At St. Kitts this week

Arrived Sunday. I do like this resort. The sales office is closed up. The lady at the MVCI check in desk told me they are bringing in Century 21 to sell the units for them. If anyone has any questions I will try to answer.

KathyPet said:

Arrived Sunday. I do like this resort. The sales office is closed up. The lady at the MVCI check in desk told me they are bringing in Century 21 to sell the units for them. If anyone has any questions I will try to answer.

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kathypet-
Can you provide some details on the following?
Describe the travel route, i.e., airlines reserved, connections, clearing customs, etc.
How crowded is the resort now, post-holiday, winter (peak?) season occupation.
Condition of your villa, resort grounds, pools, facilities you have utilized so far.
Dining experiences, resort and island, comments/recommend?

Have an awesome trip! Wish I was there as well (hope to visit there someday soon)....it's freezing in Boston, about 26F.

J-

I am very interested in finding out more about St. Kitts and the marriott property. Please write a review when you get back and have a great time.

Questions...

KathyPet said:

Arrived Sunday. I do like this resort. The sales office is closed up. The lady at the MVCI check in desk told me they are bringing in Century 21 to sell the units for them. If anyone has any questions I will try to answer.

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1. I, too, want to know how Security was both going there and leaving -- once you are back.

2. Did you feel the resort was isolated -- away from restaurants, etc. Is a car mandatory?

3. Could you post a layout of the rooms -- the paper they give you when you check in to find your unit.

4. Local transportation like buses?

5. Is there 'enough to do' if one doesn't want to 'veg' on the beach?

Inquiring minds want to know and thank you for offering to answer our questions.

A car is not nessary...there are restaurants within walking distance and taxis are inexpensive and very reliable. We had one who gave us his cell phone to call him when finished with dinner.

A tour of the island is a must...most taxis will provide that and again not expensive. We too one to a restauarnt on the other side of the island and he waited while we had lunch.

St. Kitts is how Aruba ws 35 years ago...main industry now is tourism which relly just started 5 years ago. A new cruise port was bult to handle the larger ships.

Beautiful beach and golf course is nearby.

Here is a link with a lot of info http://myislands.myeyez.net/index.shtml?17

Weather?

Will be there January 16-27. How is the weather? It looks like daily showers, but I assume these pass quickly.

This will be our third trip to St. Kitts and the Marriott and we love it. Island is beautiful; the timeshare villas are spacious and quiet; no waiting to reserve beach huts. Very laid-back and the perfect place to escape winter in the eastern U.S. Getting through immigration upon arrival at the airport is a pain. It seems all U.S. flights arrive at about the same time and the lines are long, the process not efficient.

Are you planning on taking a tour on the train that goes around the island?

Bringing in Century 21 to sell them--is that because there are mostly sold out or because they can't sell them??? Seems kind of odd. We considered there before buying Frenchman's Cove but thought it was much harder to get there.

Sales office closed

mariawolf said:

Bringing in Century 21 to sell them--is that because there are mostly sold out or because they can't sell them??? Seems kind of odd. We considered there before buying Frenchman's Cove but thought it was much harder to get there.

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Not sure, but here's one report: Marriott’s St. Kitts Beach Club to close sales office http://www.sknvibes.com/Business/NewsDetails.cfm/12139

mariawolf said:

Bringing in Century 21 to sell them--is that because there are mostly sold out or because they can't sell them??? Seems kind of odd. We considered there before buying Frenchman's Cove but thought it was much harder to get there.

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They're probably paying C-21 on a commission basis saving overhead.

We were in St. Kitts two years ago and stayed at the Marriott hotel resort. We went on a promotion and they tried to sell us a timeshare. Luckily my husband resisted but I was almost convinced to buy. I am not sure exactly where the timeshare part is but the resort was beautiful. The beach has nice huts on it and was not crowded at all. Locals do come up to you and ask if you want an aloe massage. Actually, they were very nice and gave a very relaxing and reasonable massage. If you do not want one, they do not bother you. The people on the island were all very friendly and we had no problems. We rented a car and ended up returning it the very next day as it was more confusing driving on the left side of the road. It was actually more reasonable to use taxis. There is a nice rain forest hike to do. We went with a local guide who gave us a very informative tour. There is also a volcano hike which we did not do, which I understand is much more strenuous. We took a day trip over to Nevis which was very nice. Just make sure you take your shoes with you as the beach sand there was very hot. We had to take our shoes off on the boat and never took them to shore with us. That was a mistake. We really enjoyed St. Kitts and would love to go back.

