Westin St. John [Master Thread]

DavidnRobin · Apr 24, 2009

Delta has moved our flights about 3x so far - luckily they have been improvements in our schedules (we had a tight layover time in ATL at one point).

You will see what a mess STT is - no organization at all - and then add in AA counter people with real attitude. And knowing STT/USVI - it is not going to change anytime soon.

applekor · Apr 24, 2009

tomandrobin said:
Wow....That is crazy.

We had a major problem with our scheduled flights for our June trip, flying with Continental. We booked our airfare in the fall and in Feb they rescheduled our Friday flight to a Saturday flight. Luckly, we caught the change in schedule and was able to switch airlines and airports (which is another story).

tomandrobin- Same thing happen to us. Of course I approved the change not even noticing the date change from friday to saturday. When I did discover it , Continental let me cancel and book on another airline that was not nearly as cheap as original res.

tomandrobin · Apr 25, 2009

applekor said:
tomandrobin- Same thing happen to us. Of course I approved the change not even noticing the date change from friday to saturday. When I did discover it , Continental let me cancel and book on another airline that was not nearly as cheap as original res.

We could not rebook a non-stop flight. We ended up switching from Newark, NJ to BWI, Md. We still have a connecting, but BWI is a 45 minute drive vs 2:15 and parking is only $6.40 a day. Plus we arrive earlier at STT then our canceled flight. We are happier with our new travel plans. The downside is we book our airfare early to lock in the best deal. We lost 6-7 months becuase of having to rebook, so we know we didn't get the best deal.

olivias dad · Apr 26, 2009

AA rescheduled our flight from BOS to the night before!! good thing i checked the itinerary. Was able to get a new flight roughly the same time....pheww.

DavidnRobin · Apr 27, 2009

More STJ links

http://www.stjohnsuntimes.com/

http://barnako.typepad.com/news_of_st_john_usvi/podcasts/
(not a new link - but links to the STJ podcast)

Go Slow - Stay Left.

DavidnRobin · Apr 29, 2009

old videos of STJ-STT (1983) in 3 parts from the web-site 'On St John'
http://www.on-stjohn.com/

http://www.on-stjohn.com/2009/04/13/1983-jeep-cam-part-one/

http://www.on-stjohn.com/2009/04/20/1983-jeep-cam-part-two/

http://www.on-stjohn.com/2009/04/27/1983-jeep-cam-part-3/

my... how things have changed...
{added: in case you are confused in part 1 - they have mixed new and old footage - as they cruise by the Westin and show what it used to look like before anything was there - since it didn't exist in 1983}

DavidnRobin · May 4, 2009

Cruz Bay Dock Cam - Back Up

http://www.stjohnspice.com/stjohnspicecam.htm

brought to you by St John Spice Co (one of our favs)

it's been raining - finally - islands have been turning brown after long drought.

Loriannf · May 5, 2009

Just returned from our trip on Saturday

Our unit, 4210, has yet to be refurbished. It was, seemingly, freshly painted, but the carpet (the blue-green wavy one installed about 3 years ago) is showing heavy wear with numerous spots fraying on the stairs and other locations. The same tired old appliances in the kitchen.

Another unpleasant surprise was the little package of detergents/laundry soap left in the kitchen. There was a small bottle of Palmolive, 2 small one load Tides, a 2 Snuggle sheet box, and ONE packet of dishwasher detergent. Further, there was a note on the package informing us that additional supplies could be had at $2.00/each from the deli. So, that's $2.00 per load of dishess. Eat out alot, or plan on handwashing or bringing Cascade from home.

We NEVER got a call regarding attending an owner's update or I would surely have let them know about the outrageousness of this new policy. One of the thing I loved about WSJ was never having to worry about bringing laundry detergent or dishwashing detergent.

Other things contributed to this being a very disappointing stay at our home resort. We were just there at Thanksgiving, and were looking forward to the 10th anniversary of our unit purchase. Needless to say, I will be writing a letter of complaint, though I fear it will fall on deaf ears.

