St Thomas On A Shoestring?

[sallysue66]

This year is going to be a non-Disney year and we have been looking for somewhere to go this spring. After reading an article in yesterday's paper we are thinking St. Thomas. We can fly there for under $800 total for the 3 of us. Wyndham Sugar Bay would run about $200 per night but may opt for a house or condo on VRBO.com. So, so far it looks pretty reasonable for a caribbean vacation. But I need help deciding between staying at a resort vs. a house. If we choose the house we would need a car. Can anyone tell me about getting around St. Thomas? Is it difficult? Any info on the area would be appreciated. TIA.
Lora

 

[DisneyDreams4P&B]

I have been to St. Thomas and (remember it is just my opinion) and I wasn't too impressed by it. I found it to be on the dirtier side of many islands I had been to and I found the people I encountered on the island to be very pushy.

Now, that being said, the 15 minute ferry ride to st. john (which is right next door) is beautiful! I loved it. It is lush, tropical and one of my favorite places to go. You can still fly into st. thomas and then just take the ferry to get to st john. it runs back and forth all day.

http://www.stjohnusvi.com/accom.html

has everything from hotels, to cottages, homes for rent and inns and B&b's..many are in the price range you gave.

Hope this helps some

 

[sallysue66]

I have been to St. Thomas and (remember it is just my opinion) and I wasn't too impressed by it. I found it to be on the dirtier side of many islands I had been to and I found the people I encountered on the island to be very pushy.

Now, that being said, the 15 minute ferry ride to st. john (which is right next door) is beautiful! I loved it. It is lush, tropical and one of my favorite places to go. You can still fly into st. thomas and then just take the ferry to get to st john. it runs back and forth all day.

http://www.stjohnusvi.com/accom.html

has everything from hotels, to cottages, homes for rent and inns and B&b's..many are in the price range you gave.

Hope this helps some

It does, thanks. We are in the early stage of research/planning so all options are considered. The main reason we decided to fly there instead of cruise was so that we could see the better parts of the islands instead of the commercialized cruise ports for a few hours. So your suggestion is right up our alley.

 

[Letsbgoofy]

We went to St. John in Nov. 2008. We flew in and out of St. Thomas, shopped a little, ate lunch and took a taxi back and forth to the St. John's ferry. I didn't notice St. Thomas being dirty, but it's very expensive (food, transportation, etc.) St. John was also very expensive - we shared a house with friends and rented a car. We have friends that own a restaurant on the island, otherwise I don't think we could have afforded to eat all week! Groceries are about 3 times what they are at home and the restaurant prices make WDW look cheap.

You can get some great deals on houses in the off season. Ours was beautiful, though pools are very small on the island. I did miss having someone clean the room for me

The Jeep cost us about $400 for the week. You need 4 wheel drive as there are huge hills - sometimes I flet like we were going to tip over backwards. They drive on the wrong side of the road!

The locals are very poor in St. John - I'm guessing the same goes for St. Thomas. They didn't seem very friendly to tourists (I'm used to Mexico and WDW friendly people), maybe because their cost of living has gone up so much with all the mega rich people buying houses on the islands.

St. Thomas and St. John are beautiful, but the resort we stay at in Mexico is even more beautiful and a week all inclusive cost us about 1/2 of what our St. John trip did. Our friends keep wanting to go back to St. John, but I think after our trip to Mexico this May they will be hooked.

Don't get me wrong, we loved St. John and it was great to see our friends who live there, but the expenses once you get there make other vacation destinations much more attractive.

Feel free to pm me if you have any more questions.

 

[NotUrsula]

Probably the most economical are the camping accomodations in the National Park on St. John. The two areas are Cinnamon Bay and Maho. I have a friend who goes there regularly.

The trick is that those accomodations are SUPER-popular, and tend to book up months in advance. You never know, though, you could luck into a cancellation.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

I stayed at St. Croix for a week with day trips to St. Thomas. Both were very beautiful but felt "dirty". We stayed at the Carambola Beach Resort in St. Croix and it would've been perfect if we had never left the resort. The staff were very nice and the resort very clean. The resort was gorgeous and quiet. We rented a car and when we drove downtown there were a lot of people offering to wash the car for money (homeless looking people) and we received a lot of warnings from the resort owners and other locals to not be out after dark as it wasn't very safe. The locals weren't extremely friendly (not rude either). We actually had many great conversations with the resort owners (as we were there during an extreme off season, there was only 3 other couples/families staying at the resort) and they said it was quite popular for locals to drive their cars somewhere and light them on fire to collect the insurance money (we were wondering why we kept driving by car remains on the main roads). It did have some beautiful points and kayaking in the bay is something I will never forget but I wouldn't go back. Food was EXPENSIVE (which makes sense as almost all of the food has to be imported). I'd rather go to WDW or to an all inclusive resort in Mexico or the Carribean.

 

[micheleq]

Another vote for St. John We stayed at the Westin in 2002, but I think next time I'd stay at a B&B or rent a house. Getting a jeep for the week was a plus, we got around the whole island that way and found some amazing little beaches.

Yes, food is expensive, but that's life in an island. If you eat what is local and where the locals eat you'll have better luck. Burgers at Skinny Legs is a must, and there was a place right in Cruz Bay that we ate breakfast at (after having the horrible and overpriced resort buffet) called Chilly Bear or something like that.

Very peaceful, beautiful, pristine island. Bravo to the Rockefeller family who donated much of the land that is now US National Park (two-thirds of the island is the National Park). We found locals to be friendly, lots of mainland transplants and retirees.

 

[disneyfan007]

We stayed at the Wyndam several years ago. It was very nice. Unless they have changed it was all inclusive but there were only 2 places to eat. One was a sit down in the hotel and the other was a casual deck setting. The taxis to town were very expensive. We were always told that we didn't really want to be in town like after 5:00, that it could get dangerous. We truly enjoyed it. It was our first on only all-inclusive and would go again in a heartbeat if the opportnity presented itself.

Watch out the the inguenas (sp)

 

[Be1021]

I likes the Wyndham Sugar Bay, but it definately was not a 5 star resort. It was comfortable, all inclusive, and the food was good. I do not think I would want to stay there for 7 days. We stayed for 3 days before a cruise.

 

[howlongtildisney]

I have to agree with other posters that St. Thomas wouldn't be my favorite island to visit. I visited and really enjoyed it, but that was mostly because my brother was living there. Even my brother said that while he loved living in St. Thomas, if he were to vacation he would want to go to St. John. St. John is lovely but very expensive - there isn't even a full grocery store on the island.