watch what you wish for at St Kitts
 

You want a pool view, not a suite. The pool views will give you panaoramic view of pool and ocean; ocean views are farther away from main building. When I was there earlier this year, they mentioned they had me down for a smoking pool view (booked), when I went ot check in. I mentioned, no, here's my confirmation, NS King pool view and they said, "oh..let me see what I can do. Sir, we're going to upgrade you" - So, I got a two room suite overlooking some swamp on the side of the resort. In an unusual move for me, I demanded a NS pool view room, as it was booked) to which they couldn;t move me until the next day, and then the best they could give was a double NS pool view.

Honestly, I would go back if necessary, but not of choice. And St Kitts/Nevis in general was very so-so compared to other carribean destinations.

Word of caution if you go to Nevis and have Verizon wireless - it doesn't work there (or didn;t in January anyway)

Would love to hear if anyone else has any opinions about the St. Kitts Marriott!

I have read through the threads on FT, but I can't seem to get a read on whether it is a good property(/island) or if I would be better off at another location.

I just snagged a pretty good rate for the busy spring break season (or at least what seemed to be a good deal), but I looked through tripadvisor and it looks like there are a lot of very critical reviews.

I rarely get the opportunity to actually utilize my vacation days, so I want to avoid squandering them (don't want to be underwhelmed by the hotel, island, etc). Would love to get some advice on whether the st. kitts marriott would be a good choice or if I might be better off elsewhere in the Caribbean/Mexico/Costa Rica! (as far as Marriotts go in this area I have STT, GCM, CUR, PVR, and CUN as a basis for comparison, if that helps...) I know there are many threads on this type of thing, so I apologize if people feel like I'm rehashing something that has already been addressed, but I haven't found anything terribly critical of the property on FT yet and there were a lot on tripadvisor (....and to think... i thought FTers would have been the first to speak up about a room being really dusty or AC not working....)

Hope someone can help! (and happy holidays!)

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/11580024-post6.html

This was my experience in St Kitts, but it is now almost 2 years later, so I would assume things have changed. It seems as if some of the later comments here are more favorable.

Question about Rate Rules for Super Escape Inclusive Special for St. Kitts Marriot
 

I was looking to book a 3 night reservation for next November. When filling out the dates, # of guests, etc, the various rates and room packages came up. I was interested in booking the Super Inclusive Special and the Marriot website will allow me to go through with it. My concern is after reading through all the rate rules, it notes there is a 5 day minimum required.

Why is it offered as a package if my reservation would be clearly defined as 3 nights? If I book it, am i taking my chances that the hotel will not honor it despite my confirmed reservation?

Here are the rate rules:

Rate Rules Super Escape! Inclusive Special, includes breakfast for 2 guests daily, lunch for 2 guests daily, dinner for 2 guests daily, snacks daily, deposit required, see Rate Rules

Additional Information
Super Escape! Inclusive Package for two people
*** Resort View Room with balcony ***
** PACKAGE INCLUDES **
Room accommodations & room tax and service charge
Your choice of two (per room,per stay)
Either Round of Golf, Spa Treatment or Casino Value Package.
Daily breakfast at Calypso Restaurant
Daily lunch at Calypso Restaurant, Calypso Caf , and
Bohemia Restaurant, Pizza Shack
Nightly 3-course dinner at La Cucina, Blu, Royal Grille
Pizza Shack or Calypso Caf
(surcharge applies to select items at Specialty Restaurants)
Kids 12 and under eat free from the kids' menu or buffet
Children ages 13-17 pay an additional $75 per child per night
Room service
Non-alcoholic beverages
Gold standard alcoholic beverages
(detailed list of spirits & brands included provided at check-in
Local beers, house wines by the glass;
(take-away bottle service unavailable)
Tennis courts, Non-motorized water sports
Kids' Club ( ages 5 to 12 years of age )
20 percent discount on Golf merchandise retail
20 percent discount on treatments at the Emerald Mist Spa
********* BELOW ITEMS ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THE PACKAGE***********
Blue Martini Piano Bar
Luxury liquors, champagne or wines
Casino and Casino Bar
Royal St. Kitts Golf Club food & beverages,
Pro Shop purchases and rentals
Tobacco, cigars and cigarettes
Laundry/dry cleaning
Telephone calls/cell phone rental & Internet/Business Center
Emerald Mist Spa
Motorized water sports, Activity center purchases & Tours
Pronto, retail shops & craft market purchases
Additional gratuities and any other items not listed as included
***Helpful tips***
Please note that you will need to sign for any services or
products that are included in the package. This is for
verification and tracking purposes only. Any items that are
inclusive of your package will not be charged to your room.
When dining in the outlets, guests that are part of the Escape!
Inclusive PKG will need to have separate checks per room.
Up to two children under the age of 12 stay and eat for free
with up to two adults per room. Minimum five night stay is
required. Max 4 person per room with double beds, 3 with king.
Additional charges for extra persons.
Holding Your Reservation
We will need a credit card prepayment to reserve your room.
To ensure that you receive this special rate, we will charge your credit card a prepayment of XXX.XX USD (your room charge plus tax for your first and last nights) on December 29, 2010.
Canceling Your Reservation
You may cancel your reservation for no charge until November 3, 2011 (3 day[s] before arrival).
Please note that we will assess a fee of XXX.XX USD if you must cancel after this deadline.
If you have made a prepayment, we will retain all or part of your prepayment. If not, we will charge your credit card.

This fee equals 2 nights of your room charge plus tax (for the first and last nights of your reservation).

Modifying Your Reservation
Please note that a change in the length or dates of your reservation may result in a rate change.
Your current rate may be available if your modified reservation still includes:

A stay of 3 night(s) or more.

More about problems with monkeys
 

This is a very good question. I spent over a year on the island and have seen a lot of them and sometimes on a regular basis.
First and foremost, most of the monkeys are in the mountains and surrounding area for a couple reasons but mainly because there in generally an abundance of food for them there.

That being said there are times when there is little to no food in the mountains so the monkeys will raid large food supply areas first. They are smart and wasteful. They pick a piece of fruit and take a bite then drop it and grab another.

Some monkeys will come down to certain beach areas at certain times though.
Non mango season is the worst time. generally winter time.

In all the time I spent on the island, the monkeys were not a serious problem. Its actually nice to see them as a tourist because they are mystic creatures.

Don't let them keep you from visiting the island, let them encourage you to see them.

I have some video and pictures of our experiences with them at our blog site:
http://www.StKittsMonkeys.BlogSpot.com

i would just go for it. when i stayed there last august (my girlfriend goes to ross university) they said that there was an additional fee of like 20 or 40 per person per night. i took her and some friends there and checked in and they never argued with the rate I was given. I am plat elite, but I don't think it will be an issue. however the parking staff was extremely rude, I have yet to complain but it has been the worst marriott i've stayed, and I have 220 marriott nights this year, but aside from frigate bay resort, it's the only hotel on the damn island.

i think you will be good if they let you book.

Good to know...fortunately the Marriott is just a short stop before heading over to the Four Seasons Nevis. I just wish there were other viable options on St. Kitts. Traveling with the Mrs. and our 4 year old twins, I thought it beneficial to break up the trip to save some money and it being a long travel day flying in from NY straight to Nevis.

Anyone been recently? All fixed up? What is it like at night in the area? I think of times I have been on a beach and can see millions and million of stars, and other times when you just have kids screaming at the pool. I dont like being over the pools so I don't need to listen to them when I sit on a balcony. Is there a lot of light pollution from the property or do you get to sit on a dark beach and see all the little, dim stars?

I was there just over a year ago. Didn't notice anything at all in obvious need of repair. The resort is nice and was not overrun with kids. The main pool is not really situated near guest rooms so I wouldn't foresee that as a problem. I didn't really notice the stars but the Marriott is by far the biggest commercial property on the island and it was not lit up like a Christmas tree. I'm sure your nighttime view would be fine; if not there, at most any other venue on the island. This island is not built up at all, in fact, I've been to about 20 Caribbean islands and St. Kitts may be the least commercialized I've found.

Literally a shack (Mr. X's Shiggidy Shack and Water Tours) with great food and nice atmosphere.
Didn't do any water tours with Mr. X, but a few times we walked the mile or so down the road and took a taxi back.

We didn't find a need to rent a car as the people are very friendly and the taxi's are reasonable (and you can haggle with the taxi that picks you up from the airport).

St Kitts All Inclusive
 

We have come to the resort for the last two years on reward stays with the inclusive package. I have often thought that a greater use of points would be to get a cheap rate ( they are often available) and pay and use points for just the inclusive part. What I THUGHT I learned from this site and from calling Marriott rewards was that you can only do inclusive when on a reward stay. We are here now and an elevator partner mentioned how much he was enjoying the inclusive, so I commented that it was a shame you could only do it on a reward stay, to which he responded that he was not on a reward stay, but did add that he was with a group of 70. SO, is it only for reward stays, do they have special deals with groups or what?

You can pay for all inclusive on a paid stay or use points on a an award stay. Did he say he was using points on a paid stay?

Ahhhh That explains it, especially with a group that is corporate and probably using bailout money.

I thought I've also seen the all-inclusive package as a paid package. So you could cash in points for gift cards and do the paid AI stay if offered.

I'm sure with large groups, they work out all kinds of special packages.

Just wondering, how is the St. Kitts resort on AI? Still looking for a family vacation for next summer - using points for gift cards probably (rant: wish they were good at Ritz Carlton! rant over...)

We came here last year and returned this year, if that tells you something. There are three restaurants available in the evening <seafood, steak, and Italian). We really liked all three. The breakfast offering is very large and varied. Lunch can be had at a poolside cafe, and of course a swim up bar. The restaurants are quite nice and our evening dinner bills run in the 180$ to 250$ range if not on AI. We love the island, which is not near as touristy as most. The AI here is a great use of 85,000 points in my opinion.