WESTIN
ST. JOHN, USVI
... A review of
a Starwood Resort in the US Virgin Islands (stay: 12/18/02-12/29/02)
After a year of planning and executing events for a
multi-billion dollar corporation and staying in multiple Starwood properties, my partner
and I decided to cash-in a hard-earned 78,750 Starwood Points and experience someplace
relaxing. Over the Christmas holidays, we spent eight days at the Westin Resort on
St. John.
Prior to arrival, we chose to spend the $65 each to have the
Westin handle our transfer from St. Thomas to St. John. The Westin handles your
luggage from the time you check in at the Westin desk in the St. Thomas airport and
delivers your bags directly to your room at the resort on St. John. And, of course,
you arrive on St. John directly at the dock at the Westin Resort. In addition, you
get unlimited transfers back and forth to St. Thomas during your stay … that is, if
you really want to spend time on St. Thomas. St. John is so beautiful, that you may
not want to leave at all.
When we checked in at the Westin desk in the airport on St.
Thomas, we found that the resort did not recognize our Platinum status with
Starwood. After a few awkward moments of trying to get the situation resolved, the
person checking us in made us feel like it was a hassle to see if there were any room
upgrades that are supposed to be made automatically available to Platinum members, based
on availability of course.
We boarded the resorts open-air mini-bus and was transported to
a local marina where we boarded the Westin boat. The boat, although new, is
utilitarian … so, don’t expect a sleek, 110’ yacht such as used by Hayman
Island Resort on the Great Barrier Reef of Australia.
The voyage from St. Thomas to St. John was very enjoyable.
It was a perfect day for the trip ... bright and sunny with just a light chop.
We debarked the boat to find a number of resort representatives offering
refreshing, cold, wet towels to remove the grime from our day’s travel and glasses of
Rum Punch.
After a few pleasantries, we were shown to a golf cart and a
resort employee gave us a tour of the grounds and then took us to our room. We
arrived to find a standard-sized room that smelled of mold and mildew, a bathroom that was
so filthy that our feet stuck to the floor when we walked on the tile, a safe that did not
work, a toilet that constantly ran, no work desk, and a phone that did not have a working
data port.
Since this is a vacation resort, I guess I can forgive the fact
the room had no desk. But, for those of us who never really get a true vacation, it
was a disappointment. Compared to other Westin properties, the room was on the lower
end of the luxury scale.
Even though we had cashed in enough points to gain us a two-room
upgrade, they put us in a “pool view” room. The building that housed our
room certainly was not in the back of the property, however, there were buildings that had
the same sized rooms as ours that were between the beach and us. I have no idea how
one would gain access to the beach rooms. If we cashed in any more points, we would
have been upgraded to one of the suites or villas. But, the suites and villas were
in the back of the property and up on the hillside. It was a head scratcher for
sure.
Problem resolution is not a strong suit with the property
management. I contacted the property’s general manager, Mr. Graeme Davis.
He referred me to Matt Balcik, “Rooms Executive”. Although Matt really did
try to solve the issues, the only things that got taken care of was the repair of the safe
and the phone’s data port. He sent housekeeping to clean the bathroom
floor. But, nonetheless, the sticky mess remained and slowly went away as a result
of the daily housekeeping duties during the week’s stay.
Matt did take the time to show me another room with a
“better view”, but as I explained to him … once again … the problem
was not the view, it was the stench of mold and mildew that, it seemed, was the bouquet of
choice that all rooms offered up to its guests. The room he showed me certainly had
a better view, but yet offered the same smell, although a tad less pungent. Since we
were already unpacked, we stayed put in our original room and Matt ended up sending
someone to attend to the smell. While we were out to dinner, someone masked the
smell of mold and mildew by dousing the room with a pungent fragrance of lemon. We
arrived back wondering, which was worse! For the duration of our stay, we turned the
air conditioning down to 65. It was rather cold, but it reduced the stench of the
mold and mildew that ended up overcoming the smell of lemon post haste.
We think the problem with the stench comes from the carpet that
seemed to absorb the constant humidity. Why any hotel or resort in the Caribbean
would choose to have carpet in their rooms is beyond me. A logical choice, to us at
least, would be a tile and/or marble floor with throw rugs. But, now I digress!
