I just returned from St. Kitts and this resort is
among the most spectacular I have visited in
the Caribbean. My expectations were very
high, as I had heard nothing but great things,
but they were exceeded by what I found at
this Marriott resort.
The timeshare units are brand new. I
travelled with my husband and two kids and
another couple with the same and we found
the facilities to be extraordinary. The Beach is
georgous and the surf is gentle. The main
pool wanders off in many directions and there
are two very large additional free-form pools
that were larger than most you will find.
We travelled on President's Week and the
entire place was sold out yet the property is
so large that you never felt crowded. For the
first time in all of my travels there was no
concern about getting chairs by the pool or a
cabana at the beach as there are more
available than there are users.
The food was outstanding and far more
reasonably priced than I have found in any of
the US Virgins, other British Virgins, Aruba,
Puerto Rico, Turks...etc. There is something
for everyone at this resort including the most
beautiful and challenging golf course I have
seen in the Caribbean along with the largest
casino outside of the Bahamas.
The units themselves were easily 1500 square
feet and included 40" Sony LCD TVs in the
living room and 27" ones in each bedroom
along with DVD/CD players to go along.
Internet access was free. The rest of the unit
was equally spectacular with granite counters
and all GE stainless steel appliances.
I cannot speak highly enough of this property
and cannot wait to return. One observation
about St. Kitts is that it is just now entering
an
era of commercialization. The airport is small
and that is positive to some degree.
However, we had a long wait in immigration
for no apparent reason that was just awful.
It
would appear that we were just unfortunate
that something was wrong at the time of our
landing because we did not find anyone else,
other than those on our plane, at the resort
who experienced the long delay we suffered.
The infrastructure is poor with respect to the
roads and the ride to the property - perhaps
3-
4 miles takes 15 minutes or so because there
is construction and paving going on. I did not
mind this as it provided the opportunity to
take in the beautiful landscape for a few
minutes.
Speaking of the landscape, from the beach
you can see virtually no other development of
any substance for miles and the horizon is
filled with beautiful mountains in either
direction, several of which summit at the
clouds.
The weather for President's week was ideal -
low 80's every day and low 70s every night.
It
was not humid day or night and a gentle
breeze eased even the hottest part of the
day
and cooled the night even more. Just ideal.
There were a couple of brief showers on two
of the days that lasted for several minutes
that were actually refreshing to experience
rather than running for cover.
If you are travelling with children you will find
a terrific Kid's Club and daily activities as well
as food options that are extremely
reasonable. There is a Pizza Shack that
churns out pizza all day and into the night and
kid's meals available in and outside the
various restaurants. Both the seafood and
italian restaurants were terrific - did not make
it to the steakhouse and Calypso - the main
dining hub was outstanding as we took a
number of dinners to go - again - due to the
youngsters. Inside the main hotel there is the
best sushi that we have ever had along with
a
Cigar Bar featuring a wide selection of fine
Cubans at very good prices. This resort
actually features a duty-free shop in the hotel
along with a number of fine stores. However,
the duty free prices are actually very good.
This saved us a fortune as we made a number
of purchases of wine and liquor without
leaving the property and without paying more
than what we could find off the grounds. For
smokers, the prices for cigarettes were the
same as in the airport duty-free shop and
there were Cubans available as well and
delivery of other brands upon request.
I have only high praises for this resort. I own
timeshares with Marriott in St. Kitts and Aruba
and while we will be spending next year in
Aruba (first year's use) we will definitely
return
to St. Kitts many times in the future.