First Night of our Honeymoon

• October 18, 2008
• Rated 4 of 5 by lauren27 from Charlotte, North Carolina

Hotel—Marriott Morningstar—We stayed one night in St. Thomas because the Peter Island ferry only comes on Tuesdays and Saturdays. We really wanted to leave for the honeymoon on Monday and not waste a vacation day from work. We didn’t want to spend a lot of time on St. Thomas because it’s very touristy and gets pretty crowded. We stayed in the Morningstar section of the hotel since we heard these rooms were nicer than the Reef section. We had a beachfront room and it was a lot nicer than I expected—a huge, comfortable bed, great view of the beach from the balcony (we were on the second floor). The bathroom was your typical hotel bathroom. There was a bottle of champagne and a bag with some snacks in the room for free. Also had turn down service with chocolates. The restaurants, beach, pool and common areas were not crowded at all. The beach was small—nice chairs, but the water was really rough the day we were there, so we decided to explore another beach. If you're going to St. Thomas, I think this is a great place to stay.

From journal One Night on St. Thomas

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PARADISE!

• January 20, 2008
• Rated 5 of 5 by ltsgtdwn2biznz from Sterling Hts, Michigan

I read a lot about the hotel before going, but there are a lot of things I hadn't known...I tried to include a lot of that...

I surprised my boyfriend with a vacation for the 2 of us for his birthday/Christmas present in October. (pretty nice of me, huh?)
from a previous vacation, i knew i wanted to book something all inclusive (so much less hassle!) i did a lot of research before deciding to come to the USVI...and after debating between the Marriott and the Wyndham, i made the right choice with an all-inclusive Marriott Frenchman's reef package (i had read the beach at Wyndham seemed too man made)
due to weather complications between flights, we arrived (crabby and tired) at the hotel about 3 hrs later than we were supposed to. the front desk was always very friendly and helpful. upon checking in, the manager had to be called over (i thought something had gone super wrong...i was thinking 'this is what i get for booking online!') she gave us the option to stay at the Frenchman's reef in a full size bed, or to be upgraded to a king size bed at morning star resort. Uh, hello, we'll take the king size...thanks. i guess i hadn't completely understood this reading online, but the Frenchman's Reef (FR) and Morning Star (MS) resort are practically 2 different hotels, FR is basically a hotel, on a cliff. it has the majority of the restaurants, activities, etc, while MS is 5 different buildings, either 2 or 3 stories high, and each building has between 16 and 24 rooms. each building is literally a half flight of stairs from the sand, and maybe 15 yards of sand to the water. if you stay in the FR, you need to take a shuttle down to the beach, or walk to and down about 7 flights of stairs (which is much much easier than walking up). the majority of restaurants are in FR, except for CoCo joes (YUM!), which is right on the beach, and havana blue (not included with all inclusive, but heard it was delicious). i don't think i could imagine going there with out being all inclusive...everything was so expensive! our cheapest bill was probably about $40 (for 2 nonrefillable cokes, a salad and a quesadilla). the gift shop has food if you don't make it in time for dinner (we ran into that once...we're late eaters.) 2 20oz bottles of coke, 2 ham sandwiches and a can of pringles was $33. most of the restaurants were more dressy/casual...i probably would not be comfortable in jeans. (wear khakis at the least.) going downtown for shopping we stopped for lunch, and realized the entire island was expensive...not just the Marriott. ($7 captain and cokes, $9 for a grilled cheese)
all bartenders were really friendly... laidback, but not very fast. (also noticed this on the whole island.)
cab fares were between 8-10 per person, theres a small ferry that will take you downtown from the hotel for $6/person. the captain was pretty entertaining :)
make sure you check and see how many cruise ships will be in that day before making any plans (we were told that Wednesdays and Thursdays were usually busiest) ...we went to the popular Coki beach, and unknowingly there were 5 cruise ships in that day. we got to the beach, and it was hectically busy. towel to towel...chair to chair. barely walking room. but the water was absolutely gorgeous. the bluest blue i have ever seen, and waves that cant be called waves. i wish i had saved our $50 beach trip for a less busy day.
there seemed to be a lot of bugs on the beach, but they only affected me, not my boyfriend..he didn't have a single bite. i think at one time i had counted 23 bug bites on my legs...they seemed like mosquito bites, but i never actually saw a bug. (i was later told they were probably sand mites). there were also large green iguanas. very cool.
the room was immaculate and very very clean. absolutely no complaints there.
everything was outstanding. the beach, the room, the food, and the staff. we cant wait to go back!

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Marriott Morningstar Resort

• November 19, 2000
• Rated 3 of 5 by Todd W. from Atlanta, Georgia

I was initially annoyed when I got to the hotel, because I had booked a room at the Marriott Frenchman''s Reef next door. However, if you''re like me and hate generic hotels, you''ll really enjoy the Morningstar. It''s made up of about five x-shaped buildings just 30-50 feet away from the narrow beach. The rooms are quite large and feel more like private bungalows than rooms, with a lot more personality than the rooms of Frenchman''s Reef. Each room has a comfortable bed, with a loveseat, coffee table, and desk, with a large and sparkling bathroom. You can choose from a garden view or an ocean view. Each room also has a wide patio.

There''s a very friendly and popular bar on the premises (Coco Joe''s) and a good, open-air restaurant (Tavern on the Beach - you have to speak up because of the crashing waves). There''s a frequent shuttle up the hill to the Frenchman''s Reef, which offers spectacular views of Charlotte Amalie. The taxi ride to town takes about ten minutes; Magens Bay is 20 minutes away, as is Red Hook and the St. John ferry (although you can also take a less frequent ferry to St. John from St. Thomas.)

From journal Not what you might expect

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