Westin St John review with Pics

[tomandrobin]

We are back from our week in Paradise!

Meet David and Robin....barely, and applekor (Tom) several times around the resort.

In the last 12 months, we have been able to stay at HRA, WKORV and WSJ. All three resorts are fantastic and so different. The number 1 rule in real estate is location, location, location and Starwood got it right with all three of these resorts.

A brief summary of our trip, with details to follow.

Day 1 - Arrive at the resort around 4:30pm. Head to the rooms, drop-off everything and eat lunch beach side. Spend the evening at the resort, after the long travel day.

Day 2 - Booked the "Bad Kitty" excursion for the day to BVI. We stop at the Baths, Cooper Island, Norman Caves and Jost (Soggy Dollar). Long day of sun, fun and drinking. In the evening, we grill and use the Hillside pool.

Day 3 - Resort Day. We reserved a cabana for two days and just chill at the resort pool. We drink, swim, play water volley ball, go to the beach, use the floats and trampoline. We pretty much just relaxed...its vacation. In the evening, we grill again.

Day 4 - Repeat Day 3, except we did the owners update in the morning to get our tickets for the Caribbean BBQ. In the evening we grill again.

Day 5 - We venture off property and head to Maho Bay for snorkeling. That evening we go to the Caribbean BBQ bash. The BBQ was terrific, we all had a great time. Well worth our 90 minutes from the owners update.

Day 6 - We go to Leinster Bay and Waterlemon Cay. Lots and lots of mosquitoes! Tonight, we went to Parisdo for dinner and shopping at Mongoose Junction.

Day 7 - Off to Trunk Bay for the day, no cruise ships were in port. Last night at the resort. We grill at the hillside pools again.

Next morning, we are on the first ferry over to St Thomas. Sad, sad day.

I have a ton of pictures, including the three bedroom and two bedroom loft from Bay Vista.

 

[Transit]

Ok Tom, so what happened to the pics?

 

[DavidnRobin]

It was good to meet you guys - even briefly. We did not do a single resort day - we never even went into the main pool or the Bay at WSJ (to Robin's dismay - since we got engaged in the bay)

I am still trying to remember what we did on Days 10&11 (Sun-Mon)... excellent vacation

The mosquitoes were the only downside of our vacation - that, and having to come home.

You are right about WKORV and WSJ - someday we will get to HRA (and WLR), but at our rate it will take another 10 years (2 weeks at a time) to explore all of STJ.

 

[tomandrobin]

St Thomas Airport and Westin Check-in at the Airport.

Westin Ferry at St Thomas, before we boarded. We went into the store and got a few quick supplies and a 6 pack of beer for the ride over.

Ride over to St John dock.

 

[DeniseM]

WOW! I feel like I was there! Can't wait to see more!

 

[tomandrobin]

We arrive at the Westin Dock. We were a little disappointed that there were no drinks or towels being handed out, like our last visit. But thanks to the Efficient check-in at the airport, we are taken right to our room. This is a a nice way to start a vacation.

Dan, the oldest, was last to get off the ferry.

We stop and check-out the birds at the end of the dock, before heading off to our rooms.

Our Villa entrance

Our "view" or something like that.

A few of our neighbors...

We drop off our carry-on bags, change into bathing suits and head down to the resort pool and cafe for lunch. I didn't take any more pictures the rest of the evening.....forgot camera.

 

[Ken555]

Looks great!

 

[tropical1]

Your pictures are beautiful! We stayed in a 2bd loft in Bay Vista last year in building 24 and just loved it, it was our first time there so we don't know what the Virgin Grand is like, although we would love to get a 3 bdrm pool villa!

 

[DeniseM]

Are those big Iguanas (?) mean?

 

[tomandrobin]

Your pictures are beautiful! We stayed in a 2bd loft in Bay Vista last year in building 24 and just loved it, it was our first time there so we don't know what the Virgin Grand is like, although we would love to get a 3 bdrm pool villa!

Our friends were staying in a two bedroom loft, in the Virgin Grand section.

 

[tomandrobin]

Are those big Iguanas (?) mean?

I don't think they are mean, they are vegetarians. They were all over the resort, including the pool area more on them later.

 

[DavidnRobin]

I don't think they are mean, they are vegetarians. They were all over the resort, including the pool area more on them later.