Lori

DavidnRobin · May 5, 2009

Damn them...
Sorry to hear. I believe if you do complain loudly and constructively to the right people at WSJ you might get resolve, but I am afraid since they did supply these items before - it is a an attempt at cost cutting measures (penny-wise - dollar-foolish) - some managment people just don't get it unfortunately

I agree - for WSJ it is especially important to have basics which are not generally sold on STJ in small quantities (laundry soap, dishwashing and diswasher soap, dryer sheets, salt, pepper, sugar) and was great during our last stay to have these item.

I will also write to be proactive. Need to find my WSJ list...
firstname.lastname@starwoodvo.com
or
firstname.lastname@westin.com (which a lot of WSJ folks have)

I will let Robin know what to expect (her Dept.), and luckily we are there for 2 weeks now - so I won't feel like I am wasting items that we are forced to buy when we leave (same with food items - we have a difficult time with that - and why I am too heavy...). Generally - if we can - we will find someone to give them to since workers aren't allowed to take them.

What else happened? I heard there were torrential downpours (but they had been having a drought so far).

islandguy · May 6, 2009

Just got back yesterday and the rain was not that bad. Monday sea was a little choppy for snorkeling and the roads ok. The only bad thing it was an all day rain vs. last week that was 15 min and gone and more of a shower.

Regarding the cleaning packets -- my wife went thru the roof when she saw the limited supplies. The worst was the dishwasher soap -- that is unacceptable. We complained during the owners update -- they said they knew about the issue. Don't think the marketing folks like it but they don't control the policy.

OBTY we wanted another week so we purchased another week at STJ -- we love it on STJ.

DW is still on STT so she is enjoying the sun, water, and happy hours. Oh well I had to get back to work. Snorkeling is great this time of year.

The AA line wasn't bad -- got to the airport 1.5 hrs prior to flight and turned the rental car in and was at the gate 45 min prior to flight. Quite busy due to people returning from carnival. That was a great time watching the parade.

DavidnRobin · May 6, 2009

islandguy said:
Just got back yesterday and the rain was not that bad. Monday sea was a little choppy for snorkeling and the roads ok. The only bad thing it was an all day rain vs. last week that was 15 min and gone and more of a shower.

Regarding the cleaning packets -- my wife went thru the roof when she saw the limited supplies. The worst was the dishwasher soap -- that is unacceptable. We complained during the owners update -- they said they knew about the issue. Don't think the marketing folks like it but they don't control the policy.

OBTY we wanted another week so we purchased another week at STJ -- we love it on STJ.

DW is still on STT so she is enjoying the sun, water, and happy hours. Oh well I had to get back to work. Snorkeling is great this time of year.

The AA line wasn't bad -- got to the airport 1.5 hrs prior to flight and turned the rental car in and was at the gate 45 min prior to flight. Quite busy due to people returning from carnival. That was a great time watching the parade.

Thanks for the update - we leave in a few weeks. I am digging out my SVO/WSJ contacts about this. This is truly unwise (esp for STJ) since Owners pay a fortune in MFs that would make the $5/week cost of these materials (if handled properly) a non-issue and would keep Owners for a very minor cost that could pay-off in long run (other purchases for example). We as Owners do not need brand new bottles of these items - I am happy to use the dishwashing soaps (for example) that have been left over - all they would need to supply is larger pacakge formats and then replenish) - esp true in a world today where waste is becoming costly both to the enviroment and to the pocketbook.

What did you buy at the WSJ? From SVO? If so - what are the offering now-a-days?
{don't worry - no resale harassment - if anywhere - buying WSJ form SVO can make sense sometime}

We bought another week resale - because 1 week was way too short.

DavidnRobin · May 6, 2009

btw - for those reading this thread - please contact SVO/WSJ about this issue if it is important to you. From Robin's response last night - I can assume many others will be peeved by this news.

I have started, but there is support in numbers...

DavidnRobin · May 6, 2009

islandguy said:
The AA line wasn't bad -- got to the airport 1.5 hrs prior to flight and turned the rental car in and was at the gate 45 min prior to flight. Quite busy due to people returning from carnival. That was a great time watching the parade.