How is occupancy there and on the island as a whole? I had started another thread asking about this and am interested in how the tourism in the islands is doing.

tlwmkw

Would there be any issues with a woman traveling alone there?

If by that you are asking whether a woman traveling alone would need to be concerned for personal safety on the island or at the resort, I would say that the same safety precautions apply for anyone visiting St. Kitts, regardless of gender or age. I personally felt safe on the resort whether in a group or as a single. I would feel comfortable taking a cab to restaurants off the resort for dinner, and wouldn't walk to any venue alone at night. St. Kitts has its share of crime, but so far it is mostly local and rarely directed at tourists. Nevertheless, I wouldn't invite trouble by wandering around alone in unfamiliar surroundings.

I did note in my review of the St. Kitts beach club resort that I was surprised to find that the external doors to the buildings housing the timeshare units were never locked, yet even in Aruba which is considered pretty safe, the outside entrances to the Ocean Club and Surf Club are locked at night and require a key card to get in. Nor were security guards especially noticeable at the St. Kitts beach club.

Hi Kathy -

We are headed to St. Kitts in May. Is there a grocery store nearby to grab a few staples for the room? Our home base is Aruba. While we don't usually eat dinners in the room, we like having a few basics and items for breakfast in the room.

Hope you're enjoying your trip. Looking forward to a trip report!

~ Liz

Hi Liz. I"m interested in Kathy's report on groceries too. Here was my response to someone who asked me the same thing last year just before going to St. Kitts:

There are several groceries on the island. Nothing in walking distance of the Marriott. The resort does have the usual "marketplace" for snacks and wine/soda. I’ve shopped at both the IGA (nearest the Marriott) and Rams market downtown. Rams is geared toward provisioning yachts and seems to have a better supply of non-perishables. I prefer it to the IGA. Produce is not great and the meats are sometimes mysteriously cut and labeled . We did buy ground beef and chicken, but tended to look for our meat protein in the restaurants. Nothing like Lings in Aruba. Ask around and find out when the food cargo ships come in (mid week, I think). Hit the groceries then because the shelves can be picked over by Sat. and Sun. Market day down at the harbor is Saturday and there may be better local produce available there.

Great advice - thanks! I too am a Ling's shopper when we're in Aruba. We don't get too much but I do enjoy having a few items in the room. We can't wait for St. Kitts. Just watching the airfares now

Just remember that most smaller islands have no real modern farming or food processing so everything except for local produce and fish comes from off island. Once in a while they will slaughter a bull or pig, but I wouldn't buy without some sort of regulated processing. Most meat coming to the island is frozen also.

sun&fun said:

Hi Liz. I"m interested in Kathy's report on groceries too. Here was my response to someone who asked me the same thing last year just before going to St. Kitts:

There are several groceries on the island. Nothing in walking distance of the Marriott. The resort does have the usual "marketplace" for snacks and wine/soda. I’ve shopped at both the IGA (nearest the Marriott) and Rams market downtown. Rams is geared toward provisioning yachts and seems to have a better supply of non-perishables. I prefer it to the IGA. Produce is not great and the meats are sometimes mysteriously cut and labeled . We did buy ground beef and chicken, but tended to look for our meat protein in the restaurants. Nothing like Lings in Aruba. Ask around and find out when the food cargo ships come in (mid week, I think). Hit the groceries then because the shelves can be picked over by Sat. and Sun. Market day down at the harbor is Saturday and there may be better local produce available there.

