We really enjoyed our week here. We booked last minute and just wanted a simple beach vacation. It really fit that bill. We booked a studio ocean front but got a two bdrm by the pool with a view of the bay in the background. It turned out to be ideal. The view was still lovely and the extra space was perfect. It felt like a fully equipped luxury condo, really couldn’t ask for more from the accommodations. Food is a bit of a challenge, the two restaurants and cafe onsite are serviceable but not great. We also did some shopping at the grocery store. There were three nice gas grills right outside the condo and we even did some grilling. So definitely not the all you can eat food experience you find in Jamaica, but it was Ok. St John itself is beautiful, we did a lot of the popular beaches etc and enjoyed it all.…
Our first time to the Virgin Islands. We are from CA and met family in NJ, then traveled from there together - 5 adults, a four year old, and a toddler. The Resort exceeded our expectations, and was fabulous in every way. Very family friendly, welcoming, clean, easy to get around, and wonderful in almost every way. Pros - The resort grounds are lovely and well maintained. Common areas are clean and regularly maintained. We had connecting 2 bedroom and studio rooms, which were lovely, clean, quiet, and had great views. The 2 br and studio connecting option provided 3 balconies, which was great for a family. The on-site restaurant, Snorkels, was very good for dinner, and extremely good for kids, as they could get up and play on the beach (with an adult of course!) during the meal. The breakfast sandwiches and pizzas for lunch at Mango Deli were very good. Every.Single. Employee was friendly, helpful, and wonderful. Amazing service throughout the resort! I want to emphasize the exceptional customer service and friendliness of all of the staff. The Westin ferry was extremely convenient for landing right at the resort, complete with welcome drinks and music. Lots of iguanas throughout the property, which was very fun for the kids. The pool was clean and well maintained. Towels were clean and plentiful. The open air taxis are easily available and easy to navigate. We had rented a car, but turned it in after the first day, as the taxis at the Westin are great, reasonably priced, and go to all the major beaches. Price charts are posted and are priced per person (bring cash, lots of $5's and $10's). Luggage is priced separately, in case you are traveling to the public ferry (I heard one couple with 3 suitcases quoted $3 for luggage). And the roads are steep, winding with lots of sharp switchbacks - not something we were eager to maneuver. The portion of our family with kids did rent a vehicle so they could have car seats, and they did fine on the roads. The beaches are absolutely stunning, wonderful, fabulous, and amazing! Our favorites were Trunk Bay and Cinnamon Beach. We took a Sun-Ninja tent for shade, and rented snorkel gear and chairs from the Westin and took them with us to the public beaches, though you can also rent chairs at several of the beaches ($10 per day per chair, though). There are plentiful golf carts throughout the resort offering rides as needed with friendly, helpful drivers. The beach at the resort is clean, has chaise lounges with umbrellas, and staff comes by to see if extra towels are needed etc. This beach is a nice option for kids, especially in the early morning before the rest of the family is awake! The outdoor grill areas are plentiful and clean. There is a playground on-site, separate from the pool area, which is very clean. Cons - The ferry service, though extremely convenient for landing directly at the resort and handling luggage transfers, was quite chaotic upon arrival to the airport. One person in our party high-tailed it to the Westin counter while the rest waited for luggage. Our plane arrived at 1 pm and after a 20 minute wait in line at the ferry counter, we were told we had to wait for the 4 pm ferry. The arrival portion of the airport has one tiny snack bar and they had run out of food (we had packed snacks for the kids, but those went fast). If it was just adults traveling, we would have opted for a taxi to the public ferry, then an open air taxi to the resort from there. But juggling luggage, strollers and kids would have been tough to do that, so we waited another 3 hours for the Westin ferry, which added significantly to our travel time. The ferry was clean, fast, and had very good service, though it was quite expensive. There was a tiny waiting room we were told we could wait in instead of being in the main airport area, though it was just a few chairs with not one person inside wearing a mask, so we waited in the airport area instead. Cellular service with Verizon was very intermittent, so be prepared for that. The kitchens are small, though everything was functional and clean. Even the 2 bedroom unit basically had a studio kitchenette, except a bit more cupboard space than the studio unit. We ordered groceries from Starfish Market (not associated with the Westin) to be delivered upon arrival (delivery was very expensive) and they were difficult to contact and quite late with delivery. They delivered to the main lobby area, not to our room (not a big deal, but with the exorbitant delivery fee and promise of that, it was unexpected). Since someone in our party did have a rental car, we would have opted to drive the 0.4 miles to the market instead. The kids playground is great to have on-site, though does need a bit of updating. We only had lunch at Snorkels one time and the options and quality were far different from when we had dinner there. The night kayak tour was super expensive for what it was. Basically we floated around the moored boats for 45 minutes, then saw a few fish for about 5 minutes at the end of the 'tour'. Very expensive for the experience, but the 4 year old had some fun. Overall, this is a great resort, it was a great experience, and we definitely plan to return!…
I purchased a time share at this resort in 2019. My trip in 2020 was canceled because of COVID and the resort was closed through 2021. I was finally able to book usage in December 2022. I purchased in the newly renovated waterfront unit but when I got there I was given a unit on the hill side, a 30 minute walk to the pool and beach area. The room was run down. Poor water pressure, general disrepair and not in good shape overall. Food at the restaurant on site was overpriced and of mediocre quality. The nachos consisted of state chips and cheese sauce served cold. The island is beautiful with pristine beaches and crystalline water. I am a very unhappy owner.
