Westin St John versus Ritz Carlton St Thomas

[chuck3810]

i have offers to rent a holiday week at both of these resorts--Ritz is more expensive. I am looking for any insight as to how the 2 resorts and islands compare. We will be traveling with 2 daughters ages 16 and 19 and staying in a 2bedroom unit.

 

[Pmuppet]

i have offers to rent a holiday week at both of these resorts--Ritz is more expensive. I am looking for any insight as to how the 2 resorts and islands compare. We will be traveling with 2 daughters ages 16 and 19 and staying in a 2bedroom unit.

This is the way i look at it. I grew up sharing a bed at a motel six (days inn was a treat for us) with my brother till we moved out.

From a hotel perspective, both are top notch, and i wouldnt consider it a Ritz vs WSJ in your assessment. I would investigate the two islands and what you want to do there. Then compare transportation/flight logistics to see if one is more feasible (actually would investigate the logistics first as this might steer you to a particular place).

Sounds like a great vacation.

 

[Westin5Star]

I have been to St. Thomas about 10 times. I have been to St. John 3 times. I love St. John so much that I will probably never stay in St. Thomas again. Service will be better at the Ritz but IMO St. John more than makes up for this. Good luck with you decision and have fun on your vacation.

 

[jerseygirl]

Agree with Westin5Star

Ritz > Westin
St John > St Thomas

If you're going for the resort, go to the Ritz (or save $$ on airfare and visit one of the beautiful Ritz resorts in Florida, like:

http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/AmeliaIsland/Default.htm

or

http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/KeyBiscayne/Default.htm

If you're going for the island, go for the Westin.

 

[siesta]

I wouldnt necessarily say its as clear cut as st john > st thomas, as beautiful as st john is it lacks nightlife, and for some they may prefer to day trip in st john and stay on st thomas to be better situated for dining, bars, clubs, shopping, etc.

 

[SDKath]

I wouldnt necessarily say its as clear cut as st john > st thomas, as beautiful as st john is it lacks nightlife, and for some they may prefer to day trip in st john and stay on st thomas to be better situated for dining, bars, clubs, shopping, etc.

This is what we did. We stayed at St Thomas (the Ritz) back when it was a hotel and then took the ferry to St. John quite often during the week long stay. It was the best of both worlds!

Kath

 

[jerseygirl]

Lacks night life? What's wrong with playing Backgammon at the Beach Bar and talking to the locals?

 

[Westin5Star]

I love Backgammon! I actually love the restaurants in St. John. It is part of the appeal to go into relatively small places and get good food and service. I especially like La Plancha, Zozos, Asolare (view is amazing), CBP, and Da Livio. I will admit that I am a pretty old 39 and so we do not go out and party much to clubs and such (last week in Cancun we didn't get close to a club for the whole week). I actually do love hanging out at a couple of places in St. John listening to a guitar singer and having a few drinks after dinner though. I agree though that one should stay in St. Thomas if they are seeking more nightlife.

 

[Pmuppet]

I love Backgammon! I actually love the restaurants in St. John. It is part of the appeal to go into relatively small places and get good food and service. I especially like La Plancha, Zozos, Asolare (view is amazing), CBP, and Da Livio. I will admit that I am a pretty old 39 and so we do not go out and party much to clubs and such (last week in Cancun we didn't get close to a club for the whole week). I actually do love hanging out at a couple of places in St. John listening to a guitar singer and having a few drinks after dinner though. I agree though that one should stay in St. Thomas if they are seeking more nightlife.

OP said he has two teen age girls who will be with him on his great vacation.

Not sure what island he would prefer, but if it were me, it would be the island with less nightlife...lol

 

[zsn]

OP said he has two teen age girls who will be with him on his great vacation.

Not sure what island he would prefer, but if it were me, it would be the island with less nightlife...lol

Having two teenage girls myself, I couldn't agree more.....It is the USVI...so, if it were me I'd begin by looking into the local 'packing-heat-Laws'

 

[SDKath]

OP said he has two teen age girls who will be with him on his great vacation.

