ncgator

Here is our take on the vacation we spent at Scrub Island

Let me start by saying that for us the staff was excellent both before our arrival, during and as we exited the property. I contacted them via email before our stay and asked lots of questions about activities, dining options, etc and every question was answered timely and with enthusiasm. I corresponded with Julio Jimenez and it was like having a personal concierge before our trip. Julio answered every question and went above and beyond in helping make our trip special. I met other resort hosts and they all had the same helpful attitude and friendliness.

A staff member was waiting for us when we cleared customs and immediately put us in a van for the drive to the ferry (literally across the street as we walked it when we rented a car). The ferry to the resort was held for 10 minutes as our flight arrived early and it would have been an hour wait otherwise (that was very much appreciated).

The hotel is still a little rough in that cosmetically it needs some upkeep. Everything is clean and functional but the grounds could use fresh mulch, plants need some attention and little items like that. I am not being critical as from converstaions I had with folks at the resort and the surrounding area they lacked proper funding for an extended period of time with the previous owners.

We spent that afternoon mostly at the marina beach and main resort pools. The beach is small but nice. You can navigate the walk out to swim without beach shoes there is coral around there. A couple days later we snorkeled around there and discovered it not bad for something so close.

The pool areas are very nice with 2 swim up bars and very good service. People have complained about the towel policy but i think those people have failed to understand that many folks make day trips and take hotel towels with them. Unless there is some mechanism to ensure they get them back they would lose a lot of towels. We took 4 towels with us when we rented a boat as well as when we toured Tortola.

The food. Saturday is their prime rib/seafood buffet and the food was very good. Service as very good as well. This meal is in the main dining room. A nice selection of seafood items and a carving station. The menu changes but Julio had emailed us a sample menu as well as the wine list which was nice. We ate another night at their outside restaurant i had a nice snapper and my wife had shrimp salad. the meal was good not excellent. The following night we ate at the Carribean dinner and the food was not good. We both were surprised based on the previous 2 experiences. We did eat a little late (around 8:15) but that should not be an excuse for the quality of the food for that meal.

I want to say that meal was the only negative we have for the entire 5 nights we stayed.

We took the free ferry to Marina Cay (the front desk will call them for you) for dinner the last 2 nights there. Don't be in a hurry for the ferry but free is free. The food there was very good. I had an excellent rack of lamb. They had live music at their bar on the top of hte island one night and that was fun.

Enough about food.

We stayed on the resort one day and used the kayaks, explored the island and north beach. The kayaks were nice and we went over to some good snorkeling near Marina Cay. We went to what they call "Honeymoon Beach" via kayak and were underwhelmed. Kinda pretty but with the currents that day probably not worth the effort. You get to North Beach via their shuttle or you can walk. After taking the shuttle and driving down the hilll I can't imagine walking that and still being in a good mood unless there was plenty of rum. Swimming at North Beach at low tide is impossible. You can get out there at high tide but there really is no beach to walk out to like we are accustomed to on the East Coast and Florida's west coast. We sat in the beach chairs, enjoyed the relaxation, drinks and the nurse shark caught inside the reef at low tide. The pool is nice there to cool off. The bar is well stocked as well.

They have a realy nice market store/deli at the resort that we used a couple of times for sandwiches and snacks. The sandwiches were good and reasonable. There is beer, wine, water, etc at the market store.

We rented a boat for one day. We used C&D Powerboats and would use them again without question. They were excellent. I made the arrangements myself but Julio was more than willing to do that for me had I asked.

Okay, the bottom line. Would we go back to Scrub Island again? The answer is yes if we decided we wanted to go back and have a base station. If you are a diver it seemes like a great place as the dive shop is right there and they pick you up at the marina. If you want to explore Tortola for dinner or other activities you need to either have a car rented for the week and parked at Trellis Bay or be prepared to pay hefty taxi rates. We explored Tortola one day via a rental car.

My opinion is that some people are too critical of the property but maybe I have lesser expectations.

If you have specific questions, i will try to answer them.