FlyerTalk Forums - Marriott St Kitts [Master Thread]

^ St. Kitts Trip Report

Let me preface by writing that I visited St. Kitts 10-17 February, with my husband and 14 month-old child. We stayed at the Marriott on points. We used 150,000 points, which included a deluxe room with a balcony. We wavered b/t spending 235,000 points on a one-bedroom suite and 150,000 points on the deluxe room. In the end, I’m so glad that only spent the 150,000 points.

We came down via AA thru San Juan airport. All of our flights were uneventful and no luggage was lost. I will note that the airport in San Juan is not what I expected. With a two-hour layover, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to hit a restaurant for some lunch. All that was available was a mediocre (at best) food court and a dominos. Moreover, please note that there was no whole milk available if traveling with toddlers.

Upon arrival in St. Kitts, despite filling out a form on the AA Eagle flight – we had to fill out three immigrations forms and stand on line. By the time we cleared customs in St. Kitts it took approximately one hour. Please note that the elevator was down and we were forced to descend two large flights of stairs with carry-on luggage, a baby and a stroller. I will note however, that an airport attendant immediately came to help and assisted me the whole way through baggage and another customs clearance.

We opted to rent a car via Thrifty as I didn’t want to deal with the hassle of bringing the car seat with us in and out of cabs, etc. If I wasn’t traveling with a child however, I would not recommend renting a car as cabs were accessible and I heard nothing but praise from other hotel guests regarding them. The rental car despite having a reservation, took 45 minutes. In addition, they have no computers so make sure you bring your reservations with you. Moreover, the full size car was analogous to a Honda civic in size. We couldn’t fit our luggage so they offered to drive our luggage to the hotel (free of charge). They came back later with supposedly a bigger full size car but when they came to the hotel – it wasn’t much bigger. Again, free of charge. We also had the option of renting a car while visiting Nevis free of charge. We never got there so I can’t write about the exchange process. In the end, we rented a car with an initial reservation charge of US$360 but with taxes and license fees, etc. it came to US$465. I will note it did include a tank of gas.

After getting our car – we were off to the Marriott. Upon arrival, our pre-vacation specialist and guest manager – both greeted us in the lobby. Before we arrived, I made reservations at Blu (the seafood restaurant), The Royal Grille (the steakhouse) and La Cucina (Italian). I also booked a babysitter for a few nights to watch our daughter and three golf tee times for my husband. Thus, my pre-vacation specialist asked me if I had any additions or revisions and handed me my itinerary.

In addition, there were fruity drinks and wet towels while waited in line for check in. Although we waited approximately 15 minutes, we have no complaints as we were upgraded. We are silver members and using points for our stay so I was surprised by the upgrade. I requested a top floor of the main building based on previous reviews. However, when given the choice b/t the top floor of the building or a first floor location by the North Pool, I’m so glad I went with the guest services recommendation of the first floor pool location in the Tabernacle House. It was PERFECT. Our patio was a stone throw to the pool. The room was very large inclusive of a decent size fridge with freezer. Despite previous reviews, I never heard a sound from upstairs. In addition, due to the various entertainment, I would not recommend a lower level in the main house as it’s very noisy. The location was also great as the baby takes afternoon naps, so I could still sit poolside rather than sitting in the room.

Based on previous recommendations I bought three US$99 dining certificates with the expectation of using two. I cannot recommend enough the dining certificates. The meals include an appetizer, salad, entrée, dessert and all non-alcoholic drinks, tip and taxes. Now, if we didn’t have these certificates – we would not have ordered all these courses, however, it still would have cost us.

Blu – for example with the dining certificate has a surf and turf for US$54 – which is included in the certificate. At Blu, we had the scallops, crabs, salmon (appetizer – btw – big enough for an entrée), mahi-mahi and my husband had Chilean Sea Bass. The desserts were very good. Our bill was about US$185 – as you can see the dining certificates paid off. Also, I should note that the wine lists in St. Kitts restaurants across the island are quite poor. We packed a couple of bottles and opted to pay the US$15-20 corkage fees. In addition, we picked up a bottle of Don Perignon 1998 for US$95 in San Juan. My husband is in the business and his cost in the states as a retailer is considerably more.

We retired for the night. The next day we hit the buffet for breakfast. It was a Sunday, and it was quite filled in addition to hotel guests and with locals. The buffet for two with taxes and tips is US$44. It has everything. They didn’t charge for the baby. In addition, we were able to get whole milk at the buffet for the baby, which came in handy, we came up empty handed despite multiple trips to various local supermarkets. Outside of Calyso is the calypso café with danishes, muffins and a coffee and ice cream bar. I will note that the caffeine coffee is $2.75 but the decaf is US$1.75. the specialty latte was cheaper than at our local starbucks. The cookies and danishes at the café were incredible.

That day we just lied out by the pool and relaxed. As for pool service, we stayed most of the time at the North Pool – I think I only had a waiter service for one day. They don’t come around, in addition, my limited time in the late afternoons at the main pool – I was not impressed with the service. However, when you got a server or ordered at Bohemia – everything came out quickly. The prices are about $6 for a daiquiri and $8-9 for specialty drinks. A non-alcoholic drink is about US$5. Coming from New York, all of these charges seemed reasonable. In addition, the sandwiches were about US$10-12 and were all huge portions and very tasty. The pizza shack had individual specialty topping pizzas for US$7 or large for US$15 – great deals. Plain cheese pizza was US$4 for individual and $13 for a large. The ice cream is about US$1.50 per scoop at the pool. However, at Calypso Café the cost is US$2.50 for a scoop? Strange.

Dinner that night was at the Calypso Café with our daughter. Under age 6, children get to eat for free. We all had burgers. Our 14 month old got a burger the same size as ours, about 8 oz, plenty big. It comes with bacon, cheese and French fries and cost US$12 each for my husband and I. Iced tea runs about US$2 pp and includes free refills. The iced tea in the resort is very good.

Dinner at La Cucina, the Italian restaurant in the resort was the most disappointing meal all week. We had to take our entrees to go as our daughter was in a very good mood, but making too much noise and we felt bad as more guests were filling the restaurant. My husband had the Antipasti bar as an appetizer (US$12) and that was very good he thought. Make your own Caesar salad, a large Parmigiano cheese wedge to cut from and asparagus, charcuterie and cold salads made it very appealing for an appetizer. It is all you can eat as well. Cost is US$18 if you do it as your entrée. 2 entrees and 2 desserts cost us about $100 here before wine, tax and tip.

On Tuesday, we toured around the entire island, this included a stop in the morning at the hospital, as our daughter cut her forehead on a corner of the night table in the hotel room. Hospital is about 20 minutes from the hotel and easy to find. Nurses and doctors were nice and we were in and out in under 2 hours. We ended up needing a late breakfast there as we had to rush out of the hotel to get to the hospital. There is a snack bar in the hospital and we can highly recommend the homemade tuna fish sandwich, which cost about US$1.50. The Snapple I had cost US $2! We almost went back for lunch later in the week. In our tour around the island we stopped for lunch at Serendipity, which is right near the hospital. The lunch menu is very reasonable and the food is excellent. My husband had the ribs (US$14) and I had the Chicken Caesar salad (same price). My husband thought the ribs at Serendipity were the best ribs we had all week. Be aware that we went through two bottles of Perrier at lunch and each bottle was about US$10 per bottle. Just when we thought we were getting away cheap. ;)

One dinner was at The Royal Grille. This is the resort’s steakhouse. We used one of our $99 dining certificates. My husband was very glad for that. Prices are similar to Manhattan steakhouse prices but do include some sides. Tableside Caesar salad is awesome. The anchovies are very mild. Appetizers were mixed. There were only three on the menu and the spring roll was not available. I ordered oxtail risotto with scallops, which was quite good except for the scallop, which is different from what we are used to in the northeast. My husband had the beef terrine (he tried to order the spring roll). He did not care for the terrine. He loves Foie Gras terrines but this was nothing like it. I ordered the surf and turf entrée (US$42, Filet and Shrimp) and enjoyed it very much. My husband thought the quality of meat for the Filet was excellent but not seasoned well enough. He ordered the NY Strip, based on the waiter’s recommendation (US$39). The Strip was a thin, fatty piece with no flavor, he ate about half and was very disappointed. Both came with starch sides, which were good. We ordered mushrooms (US$5) as well and they were very fresh and very tasty, we both agreed. For dessert, we had the chocolate soufflé and strawberry shortcake. Souffle needs to be ordered when you order your whole meal. Both were good but neither was mind-blowing. For $99, this was a lot food and I thought it was good. My husband respectfully disagreed.

We frequented the casino on a few different nights throughout the week. The casino encourages you to sign up for a comp card and you do get a $10 match play to use upon check-in to the hotel. The casino is small but nice. There is a nice sportsbook to wager and watch events (probably about 20 televisions). 1-2 poker tables were in use during the evenings and 1-2 craps tables. During midweek, craps was $10 minimums, but $25 on the weekends. Ironically, the craps table were more crowded when it was $25 minimums. Poker was $1-2 no limit hold em (max $200 buy in) plus occasional tournaments. There are many $10 Blackjack tables throughout the evening. Some dealers are friendly and others are not. Most people do not tip, even on poker wins, which my husband found very odd. He tipped fairly well throughout the week and seemed to get compensated for it as we cashed in our comps at the end of the week, and although, he gambled one more evening than I, had 800% more in comp dollars. Drink service in the Casino is naturally complimentary (except at poker) and although, they are not the speediest, it runs in line with the rest of laidback service of the island. Everyone does tip on the drinks, obviously. FYI, the casino is open until 4 am daily.

Off site dining recommendations – Shigiddy Shack, Serendipity, SpratNet

Off site adventures – visit Brimstone Fortress and Turtle Beach
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