Marriott Frenchman's Reef, St. Thomas

During our recent week in St. Thomas, our home away from home was an ocean view room at the Marriott Frenchman’s Reef. The comfortable, beautifully decorated room included a balcony with an amazing view of the coast and a refrigerator where we could store Diet Cokes and beer purchased in town.

The beach could be reached by stairs or a combination of stairs and elevators. While not always there in the morning, in the afternoon several large iguanas would greet us along the staircase going to or from the beach.

Because we traveled during hurricane season, the gorgeous stretch of white sand beach was never crowded. The first three days, it was generally deserted, but near the end of the week, vacationers began arriving for the long Labor Day weekend despite a hurricane watch.

On Wednesday evening, there was a Manager’s Reception, which turned out to be a casual version of a cruise Captain’s Cocktail Party. The managers all went out of their ways to come chat with us personally, and it was a pleasant affair overall.

On Thursday, we planned to take a ferry to the nearby island of Virgin Gorda, but a hurricane warning snuffed our plans. While the day included occasional rain, it was still mostly sunny, but the waves got much larger, making the snorkel visibility cloudy.

There’s a pool with hot tubs on Morning Star Beach and also up by the main Frenchman's Reef building. Everywhere we looked, there were beautiful views.

As I mentioned previously, prices for meals and beverages at a deluxe resort are frequently costly, but all the food we had here was excellent. Whether $15 at Coco Joe’s Cafe on the beach or $16 at Captain Cafe in the main building, the hamburgers would definitely fulfill Jimmy Buffett’s dream.



On Friday, we had stormier skies, so we signed up for a ninety minute tour of time shares at Marriott Frenchman’s Cove next door. The units are truly gorgeous, and of course we liked the location, but while we wanted to see what they looked like, our primary objective was to cash in their offer of $100 resort credit, which we used for dinner at Window’s On the Harbour, one of the ocean view dining rooms. Even the salesman understood we were only there for the freebie, and he didn’t even bother trying to bring in a closer or apply much pressure at the end. Before you accept such an offer, however, bear in mind that the time share offers can sound very tempting, and you might end up spending $30,000 or more on the spur of the moment in exchange for a $100 gift. If the odds didn't favor them closing a lot of deals, they couldn't make these offers.

When we arrived at Windows On the Harbour for dinner around seven, we were disappointed to learn they had a buffet on Friday evenings, with a tab of $55 per person. Most of the other diners were dressed casually like people eating at a cruise buffet on a sea day or at Las Vegas fast food. We were disappointed to say the least.

However, we asked the waitress, and she said there was a limited a la carte menu. While the other diners grazed on large portions of what was undoubtedly a tasty buffet, Julie savored Filet Mignon and I had delicious Pan Seared Red Snapper.

The next morning, we took a taxi to the airport. It cost a total of $22 for the two of us, made up in some combination of per person plus baggage cost, so you can see that the Marriott is convenient to the airport. During our flight, we could luxuriate in great memories of our hurricane season escape in St. Thomas. If you’ve wanted to take advantage of those great fall rates but feared storms, give me a call at 310-546-9618 to figure out how to limit your risk while maximizing your travel dollars. Better service leads to better trips.