There was an article on 'News of St John' that AA Corp responded that this was not their policy - it looks as if STT AA went renegade on this. Having been denied boarding last year by AA so they could get their $15/bag - I plan to arrive way early - and flying Delta...

http://www.aa.com/aa/i18nForward.do...checkingIn/arrivalTimes.jsp&anchorEvent=false
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/prohibited/permitted-prohibited-items.shtm

DavidnRobin · May 6, 2009

The L’Esperance Trail Video

The L’Esperance Trail Video on 'On-StJohn'

http://www.on-stjohn.com/

{no direct link, but currently at top of page}

OCsun · May 6, 2009

We just returned from St. John too!

Loriannf said:
Our unit, 4210, has yet to be refurbished. It was, seemingly, freshly painted, but the carpet (the blue-green wavy one installed about 3 years ago) is showing heavy wear with numerous spots fraying on the stairs and other locations. The same tired old appliances in the kitchen.

Another unpleasant surprise was the little package of detergents/laundry soap left in the kitchen. There was a small bottle of Palmolive, 2 small one load Tides, a 2 Snuggle sheet box, and ONE packet of dishwasher detergent. Further, there was a note on the package informing us that additional supplies could be had at $2.00/each from the deli. So, that's $2.00 per load of dishess. Eat out alot, or plan on handwashing or bringing Cascade from home.

We NEVER got a call regarding attending an owner's update or I would surely have let them know about the outrageousness of this new policy. One of the thing I loved about WSJ was never having to worry about bringing laundry detergent or dishwashing detergent.

Other things contributed to this being a very disappointing stay at our home resort. We were just there at Thanksgiving, and were looking forward to the 10th anniversary of our unit purchase. Needless to say, I will be writing a letter of complaint, though I fear it will fall on deaf ears.

Lori

Lori,
Sorry to hear your unit was not yet updated. I was pleasantly surprised to see that our unit 4111, was updated with new carpet, new living room, dinning room and bedroom furniture. They replaced all the lamps, pictures, dinning room light fixture and new flat screen TV's in each bedroom and living room. We still had the same tired kitchen appliances but I guess they will be replaced when they update the kitchens and bathrooms.

I voiced my concern regarding the new small supply of kitchen items and got the same response as everyone else. If they would have somehow sent us an email regarding this change in policy, I would have bought additional supplies at the store on St. Thomas. We make a stop at the Food Center in Red Hook before taking the car ferry to St. John since supplies are less expensive on St. Thomas. Since we were spending week two on St. Thomas I just went out and bought the cheapest products they had at the Starfish Market.

The weather and snorkeling during week 16 were awesome. We stayed at the Marriott Frenchman's Cove week 17, and the weather did have occasional showers. We happened to take the car ferry back to St. John on Monday so our grandchildren could go to Maho Bay, and the water was so choppy I could not wait to get off the car ferry. Maho is so protected that we were able to still snorkel.

The Frenchman's Cove was very nice and my grandchildren enjoyed the kids activities but we kept saying, it's just not St. John - if you know what I mean.

Pam

islandguy · May 6, 2009

DavidnRobin said:
What did you buy at the WSJ? From SVO? If so - what are the offering now-a-days?
{don't worry - no resale harassment - if anywhere - buying WSJ form SVO can make sense sometime}

We bought 1 week from SVO got 50,000 hotel points a bonus. It is a studio. Now I can do 2 weeks at a time.

I have been lucky to get extra weeks at STJ, just not always able to do 2 weeks at a time. I'm going over labor day for a week in the 3 Bedroom. Don't like it that I will not know if it is in the houses or the condos. Reservation asked for the house but they will only tell me when I arrive. Oh well at least I'm in paradise. Also got air for $325 from DCA to STT. Will pay more for my car than air.

DeniseM · May 6, 2009

islandguy said:
Don't like it that I will not know if it is in the houses or the condos. Reservation asked for the house but they will only tell me when I arrive.