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I will try to anser some of the questions. We flew AA from Dulles to SanJuan and then on to St. Kitts. We will come back via Miami to Dulles. Far was $650 R/T PP. I nioticed no change whatsoever in security procedures at IAD. We passed through in just a few minutes but this was 8 AM on a Sunday morning. There are currently 66 T/S units. There are 2 Br with 1 balcony which we are in, 2 Br's with 2 Balconies and 3 Br's. No lockouts. There are two more buildings that are in the process of being converted from hotel rooms to T/S. They will be ready in Dec and that will bring unit totals to 88. My husband saw someone in the sales office yesterday and went in. He met the Sales Manager, David and chatted with him for a while. Told David we were interested in a 2 BR unit so yesterday afternoon I was quite surprised to get a knock on the door and David was standing there with a package of information for us. He came in and we spent a long time chatting. Absolutely without a doubt the nicest most low key Marriott sales person I have ever met. He didn't even try to sell us a unit because I think he realized very quickly how knowlegeable I was about Marriott TimeSharing. Just told us to look through the information and contact him with questions. We are considering purchasing because I just love this property. It is so spacious. You don't feel crowded and surrounded with other people because it is all villa units and no high rises.
Marriott purchased additional property adjacent to the current resort and there are plans to build Marriott condo residences on the front part (ocean front) on the property and then eventually to add more timeshares behind the condos. They are all ready selling the condos (www.mrstkitts.com).
By the way David did confirm that a conversion to a point based system will be rolled out in 2010. Didn't seem to have a lot of details or didn't want to share them at this point as he said they are still working on finalizing the program but it is coming.
More later----

Do you happen to know the cost of 18 holes of golf?

Never mind...it is $150 for Marriott guest for 18 holes.

sun&fun said:

I did note in my review of the St. Kitts beach club resort that I was surprised to find that the external doors to the buildings housing the timeshare units were never locked, yet even in Aruba which is considered pretty safe, the outside entrances to the Ocean Club and Surf Club are locked at night and require a key card to get in. Nor were security guards especially noticeable at the St. Kitts beach club.

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The entire Marriott St Kitts complex is enclosed within walls. The only way to get in and out are through the hotel or the beach (The southern part of the beach narrows considerably and then is covered in rocks, probably to keep people from just wandering onto the Marriott beach)

For those staying in the villa buildings (some villas are part of the hotel, some are timeshares) there is a main door to the building that is not locked but the door to your villa is locked (I see little difference versus not needing a key to access each floor of the hotel, but need a key for your room).

sun&fun said:

I’ve shopped at both the IGA (nearest the Marriott) and Rams market downtown. Rams is geared toward provisioning yachts and seems to have a better supply of non-perishables.

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There was a Rams within walking distance from the Marriott, not huge, but had some essentials. There was also a wine shop near the Rams so also in walking distance.

This was within the past year, but things could have changed

KathyPet said:

Marriott purchased additional property adjacent to the current resort and there are plans to build Marriott condo residences on the front part (ocean front) on the property and then eventually to add more timeshares behind the condos. They are all ready selling the condos (www.mrstkitts.com).

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Based on the map on the Condo website & Google Maps it looks like it will be built north of the existing hotel (with the first few units not being beachfront)

I also looked at the web site or the condos and agree that it looks like they are not Ocean Front views but I am quite sure that David told me that the front piece of property that fronts on the ocean would have the condos and the new time share villas would be behind them close to the road so I am confused or else I misunderstood David. They have two types of two bedoom units. One has one balcony and one has two balconies with the Master bedroom having a balcony also. The 2 BR, 2 Balcony units are set up like most of the Marriott timeshares with the MBR right next to the Living/Dining room. The one balcony units have the MBR tucked away down a hallway behind the Living/Kitchen space. I sort of liked that configuration because if one party is a early riser they can use the kitchen and tun on the TV etc and the noise would not be heard in the Master BR. The negative to that set up is a rather strange set up with the Refrigerator and the countertop next to the refrigerator in a corner and tucked so far back that you really cannot even use that space.
We took taxis and found that you really do not need a car. We added up what we spent in taxi fare and we would have spent quite a bit more to have rented a car. Taxis are plentiful and quite cheap. Our taxi driver took us to the IGA in Basseterre and waited while we purchased groceries and then drove us back. Marriott staff then put the groceries in a golf cart and drove us right to our front door and carried them up for us. There is small mini market place about a 5 minute walk from the hotel that was closed when we walked by on our way to CIAO for dinner but they appeared to have basic supplies. I saw milk, bread, soda when I peeked in the door. Food is expensive to buy in the stores and in the restaurants since everything is imported. We bought basic lunch and breakfast items at the IGA (nothing fancy, bread, milk, coffee, soda, chips, english muffins, cereal, cold cuts, cheese, ice cream, cookies, enough for 2 people for a week and we spent $150.00