This could easily be a 4 or 4 1/2 star resort. The staff was, for the most part, very friendly and helpful. But there were little things that tripped them up, such as some of the public bathrooms did not have soap in the dispensers, at the breakfast place the staff pushes a cart with large bins of dirty dishes across the patio when we are eating (every time!). We had to try several times to get the room serviced and to get some soap! There was a heated conversation between what appeared to be a boss and a subordinate taking place in a public area. In the small locker room in the gym, not all the locks worked (dead batteries, I suspect). One morning all 3 TVs in out 2 BR unit came on, and we heard that others experienced that. We unplugged ours. Little things like that. But the staff is great, there is always someone in a golf cart to drive you wherever in the resort, which is large, and the pool staff was great. Would definitely go back but hope they can fix the little things.…
Booked a room here for one night very last minute due to an issue with our rental condo. They were at full occupancy but luckily had one room available. Unfortunately it was nearly $600 for a single night but we needed somewhere to stay. We arrived to check in at 11am and was told they would call when the room was ready no later than 4pm, which was fine as we had plans on the east end of the island anyway. However, they didn’t call to let us know our room was ready until 5:30 with no explanation as to why it wasn’t ready on time. Once we picked up the room key they sent a golf cart to help us to our villa which was at the top of a very steep hill in building 24. The room itself was very nicely appointed with comfortable beds and a large bathtub in the master suite. We only used 1 of the 3 bedrooms, but the others looked nice as well. Our golf cart driver David Charles was absolutely amazing! After taking us to our room he helped bring our bags in and when I asked him for a dinner recommendation he not only gave me one but called the restaurant (Morgan’s Mangos) and got us a last minute reservation and drove us back down to our rental car so we could make it over there in time! Then when we got back from dinner he drove us back up the hill from our Jeep. He honestly made our short stay there great!…
Let me preface this with the fact that I am a Marriott loyalist with an average of 30-40 nightly stays per year across many Marriott brands and locations. This was possibly the worst customer service resort I’ve ever seen, and it was pervasive across all their staff, not one or even a handful of individuals, it’s a culture of bad service and lack of caring across the staff at this resort. Additionally, we are frequent visitors to St. John, we know the uniqueness and challenges of vacationing on St. John. Therefore, I’m not going to complain about the low-quality food, prices, requirement to walk distances or take a golf cart to get around, etc., that is St. John, and we didn’t expect world class amenities or food like you would get in a larger city or resort area. Let me first share the positive, the resort itself is beautiful. Pool is nice, good hot tub, grounds are very well manicured and maintained, gym is solid, coffee shop/market is nice and convenient, beach is okay (nothing like the other world class beaches on the north shore), and the kid’s playground is nice to have close by… but I have to say it’s really not very safe or maintained very well. Didn’t play, but tennis courts looked very nice. For the bad and why we will never return to this resort: 1. Customer Service - Across the board, the staff from top to bottom had the worst attitude and complete lack of caring that I have ever seen at any resort. I can't tell if this is a St. John cultural thing (I don't think it is given we've visited the island many times and people here seem genuinely friendly and welcoming). I'll share a few examples: A) Each of our first three days at the resort, all 4 of our keys stopped working at the same time each day. Each day I had to leave my pregnant wife and two little kids stuck at the room, walk the 10 minutes down to the front desk to get new ones. Each day I was never offered a "sorry about that", on the opposite end of the spectrum, each day I was chastised and questioned by the staff, telling me it was my fault because I clearly was leaving the keys next to our phones which deactivates the card. This was not the case, and didn't explain why all 4 keys stopped working at the same time each day when the 4 keys were carried by 4 separate adults. B) Pool Activities - I literally witnessed the staff make all the kids and adults get out of the pool (aggressively yelling: "We can't start the games unless you get out of the pool. No sitting on the edge, no lounging in the corners, GET OUT OF THE POOL!") all so they could throw beers across the pool and have people swim around and pick them up like a little competition. They even yelled at the participants in their dumb little "activity" and it wasn't enjoyable for anyone, not even the people who participated. I genuinely think the staff enjoyed yelling and being mean OVER THE LOUD MICROPHONE that everyone could hear. The noise of the yelling on the microphone literally interrupted 30 minutes of your day even if you were just trying to sit by the pool and relax. 2. Kids Club - Hours are clearly listed. Not once did I take my kids to the kids club and it was actually open. Lights off, doors locked. 3. At check-in, we were told housekeeping would only come perform services in our room for us during 1 day of our visit. Had absolutely no problem with this, we can clean up after ourselves and prefer to not be bothered. We also didn't feel the need to lock-up our belongings. Housekeeping came 3 different times during our stay, rudely telling us we needed to leave the room (even when my 1 year old was down napping), and they had a tight schedule and couldn't wait around for us. Awful service. 