Houses at WSJ?

tlpnet · May 7, 2009

DavidnRobin said:
There was an article on 'News of St John' that AA Corp responded that this was not their policy - it looks as if STT AA went renegade on this. Having been denied boarding last year by AA so they could get their $15/bag - I plan to arrive way early - and flying Delta...

http://www.aa.com/aa/i18nForward.do...checkingIn/arrivalTimes.jsp&anchorEvent=false
http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/prohibited/permitted-prohibited-items.shtm

I read the release when it was still posted. It was clear to me that it was the American Eagle contracted carrier and not AA. I'm glad to see that American responded to it. Now if they would just do something about the contracted carrier (like fire everyone, and get new friendly, helpful, efficient staff).

-tim

DavidnRobin · May 7, 2009

DeniseM said:
Houses at WSJ?

I believe islandguy meant the 'house' as the pool villas versus the 'condo' as the BV phase (as the pool villas are like townhouses, not to be confused with our 2Bd which is classified as a townhouse, but just a 2-story condo...)

Islandguy - not to rag on you - but why buy a studio from SVO? Which can only be in the Virgin Grand phase (Hillside - Mandatory) - when they can be had cheaply on the resale market - certainly not worth the 50K incentive SPs (no matter what kind of fuzzy math is used) and certainly not worth the SO-SO conversion (again, no matter what math is used). You have been on TUG for a while - so I am curious as to why you choose this route.

I assume that you bought a fixed week - since that is how they are deeded (even though they can float, but difficult to perform form experiences here) - which unit, which week - and if you do not mind - what is SVO selling them for?

We love STJ also - and bought a 2nd week to match our 1st, but we bought from the Owners that owned the adjacent week since the check-in day is also fixed - so we have 2weeks consectutively (Fri-Fri)

DavidnRobin · May 10, 2009

Plume, Plume go away...

... come back some other day.
http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/index.pl/article_home?id=17635642

well... at least be gone 4 weeks from now...

I was in an algae plume in 1997 (El Nino year) while sailing the Grenadines - outside of Union Island (Tabago Cays) and the plume was so strong the water in entire cay (inside Horseshoe reef) was solid green (water temp was >90F) - with small jelly fish afterwards

Loriannf · May 10, 2009

Another TS Salesman's "story"

While we were out on our snorkel trip last week, we met another couple who had just purchased a studio. I think I talked them into rescinding (they own WKORV, and had rented after unsuccessfully trying to get WSJ for 5 years). Anyway, when they were being driven up to the studios, they asked the TS salesman what the buildings were there on the left. They were told they were "apartments". When the female half of the couple tried to ask if they were the pool villas, she was told no. I spoke with the couple to make sure they weren't referring to the units behind the deli, but sure enough, they were referring to the Pool villas.

I also spoke with a couple who traded in a studio and a 2 bedroom loft for two 3 bedroom EOY pool villas (week 48). They wouldn't tell me how much they paid, but felt that SVO "had been fair."

I referred both to TUG for further reading.

Lori

DavidnRobin · May 10, 2009

Loriannf said:
I referred both to TUG for further reading.
Lori

I refer people to TUG often while at our resorts - hopefully, if anything, to just get involved. I think most would just rather vacation w/o thinking about it (esp at WSJ) - these are the folks that TS salespeople love.

DavidnRobin · May 11, 2009

yet, another reason to visit STJ...

http://singha.lonelyplanet.com/bars/?city=St John, USVI

or this one...

http://singha.lonelyplanet.com/

4 of the top 10 bars in the world (according to Lonely Planet)

they are changing, but lists...
Woody’s, Quiet Mon, Beach Bar, Skinny Legs, Soggy Dollar, Willie-T and Foxy’s.

tomandrobin · May 11, 2009

DavidnRobin said:
http://singha.lonelyplanet.com/bars/?sort=rank&city=St John, USVI

7 of the top 20 bars in the world (according to Lonely Planet)

Going to be there 7 days, and there are 7 top 20 bars....coincidence? hmmmmm

James1975NY · May 11, 2009

tomandrobin said:
Going to be there 7 days, and there are 7 top 20 bars....coincidence? hmmmmm

Well, I can say that I have been to the Beach Bar and Woody's but I do no remember the others....not to say I wasn't there :hysterical: