Originally Posted by lmwhitmore

I've been a long-time lurker, but decided to make my first post!

I am a frequent visitor to St. John (full disclosure -- I own a timeshare at the Westin) and was on-island in June of 2018 staying at a private villa. While the island has definitely taken a hit (as have St Croix & St. Thomas), I would not call the infrastructure "pretty bad". Roads are clear, internet works, cable tv works, cell phones work, police and emergency services are functioning. The health clinic was badly damaged and has not re-opened but there are other clinics on the island. I suspect that a new visitor to the island would not notice anything amiss -- restaurants are open, grocery stores are stocked, beaches are beautiful and the water is as amazing as ever.

I can't speak to the value of the nightly cost for the Westin St. John (clearly someone who buys a timeshare has poor financial sense!), but I do know that they worked very hard on the restoration and had to tear down to the studs because of water damage and had to replace all the furniture. All the rooms are timeshare units so there are no longer hotel rooms; you have a kitchen, living area and deck/patio even in the studios. St. John only has two resorts and Caneel is closed indefinitely, but that is (IMHO) because of a greedy concession company, not infrastructure. If you're thinking of visiting, don't hesitate (unless you have a medical condition that would require advanced care).