Now that I got some unpleasantness out of the way, let me say a
few positive things about the resort. The grounds are beautiful. The grounds
crew has done a fabulous job at making the exterior environment very pleasant
indeed. Walking through the Westin property is like walking through a botanical
garden. There are beautiful flowering plants in every direction. Several
tropical birds have been made pets by the property and we saw several Iguanas lumbering
through the grounds. It made every stroll through the resort quite intriguing and
fun.
I’ve seen several reviews on this resort that spoke of the
expansive grounds and the need to take a healthy walk wherever you decide to go. We
actually found our short walks to be enjoyable. Unless you got one of the rooms on
the back of the property, we thought all rooms were relatively close to the most popular
amenities of the resort. As well, having the building spread out a bit made the
environment feel more open, providing a feeling of freedom.
There are a few restaurants on the property. The Snorkels
Bar and Grill has a small, but perfect menu that compliments its very casual
surroundings. As long as your private parts are covered, you’ll be welcomed at
Snorkels. You can eat alfresco at several tables that are between the pool and the
beach or you can order directly from the comfort of your lounge chair besides the pool or
from the beach. Just flip up the red flag on the back of your lounge chair to notify
staff you wish to place an order. What could be easier? The staff is engaging
and friendly.
The Beach Café is a little more formal, but yet very casual.
As long as you wear a shirt and sandals, you’re fine. It’s an open-air
café that serves breakfast and dinner. We had the breakfast buffet several mornings
and enjoyed every one of them. It’s very enjoyable eating alfresco while
watching the boats in the awakening harbor. I remember seeing reviews from other
authors complaining about the price of the buffet. But, we expected food to be a
little more expensive on the islands and even more so at the resort. The cost of the
breakfast buffet is $20 per person, which is a bit expensive for the offerings, but not
out of line with what we expected. Here again, the staff here is wonderful,
engaging, and friendly.
Chloe & Bernard’s is the ‘formal’ restaurant on
the property … as formal as you're going to get on the Islands that is. Certainly
no coat and tie required here! It’s a wonderful environment with excellent
cuisine. The night we dined, a local who was singing and playing the guitar
entertained the small, well-appointed restaurant with soothing tunes. He was very
enjoyable to listen to.
We made use of several of the property’s amenities during
our stay. I obtained my scuba diver certification through Cruz Bay Water Sports and
enjoyed my experience with them immensely. I got to dive a number of interesting
reefs while earning the certification. They also rent small dingys, wave runners,
and other various, water equipment as well. Great, safe operation.
We also rented a 29-foot boat from Nauti-Nymph Boat Rentals for a
day (8:30AM to 5:00PM). It’s an excellent way to explore the island
chain. We cruised up to the British Virgin Islands, found a remote beach on one of
the islands to “get rid of some of our tan lines”, and snorkeled at the Caves at
Norman Island (the absolute best snorkeling on the V.I.’s and highly recommended by
the way!). Although, the staff at Nauti-Nymph will tell you to get back to the
U.S.V.I. at 3:30 to be able to check in with US Customs, gas up, and return to the Westin
by 5:00PM; that’s bullcrap. The Westin is a 15-minute cruise from U.S. Customs
and it literally took us 15 minutes to clear customs and gas up the boat. We were
back at the Westin by 4:00. I think they told us 3:30 so we would be back in time
for them to spiff up the boat for the next day’s rental and go home at 5:00.
But, all in all, it was well worth the $390 we spent on rental cost (plus gas and customs
costs, of course). But, be careful. If you can’t read nautical charts,
DO NOT rent a boat. There are numerous reefs hiding just under the waterline that
have taken their fair share of victims.
Both Cruz Bay Water Sports and Nauti-Nymph are located right on the
Westin Property and very accessible with staffed desks by the Westin dock.
In addition to the amenities mentioned above, the harbor where
the resort is located is a good location to watch sunsets. They have some large
round, trampoline floatys in the water that are fun to romp on. The pool is
wonderful. A little crowded, but very enjoyable. Everything in the Mango Deli
is way over-priced, but they serve up a great pizza.
Unless you plan on absolutely vegging at the resort, we highly
recommend renting a 4-wheel drive jeep and exploring the island. The harbor where
the resort is located is not good for snorkeling. So, if you want to do some good
snorkeling, rent a jeep and go elsewhere (we recommend Cinnamon Bay, Leinster Bay, and
Hawkness Bay). Stay away from the touristy Trunk Bay. It’s crowded and
very over-rated.
You can also see plenty of the island if you rent the jeep. We
particularly recommend “Bordeaux Mountain Road” (US108) … but, only if you
have a 4-wheel drive. If not, don’t bother … you won’t make it!
