Review of our vacation to the US Virgin Islands
Promptly getting to this two months after our actual trip, :/ I am finally getting to a review of all of the things we did during our trip to the US Virgin Islands. We had the absolute best time and will most definitely go back and I will try to summarize everything we did the best I can.
deciding on an island
Of the three US Virgin Islands, we decided to stay on St. Thomas. I think all three islands offer an array of activities, but after doing some research, we found that St. Thomas offered a lot of options for exploring and well, the resort/hotel we wanted to stay at was on St. Thomas, so that was kind of the deciding factor. We stayed at MORNINGSTAR BUOY HAUS BEACH RESORT AT FRENCHMAN’S REEF, AUTOGRAPH COLLECTION and it was beyond beautiful. Truthfully, we stayed here on points from our Marriott Bonvoy card, so I can’t really speak to the price of the resort, but we were able to book everything with the points we’ve accumulated.
And while totally unrelated to our trip, if you are a small business like us, we put ALL of our shipping costs on this card. If it’s an expense we are going to incur in our business regardless, we might as well be getting something out of it…in this case an ultimately free stay at an amazing resort. There are resort fees and if you are renting a vehicle they charge you for valet regardless, which is a cost we had to pay for out of pocket, so please just know there are a few fees that points do not cover.
our resort
The resort was simply beautiful and literally 30-40 steps and you are right on the beach. We truly would never of had to leave if we did not want to, but if you know me, I am one who likes to explore on vacation, so naturally I drug Tyler all over the island for sight-seeing. We did rent a car from the airport, as we knew we would be going various places and did not want to rely on shuttles and/or taxis. And speaking of driving…be prepared as they drive on the LEFT side of the road, which definitely took some getting used to.
But, the resort itself was amazing and if you are staying at the Buoy Haus, you have access to all of the amenities and pools including those located at The Westin Beach Resort. They are both Marriott properties, the Buoy Haus property where we stayed was just a little more quaint and more like separate villas rather than a big ‘hotel’ per say.
This resort (like most all on the islands) is NOT all inclusive and one of the other reasons we wanted to have a vehicle, so we could go explore various food options. Which is something I am so glad we did, cause truthfully we didn’t looovvveee the food at our resort. It was okay-ish, but the various restaurants we went to in town were SO much better…and priced much more reasonably. Same with the drinks. 🙂
There were various activities each day and they have snorkeling and paddle boarding gear you can use as part of your stay at the Buoy Haus as well. Honestly, we didn’t take advantage of any of that cause we literally just wanted to relax on the beach, but that option is there if that is of interest.
various sight-seeing spots
I am not sure if there is a bad view on the island, but they do have various locations that are worth checking out if you do want to go exploring a bit! I will list the handful of things we did in a brief overview with any links that might be useful.
- Mountain Top – a gorgeous view overlooking Magens Bay, blue water for miles and A HUGE souvenir shop. It’s a windy/curvy drive to the top, and we went at the end of the day of their open hours and there were maybe 10 people there and it was amazing. I can only assume they are much busier during peak hours, but we timed it well apparently.
- Visit Water Island – Tyler and I loved this beach. It is a 10 minute ferry ride to a super quaint and quiet beach (at least when we went). Very laid-back feel and very calm water. Dinghy’s Beach Bar is also located here and was a fun little spot as well. It was about a 15 minute drive from the resort to get to the ferry location, and just make sure to verify where you park your vehicle if driving, as there are a few spots you cannot park or will get ticketed.
- Shopping in Charlotte Amalie – we spent an afternoon going to all of the shops in Charlotte Amalie as well as the shops that are located right off of where the cruise ships dock. I will say, make sure to check the cruise ship schedules, cause we did go one day and a lot of the shops were closed cause there wasn’t a cruise ship coming that day, so we went back the next day and they were all open.
- Magens Bay – we did go here but truthfully, kind of a waste of money/time. It was pretty, but pretty crowded and you have to pay to get in. I just felt like we could have the same experience on our resort with way less people and no extra fee.
- Ferry to St. John – definitely recommend taking the ferry over to St. John! Loved the shopping areas on this island and we hiked a trail that took us to a very pretty beach area. I do wish we would have taken the car ferry, so we would of had our vehicle over there to explore more, but nonetheless it was a fun day trip full of exploring! You can get your ferry tickets online and the ferry’s leave to and from often, so you have plenty of options for how long you want to spend there.
where we ate
With having a vehicle, we were able to leave our resort whenever we wanted, so we ate at a few different spots that are worth noting.
- Agave Tequila Bar: we ate here twice. Mexican style food and very good. The El Diablo margarita was AMAZING and so, so good!
- The Smoking Rooster: very good bbq and the mac and cheese was also delish!
- Gladys’ Cafe: good little lunch spot we ate at when we went shopping.
- The Tap & Still: another good spot where we had lunch and a fun, upbeat environment.
- Rum Island Pub: fun little bar in the shops in downtown Charlotte Amalie where we talked with some super fun transplant locals.
overall thoughts
We were so happy with our trip and stay, we will most definitely go back. The island was beyond beautiful, our resort/hotel was to die for and everyone was so kind and we never felt unsafe travelling around the island. If you do plan to explore, I would highly recommend renting a car, as we found it to be so handy whenever we wanted to take off and go sight-seeing at our leisure. And the best part of it all if you decide to visit the USVI, you DO NOT need a passport to enjoy a slice of paradise!
