how to get 2 beach chairs because not visiting (sitting) on the beachs at Hawksnest, Trunk, Cinnamon, and Maho (all easy access beaches) would be a shame. If it were not for these beaches (as well as the many others) - there would not be as much reason to visit STJ (esp not for the Westin beach...). oh... IMO

 

[Robin&Mark]

Thanks DavidnRobin. I am hoping to find somewhere in town to rent or buy beach chairs so we can have them to take. I did read they are providing free bus service to the surrounding beaches. Also yesterday we missed a call from the resort, I know on the web site it does say they are waiving cancellation fees and allowing people to move their reservations. It will be interesting to see if this is what the call is about.
Thanks again.

 

[jerseygirl]

We saw people with these last time .... Not sure of the brand just remember wanting the canopy as I burn very easily!

http://www.amazon.com/Folding-Canop...FV46/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1287779583&sr=8-5

 

[DavidnRobin]

Thanks DavidnRobin. I am hoping to find somewhere in town to rent or buy beach chairs so we can have them to take. I did read they are providing free bus service to the surrounding beaches. Also yesterday we missed a call from the resort, I know on the web site it does say they are waiving cancellation fees and allowing people to move their reservations. It will be interesting to see if this is what the call is about.
Thanks again.

Perhaps rent at Cruz Bay Sports (in town or at resort)? Going to be expensive (based of mask/snorkel rental cost), but probably only rental place. There will be no place to buy these on STJ (that I am aware of - or ever seen) - you can buy on STT since they have large retail stores.

You may want to ask on VINOW.com message board.

 

[OCsun]

We saw people with these last time .... Not sure of the brand just remember wanting the canopy as I burn very easily!

http://www.amazon.com/Folding-Canop...FV46/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1287779583&sr=8-5

We take two of these chairs with us each year. We purchased a 40 inch blue duffel bag on line, which we call Big Blue. The duffle holds two of these chairs and our snorkeling gear. "Big Blue", is checked in with our other luggage and is easily taken to any beach we want to visit. Trying to rent or purchase beach chairs or umbrellas on either St. Thomas or St. John is nearly impossible. Pam

 

[jerseygirl]

We take two of these chairs with us each year. We purchased a 40 inch blue duffel bag on line, which we call Big Blue. The duffle holds two of these chairs and our snorkeling gear. "Big Blue", is checked in with our other luggage and is easily taken to any beach we want to visit. Trying to rent or purchase beach chairs or umbrellas on either St. Thomas or St. John is nearly impossible. Pam

Were you there in June? If so, I was the person at Trunk Bay pining after your chairs!

I'm going to invest in them for next year. Wondering if I can get them shipped straight to the resort. We have locked storage rooms in the pool villas, but there are not enough for everyone (I assume they were built with the original 4-week fractional owners in mind). I think I will call to see if regular owners have access to use one. I'd be willing to take the risk even if it's shared space.

 

[Robin&Mark]

Our concerns are that none of our parents walk to well, all having bilateral artificial hips and knees along with lumbar stenosis and they don't take too well to lots of jolts when sitting. None of them are that steady on flat solid surfaces, let alone sand, which is why the beach at the resort appealed to all of us. I think we will look into the possibility of purchasing chairs and having them shipped there, might not be a bad alternative. Thank you all for your suggestions, they are greatly appreciated!

 

[J&JFamily]

Our concerns are that none of our parents walk to well, all having bilateral artificial hips and knees along with lumbar stenosis and they don't take too well to lots of jolts when sitting. None of them are that steady on flat solid surfaces, let alone sand, which is why the beach at the resort appealed to all of us. I think we will look into the possibility of purchasing chairs and having them shipped there, might not be a bad alternative. Thank you all for your suggestions, they are greatly appreciated!

Hi Robin, I agree with David in an earlier post - you have a tough decision to make. I'm in no way telling you to cancel and go elsewhere, however, I can tell you the following:

We went to St. John (and WSJ) for the first time this past summer and had a great time (my wife, two kids, and other relatives). The beaches are beautiful and the people and restaurants are great.