The road, which is really a two-wheel dirt path, will put you atop a 1300 foot mountain
from which you can view the entire chain of Virgin Islands … U.S. and British.
It’s a stunning view for sure and where we obtained the best pictures of our
vacation.
Oh-oh, I’m digressing again … back to the resort!
Apart from the restaurant staff that is wonderful and engaging, the
friendliness of the staff is hit and miss. The concierge staff is useless.
They didn’t seem to know jack-shit about the island. I ended up educating them
on a couple subjects. And, the front desk staff, in particular, needs big attitude
adjustments. We got the feeling that we disturbed them. We wanted to ship a
box that contained our snorkeling equipment back home and it became a huge issue with the
resort. I ship boxes from most of the hotels and resorts that I stay at on a yearly
basis and never had encountered a similar situation. Certainly, we were not the only
guests who wished to take advantage of the resort’s shipping and receiving
department! It just made us scratch our heads (again) and wonder what the big deal
really was! They were also unable to give us any tracking numbers for the shipment
which didn’t provide us a secure feeling.
When it came time to check out of the resort, they again did not
recognize our Platinum status. Platinum members are supposed to receive a late,
4:00PM checkout, if accommodations allow. Even though our return transfer
wasn’t scheduled until 3 o’clock in the afternoon, they demanded that we vacate
our room at the standard checkout time of 11:00AM, all without offering any
explanation. We weren’t particularly thrilled about sweating around the pool
for 4-hours waiting for our transfer back to St. Thomas and the subsequent flight to our
next destination, Puerto Rico. And, I wasn’t particularly thrilled with the
front desk agent’s attitude, so, another call to management was made to get the issue
cleared up.
They also had a couple of questionable charges on our bill.
After some discussion, the $96.05 (per day) “SPG Award” fees were removed.
We never did find out what those fees were supposed to represent. It seemed
like they were attempting to charge us for using our Starwood points. Hmmm …
The resort also charged a $12.00 “Resort Fee” (per
day). It was explained to me that the fee covers the resorts amenities, such as the
fitness club. However, Platinum members are supposed to have access to Starwood
fitness facilities for free. But, I guess the resort was just being consistent in
not recognizing our Platinum status! I briefly objected to the fee, but the rude
representative at the front desk didn’t budge. And, I didn’t press the
matter as I already felt tired from being browbeaten by the front desk staff. In all
fairness, I did check the Starwood website upon arrival back home and did find that a
“$15.00 Resort Fee” was listed in the fine print. However, this fee seems
to conflict with some benefits of the Platinum Starwood Program. And, I didn’t
reserve the room on the website … I booked our stay via telephone through
Starwood’s Preferred Guest Program and was told nothing about these extra fees.
Even the confirmation e-mail that we received from Starwood made no mention of these extra
fees. Fees like this bug the heck out of me … it’s just a way of sucking
more cash out of guests while calling it something that sounds palatable. It would
be more palatable to me if they would just call it for what it really is … an
“up-sale”!
All in all, the resort is decent. Although, I must say
that it is the worst managed Westin property that I’ve stayed at. One thing is
for sure ... I will never engage this property to execute a business event ... hell,
it'd be a disaster! I never did see the General Manager … which is kind of
strange, considering we were there for eight days. All the other resorts I’ve
stayed at, the general manager had personally engaged the guests at some point during
their stay … at least the preferred guests. But, not here. Hmmm … to
busy handling complaints, I guess.
By the way, let me get a plug in here for the Westin Grand
Bohemian in Orlando, Florida. If you want to stay at a unique hotel in downtown
Orlando that is run by excellent management, look no further! But, that’s
another article!
Bottom Line: The Westin Resort on St. John is going
to be a wonderful vacation like no other for those people who seldom travel and/or are
used to staying at Holiday Inns. But, for the well-seasoned, frequent traveler, this
particular property will be a disappointment. That being said, there are no other
properties on St. John that are better … perhaps Caneel Bay … but, that is up
for debate as well.
If you’re going to St. John and want a lot of amenities, head
for the Westin. But, be prepared for the lack of service that seems to be indicative
of the Islands. It’s no wonder why the Virgin Islands are no longer the
destination of choice for the jet setters. And, it seems the residents of the
Islands are unequivocally bitter over that fact!
Possess a desire to express your thoughts about this article?
If so, contact me.
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LAST UPDATED: December 12, 2003
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