They do make a hissing sound. the older they get - the browner they get - there is a very large one (4ft?) at Maho Bay (saw him this year and last year)

 

[tisiree]

Those pictures are gorgeous! Can't wait to see more.

 

[ciscogizmo1]

Great pictures... thanks for sharing..

 

[heckp]

Beautiful pictures....one day....

Have fun!

 

[jerseygirl]

Are those big Iguanas (?) mean?

We had a big one (not 4 feet, thank goodness) that came into our pool area every day - I guess just to say hello and see how we were doing. Since I'm an early riser, I was often alone in the pool (floating and napping!) at 9 am or so. It was a little scary to wake up and see him (her?) standing at the very edge of the pool staring at me!

 

[tomandrobin]

They like to climb the tress and occasionally they will drop a bomb on an unsuspecting guest below.......its not pretty.

 

[Transit]

Nice pics Tom,Can't wait to return there.

 

[Numismatist]

Even though I go often enough, it never amazes me how beautiful the water is. Can't wait for my St. Thomas Cove trip in 17 days!

Thanks for the photos - wonderful.

Living on the coast of Maine, we have dark green-brown water, we're lucky if we can see down through a few inches!

Marvelous, that water is just great!

 

[tomandrobin]

Missed a picture of the bay as we pulled up to the Westin Dock.

We had a three bedroom villa that was opened a year ago. Its decorated in a contemporary theme, either you like it or you don't....no middle ground here. Overall we were pleased with the unit.

Courtyard at villa

Front of villa

Our unit's entrance

In the living room, looking out

 

[tomandrobin]

Our Kitchen and dining room

I missed the Master Bedroom, but here is the tub that was in the Master Bath

Second Master bedroom with its own master bath

The third bedroom, I missed getting a bath room pics from this one too.

The showers had this really cool small river rock finish. The Master Bath Tub was huge, at least 3 foot tall and very wide.

 

[tomandrobin]

Overall, we really liked the unit layout and space. It was really nice having three bedrooms and three "full" bath rooms. The beds were great, as to b expected. We had plenty of storage space, even without closets in each bedroom. We used the kitchen often and did not miss having an oven, even though we did use the oven in the Hillside unit. The unit was in great shape, except we were missing the coffee maker and alarm clocks. We called the front desk and received both within 30 minutes. Everyone liked having their own flat screen in their rooms. The kids thought the unit and their rooms were....and I quote "Sick!".

What we didn't like.....

No ceiling fans in the bedrooms! We really did not care for the translucent glass walls surrounding the toilet, in the master bath. The lighting was very poor in the master bathroom, especially at the sink area.

We did tour the two bedroom loft during our owners update. We liked that unit very much too, but I'll post more details later.

 

[TimW1]

Very nice pictures. I am a newbie to the site but have owned a hillside villa for the last 3 years and found this site.

Tim

 

[jerseygirl]

Great pictures! I loved the 2-BR loft also .... if I go through with a 2nd purchase, I think I'm going to go with that unit.

 

[tomandrobin]

After getting settled, we head down to the resort pool area and eat a late lunch and wait for the rest of our group to arrive. We really didn't do much that first night and in my rush to eat, I left the camera in the room....so no more first day pictures. After a long travel day and getting up early, we all go to bed early.

Day 2 - Trip to British Virgin Islands

And the fun begins!

Our first full day is our big excursion day. We have booked a charter to the British Virgin Islands. We have a stop at Spanish Town and the legendary "Baths". Then we head to Cooper Island, Norman Island and last stop is Jost Van Dyke to visit the legendary Soggy Dollar.....birth place of the Painkiller! :margarita

We arrive dockside by 7:30am to sign in and fill out paper. Once all done and everyone is accounted for we board our boat for the day.....The Bad Kitty!

Dock at Cruz Bay

Boarding The Bad Kitty

In side the Kitty, prior to leaving St John

Pulling away from St John

The Bad Kitty is a wave piercing 49' catamaran, built for speed and a smooth ride over the open water. Much faster then the traditional boats and the ferry for inter-island travel. There is a crew of three on board. Captain Stan and his two assistants. Our trip includes a continental breakfast and open bar!!! The drinks started flowing as you boarded the boat and didn't stop until 4:30pm, when we returned to port.

Random Pics of the boat ride over to our first stop....