Not sure what island he would prefer, but if it were me, it would be the island with less nightlife...lol

ROFL! Now that's funny!

 

[work2travel]

Just a word of caution - with the exception of the main resorts where the service is exceptional, we generally exprienced a less than hospitable attitude from locals. We also felt unsafe in Charlotte Amalie and a little less so at Cruz Bay. There are too many characters walking around peddling drugs. The rest are harrasing visitors to shop in their stores. The best thing about USVI is the ocean water, but honestly, there are so many other great beaches to choose from. My recommendation: Take your family to Hawaii, or French Polynesia!

 

[pharmgirl]

we have sailed the caribbean many times, mostly BVI and stayed on land at both the Marriott frenchmans cove and westin st john timeshare
liked both timeshares but westin the most
When sailing, charters would tell us if you go to st thomas be very careful, lock every thing on the boat, lock your dingy. BVI no problems
It is depressing as both islands are so close and basic population the same but the USVI has more crime than the BVI -maybe more drugs
When we sailed outside Francis Drake channel on ocean side, the british would fly over our boat several times looking to see if we were the usual sailing groups, they seem very careful about drugs

Our favorite place to stay is Bitter end on virgin gorda. We stay on the boat but there are rental units [small]

i would recommend st john over st thomas
we also liked westin st john because they have free kayaks, sunfish etc for use, lots of beautiful gardens at westin

 

[SDKath]

Just a word of caution - with the exception of the main resorts where the service is exceptional, we generally exprienced a less than hospitable attitude from locals. We also felt unsafe in Charlotte Amalie and a little less so at Cruz Bay. There are too many characters walking around peddling drugs. The rest are harrasing visitors to shop in their stores. The best thing about USVI is the ocean water, but honestly, there are so many other great beaches to choose from. My recommendation: Take your family to Hawaii, or French Polynesia!

Hmmm, I think St John is a 1000x nicer than any island in Hawaii. The waters are spectacular, crystal clear, amazingly warm, etc. The locals are super friendly and have a great "welcome to our little island" attitude. The views from driving around the island cannot compare to any other location in the world.

I have never been to the central parts of town in St Thomas but have been to the many nice beaches around and have never felt unsafe. Granted I would never walk around at midnight by myself (anywhere), but we've never once had any problems. The Ritz is on it's own little peninsula area with huge gardens and it is spectacular.

 

[cvelasco]

Hmmm, I think St John is a 1000x nicer than any island in Hawaii. The waters are spectacular, crystal clear, amazingly warm, etc. The locals are super friendly and have a great "welcome to our little island" attitude. The views from driving around the island cannot compare to any other location in the world.

I have never been to the central parts of town in St Thomas but have been to the many nice beaches around and have never felt unsafe. Granted I would never walk around at midnight by myself (anywhere), but we've never once had any problems. The Ritz is on it's own little peninsula area with huge gardens and it is spectacular.

We just got back from St John last week with three teens, 18,17,15 and while we had a great time at the beaches and hiking but it was a little sleepy for them. Westin pretty much closed up at night. The teens loved going into town for dinner and shopping but they all agreed more night life would be better ( they love Atlantis!)

 

[Westin5Star]

Just a word of caution - with the exception of the main resorts where the service is exceptional, we generally exprienced a less than hospitable attitude from locals. We also felt unsafe in Charlotte Amalie and a little less so at Cruz Bay. There are too many characters walking around peddling drugs. The rest are harrasing visitors to shop in their stores. The best thing about USVI is the ocean water, but honestly, there are so many other great beaches to choose from. My recommendation: Take your family to Hawaii, or French Polynesia!

I have been offered to buy drugs on more than one occasion in Hawaii. I have yet to be offered to buy drugs in the VIs. For those of you wondering, I did not buy them!

I prefer the VIs over Hawaii. We are heading to Bora Bora, Tahiti, and Moorea next month but it will be our first visit.