Your description of your folks sounds very much like my mother - she is 78 years old, has had both hips replaced, her knee replaced, and spinal fusion surgery. She is ambulatory but most outings require the use of a cane (longer walks we use a standard wheelchair for her). As beautiful as St. John is, I don't think I would take her as it would just be too difficult on her physically. If you rent a car and park at the local beaches, the walks from the parking lots to the beach could be a challenge for an elderly person. Not unfathomable, but difficult. One of these walks would not be impossible, but the cumulative effect of many walks might present a challenge. If you opt to take taxis the ingress/egress into the taxis (taxis there are pickup trucks with benches built into the bed) could be very difficult. Many of the taxis allow passengers to sit in the cab, but they are mostly large trucks and entering the cab might be very difficult. I know my mom has a hard enough time just getting into my wife's minivan.

As David pointed out, I'm not sure I would be satisfied just staying at the WSJ beach for an extended period of time. Not that it is a bad beach (I live in southern CA and it is certainly nicer than our local beaches), but it doesn't compare to the other beaches on St. John.

Anyway, best of luck and I certainly hope you have a great trip wherever you decide to go!!!

 

[jerseygirl]

I too have parents with recent ambulatory (and worse) problems and agree with everything J&J said ... but I think my parents would also have problems at most beaches. If your goal is to provide them with a beach vacation, it probably will be difficult. But, if your goal is to allow them to relax and see a beautiful island, I think you can make it work. I LOVE the pool at the WSJ. The shuttles will pick you up at your room and deliver you poolside/beachside. If your parents can navigate into the taxis (this begins at the airport), you can take an island tour (ask when you check in as I've found that we don't always receive our activities guide). You can take taxis to some great restaurants and shopping!

I guess what I'm trying to say is that you can have a great vacation despite the limitations. I ask myself if my parents would rather go to St John even if they can't experience all the wonderful beaches or not go to St John at all ... And the answer is I think they'd rather go, limitations and all! One of our last great vacations with my parents was in Europe. Of course we were limited somewhat by what we could do ... But we treasure every minute of it!

Just another opinion to throw into the mix!

 

[GeneNWendy]

Regarding Beach Chairs

Our concerns are that none of our parents walk to well, all having bilateral artificial hips and knees along with lumbar stenosis and they don't take too well to lots of jolts when sitting. None of them are that steady on flat solid surfaces, let alone sand, which is why the beach at the resort appealed to all of us. I think we will look into the possibility of purchasing chairs and having them shipped there, might not be a bad alternative. Thank you all for your suggestions, they are greatly appreciated!

Robin and Mark,

Wendy and I travelled this past June to St. John. We spent a full day at Trunk Bay. We were able to rent beach chairs there without a problem. You pay approx $5.00 for each chair you rent and a $25.00 deposit (they take a credit card imprint, which they tear up when your return the chairs). It was in one of the huts near the entrance. Trunk Bay tends to get crowded later in the day as many tours from St Thomas with cruiseship passengers stop there. There's a reason they all go there. It is considered one of the 10 nicest beaches in the world according to National Geographic. They also have an amazing underwater snorkel trail. However, if you get there early (before 10:00am) you should have no problem getting the chairs.

If it were me, I would probably stick to the Westin beach and Trunk Bay. Most other beaches have no snack bar nor decent restroom facilities. You do have to pay a few dollars admission to Trunk Bay but it's well worth it. By doing this you don't have to concern yourself with buying or shipping chairs.

Gene

P.S. - You may want to look at my suggestion under posting 611 for renting a vehicle in St. Thomas at or near the airport and taking it over to St. John on the car ferry barge. This way your folks don't have to jump in and out of those pick-up truck taxis, hop onto the Westin ferry at $110.00 r/t per adult, and then be taken to your room on the Iguanna Shuttle. This way they get in one vehicle by the airport and don't get off until outside your villa at the Westin. As you will see in the posting, the savings in money by doing this will be absolutely incredble.

 

[Robin&Mark]

Thanks for your suggestions J&J Family, I had thought of the difficulty with the taxis access, the small steps and the fact that they are not the most comfortable. They may be able to do one walk to get to a beach but not much more than that which is why the beach there, easy walk into the water no waves is appealing. We are seeing them all this week and will discuss all of our options.

