Ritz Carlton on the island of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

Photo courtesy of the hotel.

The Ritz property on St. Thomas will always be one of our favorite spots in the Caribbean.  The gorgeous views from every corner and the gigantic property allowed us to spend the entire 5 nights on the property with no need to venture out…although, I know many love St. Thomas, it’s culture, restaurants, etc…but we really just wanted to stay put for the 5 nights, and we are glad we did.  We visited April 2017, right before Hurricane Irma.  Since then, the property went under a $100 million renovation in 2018-2019 and has added a new restaurant, updated all of the rooms, club-suite and pools.  The property’s grand re-opening is set for November 22, 2019.  I cannot wait to go back…

Rooms

Newly renovated room.  Photo courtesy of the hotel.

There are 180 available rooms on property. We opted to do a combination of points and dollars for this trip. We did this because we wanted to have a room with a king-size bed, pull out couch and a rollaway….yes, you can call this the poor man’s suite. Since we were just in the room to sleep, this made a ton of sense for our family. We also upgraded to the Club Suite which included snacks, breakfast, appetizers, cocktails, coffee, etc. At the Ritz Carlton, you can add this for part of your stay or the entire time. We added it for the first 3 days, then chose to cancel it as we had other plans for our dining.

Club Level

Savings

5 Night Stay…60,000 Marriott points x 4 nights (remember the 5th night is free when you redeem points) +$200/night = 240,000 points and $800.  In addition there is a $80 daily charge, but includes a ton of kid’s activities, kid’s club, water sports, daily yoga, internet, snorkel gear, tennis courts/balls, etc.  So worth it!

Restaurants

Breakfast: for the first few days, we ate in the club lounge.  Then we chose Blue Water offering both a’la carte and buffet choices.  So yummy and the view of the ocean was just what we were craving! For a less expensive breakfast option, Zest is on property and offers bagels, smoothies, coffee, etc.

Lunch: Many days we were so busy lounging on the beach or poolside, that we ordered lunch from the pool menu and ate happily in our lounge chairs.  For more of a sit down experience, we ate at Sail with a view of St. John or you can choose to eat at neighboring (walking distance) Ritz Carlton Club’s restaurant Coconut Cove where they serve beach side Caribbean fare.

Dinner

Bleuwater Grill.  We at here twice…fantastic wine list, fish & choice cuts of steak.

Alloro, the property’s newest Italian restaurant overlooking Great Bay.

Restaurant photos courtesy of the hotel

Sunset Cruise

If you do one excursion, this is it…book a sunset cruise on The Lady Lynsey (Ritz’s 53′ catamaran).  There is a new 60-foot Lady Lynsey II catamaran available for snorkeling trips and sunset cruises (this one is brand new). This might have been my favorite evening as the sightseeing puts you in the island spirit and gives you views around the entire island.  The boat is not private, but the group is small.

Pools & Beach

Photo courtesy of the hotel.

The Ritz Carlton sits on Great Bay Beach and is home to abundant marine life.  We snorkeled (snorkel equipment included) every day where we saw turtles, schools of fish, stingrays and many more.  5 nights was the perfect amount of time to unwind, relax and recharge!

Ahh…take me back!  Easy to get to from the U.S. mainland, this location will definitely be one we return to.

XOXO, Tiffany