Carl Christensen

I really don't remember. We got a jeep the first 2 years. For the last 2 years though we have reserved the Dodge Durango to take over (has seating for 7 and baggage which is more than the jeep). For a week that might be close to 800. The problem is the car rental chains on st. thomas lie about having jeeps available and then you get there and they don't have availability and your stuck with not having a 4 wheel drive. Although truthfully, having went to St. John 4 years in a row, there is very little you can't do on St. John with a car. We went on a dirt road or two that would have been fine with a car. And there are tons of cars on st. john. If it weren't for the number of people that go (7 in our party) we might just use autoslash and a regular car rental chain to get a car.

Carl Christensen

vtw, this is the location we have used for the 4 years. http://www.discountcar.vi/vehicles.html

jordandawg05

I actually got a quote from discount car last week . i had googled their website after you had mentioned it. they quoted me 501 for a week for a jeep ( not the unlimited version).

i am going to ask them for a regular car. its only my wife and I on this trip. if we are able to go without a jeep to explore the island that would be fine with us. never been to the VI so i would need some advise if you absolutely 'have ' to get a jeep. per your previous reply it seems i can survive with only a car.

dcstudent

Mrs. dcstudent and I have never rented a jeep and we've been just fine. All the beaches and trails we've needed to access have paved or gravel access.

THat said, it seems most (like almost 100%) of visitors rent jeeps (based on the parking lot at the hotel and the beaches/trails), but we've never rented or needed one.

jerseygirl

Another car renter here, we have been fine. Think only time you would really need jeep or 4 wheel drive is in heavy rain on steep roads, but we don't drive then and have not yet been caught in rain
We rent on St thomas and take car ferry to St. John, prefer a car as we usually have 4 to 5 people and like trunk room going to beaches, grocery, restaurants, shopping,etc

360guy

Last month we rent a compact car from Avis on STT ($300/wk) and we took the car ferry ($50 RT with driver and 1 passenger). We were able to drive every where with no problem.

Dcislander

Hey all. Quick question: We have an upcoming point stay in April in a studio villa. Guessing that they will put us in an older unit for a free stay, but can anyone recommend which building or group of buildings we should try and request?

It is our 10th anniversary (got married on St John at the Westin) and I want to email the reservations manager before we head out.

Many thanks for your advise.

Chicago Cruzer

Hi everyone,

New to the forums, so much great information here. I am looking at going to the Westin St. John on points in April with my wife for a baby moon. We can either use our points for a studio villa or for a traditional king room at the resort. I don't know which way to go.... From what I can tell, the villa would be a garden view so I think that would be in buildings 21-23 right? If we did the resort then it would be in buildings 10-16 right? Can anyone confirm what construction is going on right now if any?

Thank in advance for your help!

jordandawg05

i am collecting enough points for 4 nights, is the 5th night free if i book 4 nights on points? are 12k spg points worth a villa/room at this property? they are priced at 385 a night. thats 48k points which is alot of spg points but on the other hand its a saving of more than 1500 points.

thoughts?

dcstudent

Yes, 5th night is free if you book on points. At $385 per night + tax, let's say it comes to $400 a night. That's $2000 for 5 nights. 2000/48000=$.042per point. To be honest, that's a pretty good redemption value (to me).

jordandawg05

Sounds good to me - this is the only property ( i think) in St John that i can use points on and i rather not pay cash. so i am trying to finish my spend on an SPG biz card to get my 48k points then book. thanks for your thoughts !

Carl Christensen

We paid ~710 for a Dodge durango to seat 7 for a week. Split payment between two Barclay's A+ cards and my rental was paid for completely!

You can get a durango on St. John, but then you have to pay for tax to get to red hook ferry, ferry fees per person with bags, and taxi to the westin.

If there is a cheaper place for durangos that you can rent on St. Thomas and take the car barge over, let me know.

sbbi

Hi All,

We will visit USVI and BVI this summer and would appreciate any suggestions. Below is our plan and questions.

We (two adults and we kids) will fly from Miami and will arrive at STT at 9:30PM. I understand we will not need to go through any custom or immigration (just like a domestic flight, right?). Since it will be pretty late, we will stay at Best Western for a night which seems walkable from airport. Is it safe to walk during the night?

On the next day, we will go direct to BVI via ferry. I have following questions
1. I heard the ferry schedule change quite often? Where can i find the up to date schedule? Is the schedule in the following link accurate?
http://www.vinow.com/general_usvi/interisland_ferry/
2. there are several ferry routes according to the link above: Charlotte Amalie → Road Town, Charlotte Amalie → West End, Charlotte Amalie → Tortola, Redhook → West End, Red Hook → Tortola. Since we will not have a car on St Thomas, I figure I need to get a taxi to send us to ferry from Best Western/STT Airport? It seems Charlotte Amalie is the closest ferry port from Best Western/STT Airport? Is it easy to get a taxi? How much is it normally for that distance?
3. And which ferry port at BVI should we arrive at, or where is the best ferry port in BVI to rent a car? Any recommendation for a specific car rental company on BVI?
4. We will stay in Scrub Island in BVI. I understand there is free parking at the ferry dock for transport to Scrub island?
5. On BVI, we will also visit Jost Van Dyke island and Virgin Gorda island. I understand there is no car ferry to these two islands. Then I think we will need to drive to the ferry dock and park our rental car, then take the ferry and rent another car when we get on the island? (Should we make reservation?)
6. When going to BVI and returning to USVI, will we need to go through custom and immigration at ferry port?

After seven days in BVI, we will return to USVI. We need to get off from ferry (Charlotte Amalie?), and take a taxi back to STT airport to rent another car. Then we drive around in St Thomas for half day, and go to St John by car ferry (Red Hook → Cruz Bay) and stay there for 3 nights.

7. On St John, We still stay at Westin St. John Resort & Villas. We still cannot decide to stay at the resort or the villas part? which is better? it seems the villas are on the other side of the hill (not facing ocean) and I am not sure how far we need to walk to the beach and the pool?

On the last day, we go back to STT airport to return the car and leave in the PM. Since I have never been to Virgin Islands before, I am not sure if there are any issues with my plan. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Thanks!
Jenny

Carl Christensen

Commenting on the westin: There are villas all facing the ocean as is the hotel rooms. The advantage of the villas is sleeping more people plus having cooking facilities (for us, that is the big plus as we only eat out 1-2x the entire week we stay at the Westin St. John)

DCAGUY

Have not been to BVI. Do have experience in getting to and from St John as follows:

There is an Avis rental agency (Seaborne - T5S 3400 Veterans Drive, St Thomas) adjacent to the Charlotte Amalie → Tortola ferry terminal. We rented at this location last month and returned the car to the airport. Will save you the airport rental car fee and taxi fare to the airport for pick up - taxi fares are per person. I think we paid around $8 per person into town this time. (In past years, we stayed at Holiday Inn -now Windward Passage Hotel - across from Tortola ferry terminal/Avis. Very convenient location for car pick up/ferry, other than that nothing special.)

Spent one night in Charlotte Amalie; hotel called the taxi for us and said there is not a problem getting a taxi.

We made reservations for the ferry (Love City Car Ferries) Red Hook → Cruz Bay. There is a $10 discount for booking a round trip; can book online. Probably best to make two printouts of your reservation. The ferry attendant will take a copy of the printout on the trip to Cruz Bay. We returned to Red Hook earlier than we had reserved and there was no problem with getting on.

Server at hotel said there is generally not a problem getting on the ferry except at morning and evening rush hours when workers are traveling between St Thomas and St John.

We much prefer the villas at the Westin. More spacious and kitchen facilities. We prefer walking; but, shuttles are available to take you around the property and were always timely when we called. Villas do face the bay. Some views are much better than others. Same is true of the resort rooms.

There is parking problem at the National Park beaches. First time we arrived around 11 am and found no place to park at any of the three main beaches. Next time we arrived around 9 and found a spot, but there were none available when we departed around 11. Ranger advised that one had to be at the Park before 10 to find a place to park. This was in February, may not be so busy in the summer.

Enjoy your trip.