Jerseygirl -
We have similar thoughts to those you have expressed. We live in the east, so the flight isn't that long, we can manage our folks in the airports. We are not sure how many trips that involve air flight we will be able to take with them in the years ahead, not that they aren't willing, we just are not sure how able physically they will be. Our goal is to allow them a week in beautiful place to relax, enjoy some warm weather, and spend time together, we want this to be a time for them. They have no expectations of exploring the island, if we can it would be great, but if we can't, I think the Westin will provide them a spot they feel safe and with the use of the transportation at the resort we should be able to shuttle them from place to place with relative ease. Thank you for your time sharing your thoughts.

Gene&Wendy -
Thanks so much for pointing me to your post around renting a vehicle in St Thomas. My husband had been thinking about this and the information you have shared here is terrific! I also appreciate knowing there is a beach where we can rent chairs as opposed to purchasing and shipping. We will also check out the snorkling trail, I didn't know there was one there.
Thank you all, great to find a place where so many are so thoughtful and willing to share their ideas and experiences, I appreciate all of the advice!

 

[jarta]

Robin&Mark, ... Please get started making your car reservation. A large percentage of cars on St. John are rented for the next year as the vacationers leave the island. You have a little more than 1 month until you arrive.

Here is an older map of the resort: http://www.omvillasstjohn.com/images/westin_map.gif

Parking is convenient for the Hillside 2-br or less units (Buildings 31-34). But, they are called Hillside because they are perched up on a high hill (notice the switch-backs). Pools were built for each block of buildings because they are remote from the rest of the resort. Great panoramic views from up there.

If you are worried about walking on flat sand, you wouldn't want your 80ish parents walking up or down those steep hills. Golf carts are provided on a "catch as catch can" schedule by the resort. But, carts zoom around all the time. The waits are not that long to get down or up the hill.

The Hillside 3-br pool units are on the flats (Buildings 41-44). While closer to the beach, they are still a 2-2.5 city block walk to the main pool or the beach.

The newer portion of the timeshare resort (now called Buena Vista) is in Buildings 24-27. The path from Buildings 24 and 25 to the pool and beach is the flatter walk. The path to and from from Buildings 26 and 27 would be a scary walk for many 80 year olds. And, the car parking for Buildings 24-27 is next to the tennis courts. (No car traffic is allowed past the tennis courts/conference parking area - only golf carts allowed.)

The remainder of the buildings on the map are parts of the hotel. They are quite close to the pool and beach.

WSJ is a lovely place to vacation. The island is picturesque around every turn. It seems hard to get a bad meal there. I know you will enjoy it.

But, if you decide you want a car, make arrangements as soon as possible. (And, watch out for worn and under-inflated tires on the rental car.) ... eom

 

[gravitar]

The newer portion of the timeshare resort (now called Buena Vista)

To avoid confusion, I believe it is Bay Vista.

Steve

 

[Robin&Mark]

Thank you Jarta for the advise about reserving a car soon. I had not known there would be chance we could not get one. It is now on our list of things to accomplish by tomorrow! I also appreciate the map and your comments about the buildings and layout of the resort. At this point we will be staying in the newer villa buildings, I had thought the ones with the private pools may have been nice but it doesn't seem to be an option when trying to book through Starwood at least. We plan on utilizing the golf carts as our primary transportation for them on the resort.
Thank you very much for your reply!
Robin

 

[jarta]

Steve, ... "To avoid confusion, I believe it is Bay Vista."

Senior moment. Must have been thinking about Mickey! Happens more and more often. lol! ... eom

 

[GeneNWendy]

Info I received from an WSJ owner who lives in USVI

This news I heard about WSJ is not too good. For Robin and Mark, I don't think you need to be concerned about anything, especially if you're staying in the newer Bay Vista Units. However, this is of major concern to owners of the Virgin Grand Villas:

I found out yesterday that there is damage to all the 2 bedroom
townhouse villas and I suspect there may be the same type of
damage to some of the three bedroom pool villas. What happened
was that during hurricane Earl there was roof damage that wasn't
really discovered and then the heavy rains during the first week
of October led to water leaking in beneath the walls. There were
people in some of these villas in between and as recently as last
week but when an owner attempted to move in on Sunday,
you can see the drywall at the top of the stairs separating and
there are probably mold and mildew issues.