4. Cherry on top was (and I've reported this to the hotel and gone through all proper channels) when our $300 headphones "disappeared" from our room. I reported them as stolen. I worked through security, 36 hours AFTER we left the resort and after our room was cleaned and turned for the next visitors, and only AFTER security interviewed housekeeping, did my headphones appear: "Great news, we were able to find your headphones and will be sending them back." The constantly changing story and timeline security (Latoya) has told me clearly doesn't add-up, it's quite obvious someone stole my headphones, returned them once I reported it, and nobody is taking any action or accountability. Awful experience, would recommend you spend your money somewhere else where you at least don't have to be around people/staff that make your stay borderline miserable. Thank goodness we had a jeep and could get off property and away from this miserable staff each day. I won't let one bad experience sour my great experiences with Marriott more broadly, but I assure you this is not a resort to waste your time at.…
Many improvements since our last visit. 5 years ago. 1. The help is delightful and genuinely friendly. 2. The golf cart drivers and efficiency is MUCH IMPROVED. Top notch actually! This property is very spread out and waiting 25 min ( in the past) for a free shuttle was very aggravating. Somebody really thought it through and installed yellow phones all over the property. When you call for a cart it’s there in minutes. Great critical thinking by management! The drivers are warm and pretty funny and are not afraid to kid around with guests. It’s great! 3. Consierge services need improved. Ladies seem unwilling to go above and beyond in some cases. Somewhat annoyed if uiub ask more than 1 question. They seem eager to get back to whatever they were doing! We will see how it goes when I request they confirm my return flights for me. I’m not hopeful, and am expecting a reluctance to help. Usually the consierge will print out boarding passes for guests. We shall see. Summary Generally this is a much improved property. The staff is now great and when they pass a guest they all say hello. Cart service is excellent! A very nice stay and it looks like Management is really stressing positive employee behaviors towards guests. This young staff seems to really enjoy their work and it shows. The crabby old staff from the past are all replaced with younger friendlier folks who LOVE ❤️ interacting with the guests. Getting to know the staff really adds to the trip. Keep it up management! Great job in personnel selection and HR! …
St. John is beautiful; we have visited regularly over the past 20 years. A tropical paradise, largely unspoiled since much of the island is owned by the Department of Interior's Park Service. Safe, friendly, with a range of restaurants, both casual (e.g., Longboards) and fine dining (e.g., Extra Virgin, Lime Inn, The Terrace, etc.). Oceans 362 has a great sunset view, but are better at "taking the reservation" than they are at "honoring the reservation". The Westin is a lovely spot to stay and, if you don't own there, check on line -- some very reputable firms that can arrange rental stays. Some of the top beaches in the world can be found on this lovely isle. Fly to St. Thomas and take the ferry to St. John. You'll be glad you did!
I have been an owner for 7 years at this property and in that time we have been "Allowed" to use our ownership here at this resort only twice. I realize that the hurricane's and the pandemic effected when we could be here and actually use our timeshare but... I followed the rules and waited to 12:01am on my selected date I could book and the only option was a 1 bedroom townhouse that I need an Uber get to the resort from my room. Before I purchased my timeshare they did the dog and pony show and showed us the 2 bedroom units by the beach that you could invite friends and family, there were grills so you could grill out and walk/see the beach, I can't even see the beach. I even said to the sales person at the time, if there is even a possibility of me not getting a unit on the beach side when it's time to book I will not buy a timeshare here. I was assured that as an owner I will always get 1st priority on the beach units and that was clearly a lie. I went on line tonight, the night of my arrival and there are units on the beach side available, confirmation of their lie. Don't even bother trying to speak with the feckless sales staff to help because you will get "Well that's what you booked" but that was the only thing that the website would allow me to book. How is it possible that I only had/have 1 option when I paid many thousands of dollars to be an owner and was assured when I bought that I would be on the beach. I can't even see the beach from my room. There is no way on God's green earth that at 12:01am everyone booked their rooms before me, a mathematical impossibility. They sold us a bill of useless goods, if they ask you to buy or they ask you to sit through their BS sales pitch RUN as fast as you can to an Air B & B this place is absolutely NOT costumer focused. Marriott should reconsider this property as one of their own.…
I came with a group of five ladies. We enjoyed staying at the Westin St. John. The pool and pool bar were nice, and enjoyed riding golf carts everywhere. We loved David the bellman, he realized we were celebrating a birthday and made it extra special. Thanks David!
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