This borders on criminal negligence by the Westin for not
recognizing this because you can see by looking at the roofs
that there are shingles missing and no flashing where the windows
protrude from the roof.

What a good plan it was to do the renovation prior to fixing
the roofs! By the way there are still 100 hotel rooms/villas
off-line due to flood/rain related damages. I also found out
that part of the problem with the big pool was that they didn't
backwash the system prior to refilling so when it was turned
on, it just refilled with mud.

Speaking about the roof replacement, there is an owner here,
Rick XXXXXX, who is a contractor with experience doing roofs.
He was shocked when I told him of the Starwood estimate
of $750K per roof replacement. He estimated that his
company could replace one of these roofs within a week
and this estimate is much more than double what he thinks
that it should be. He also said there are many great
roofing materials now available that will withstand over
200 MPH winds.

It should be a real interesting Board meeting on 4 November.

 

[DavidnRobin]

This is very disconcerting (esp as a 2Bd TH Owner), but... criminal negligence??? Isn't that a bit extreme?
[loose law definition: criminal negligence is recklessly acting without reasonable caution and putting another person at risk of injury or death (or failing to do something with the same consequences)]

 

[GeneNWendy]

In response to last posting

This is very disconcerting (esp as a 2Bd TH Owner), but... criminal negligence??? Isn't that a bit extreme?
[loose law definition: criminal negligence is recklessly acting without reasonable caution and putting another person at risk of injury or death (or failing to do something with the same consequences)]

Dave and Robin,

You are right. I think "negligence" is sufficient. However, I am simply quoting what an owner told me.

Gene

 

[CAK1]

Hi Robinand Mark,

I'll be at the WSJ Nov 14 - 21st so I can give you an update when I'm there. I too debated canceling our trip. A Starwood rep called to I offer a replacement vacation to one of the Westin TS in Mexico & Hawaii (to be used within 2010! ) or deposit my week in II .
After a few phone calls I was able to get the rep to find me a 2 bdm at the Harborside @ Atlantis for the same week of 11/14. It was very tempting but the cost of changing our airline tickets and rebooking 3 people to the bahamas was over $1,400 so we decided to stay with our original plans and go to WSJ.

I was told by the Starwood Rep that a portion of the WSJ beach is open for guests plus they are shuttling guests 3 time a day to Hawksnest, Trunk Bay and Cinnamon Bay. I will have a full report when I get there.

Just praying the resort pool and kids club opens as scheduled!

Carrie

 

[NerdAlert]

Starwood WSJ Storm Response Team

I have a December rental that someone backed out of. Claimed the resort was "wiped out" etc.. I contacted Starwood about the progress of the repairs. They told me there is a special WSJ Storm team that has their pulse on the progress. They suggested I give my potential renters their direct number to ease their concerns. The number is: (888) 619-2989. They said tennis courts will be done by end of October, which is more optimistic than the Westin website.

 

[DavidnRobin]

Thanks for the info.

 

[jarta]

Another point of view from someone who stayed in Bldg. 31 last week:

" Tim says:
October 26, 2010 at 9:48 pm
We just returned home after staying at the Hillside Villas for a week. The weather was absolutely beautiful and the resort was in fine condition given all that it has been through in the past few months. Our villa and pool (BLDG 31) was in excellent condition. The main pool undergoing repairs, seems they may be taking advantage of the opportunity to get caught up on long term maintenance.

The beaches including Honeymoon, Hawksnest, Trunk Bay, Cinnamon Bay, Francis, Salt Pond and others were all open and beautiful as always.

Most of the resturants in Cruz bay are open. The crowds were light during our stay and most beaches less than crowded.

Miss Lucy’s will be open in Novemeber and Vie’s should be open by the first of Nov."

http://seestjohn.com/st_john_life/life-on-st-john/westin-resort-update-on-flood-damage/

Hard to tell what's what. ... eom

 

[NerdAlert]

New Starwood estimate on tennis courts= first week of December