Good hotel and service but needs updating

My husband and I were pleasantly surprised to get our room upgraded to a suite during our stay there for 7 days. Our bedroom had an incredible jacuzzi tub. The housekeeping service was excellent - our room always looked clean and neat whenever we get back in. The 24 hr mini market at the hotel has delicious sandwiches, and the people at the adventure service desk were helpful and nice. They even have free rum cocktails on Tues and Weds out on their beautiful patios.There were several things that were disappointing. 1. People were generally unfriendly. That made things mildly unpleasant. 2. The beach is about a 7 min walk from our room - not visible from our balcony. The water is not calm and turquoise in color like one might hope. 3. The rooms are nice, but the bathroom needs updating. It looks like something from a 2-star motel (if there is such a thing.) Even though it was clean, it had mildew stains along the bath tub. 4. Taxi cab rides gets costly after a while.We had a good time though. Things to buy - liquor. There is a really good restaurant at Charlotte Amalie called Gladys. Awesome mixed drinks and great food. The grilled Mahi Mahi and Grouper is simply delicious. If you want to take a boat trip to the British Virgin Islands that includes snorkeling, go with "Breakaway." It was the best part of our trip.

Nice Resort

We just got back from St.Thomas. Stayed at the Morningstar resort there. A Very Nice hotel. This property is right on the beach, so it is very convenient for those who wish to spend a lot of time there. The rooms are fairly well done, but nothing spectacular. The service was very good and prompt. There is a pretty decent restaurant called "Tavern on the Beach" with a good bar. Also for more casual dining, there is "Coco Joes" . Both are on the beach. Plus, there is a small marketplace to get snacks, bagels, milk and other stuff. There is a shuttle bus that takes people to the Main Building as well as to a ferry dock , from where one can take a ferry to downtown. We did look at other properties, and in my opinion, after the Ritz, this is the best place on St.Thomas for beach lovers. One caveat, the morningstar beach can get pretty rough, it is definitely not comparable to Magens beach in that aspect.

Very disappointed

Our room at the Morningstar was supposed to be beachfront and they tried to give us one facing the wall of Coco Joe's, with a side view of the ocean. We asked for another room, which they gave us. It had a better view, however, the furniture looked like it belonged at a garage sale, it had a tiny bathroom and smelled of mildew. We complained and asked to move to Frenchman's Reef. The room they tried to give us was small and the view was totally obstructed by palm trees. The suite we ended up with was adequate, but not great, and much better than the Morningstar. The view was spectacular. We had been informed that the resort had recently undergone a renovation. I can't imagine what it must have looked like before that! To sum it all up - the place is run down. If you are accustomed to a four or five star resort, you'll be disappointed here.

Loved it!

My husband and I decided on the Marriot's Frenchmen's Reef as our last "alone" trip before the birth of our first child. We arrived in St. THomas early and so we couldn't check into our room until 3pm. That ended up being a good omen since it gave us a chance to explore the resort. We decided while looking around that we wanted to be on the beach, so we upgraded our reservation to the Morning Star. It was wonderful going into the room for the first time. The room was airy and there were bathrobes neatly folded and waiting for us on the bed with cushy slippers. The patio opened out to face the ocean and hearing the waves at night was...well...you couldn't ask for more. If you love the beach, I would highly recommend staying at Morning Star. I will, however, disagree with some reviews about the climb down to the beach from Frenchmen's reef though. They now have an elevator that lessens the amount of stairs you have to climb, and we actually used it a lot. The walk from Frenchmen's Reef to the Morning Star beach is refreshing and quite pretty. The only complaint that I would have is that the town of Charlotte Amalie does close down at 5 pm and so it discouraged us from eating in town at night. The taxis can get rather expensive as well. My advice would be to spend the time at the resort and eat there, since the food is not that much cheaper in town especially if you use a taxi to get there. There is a new restaurant that serves West Indian food in town that is excellent, Friends of Little Bo Peep. Spend a little bit more money at Morning Star if you're looking for a quiet romantic time.

Very enjoyable

Spent 8 nights from 3/10 thru 3/18/03 and enjoyed every minute. Staff was delightful and accomodations were great. The 'market' in the hotel is open 24 hours and is great for sandwiches, salads, etc. Buy your liquor in town versus the 'market'. Dinner food prices in the hotel are between 20 -38, but if you go outside the hotel for dinner add cab fares of 5-7 per person each way. Town shops virtually shut down at 5PM because the cruise people leave. I would not recommend taking the safari type cabs to town or back unless you hold on tightly to all of your belongings. The Frenchmas' Reef was a very enjoyable vacation and we had no negative comments. I would recommend it.

Great place for the kids

We have been twice and stayed at Frenchman's Reef both times. Our kids loved the resort, they really enjoyed the iguanas that are feed by the employees at a specified time. Our room was nice and the service and food were good also. We stopped over in St. Thomas on our way to Tortola. The islands are very close in proximity, but very different. St. Thomas has lots of shopping and lots of tourists, Tortola does not. It just depends what you are looking for. A ferry makes it easy to go back and forth, and island hop to either Tortola or St. John, the other US Virgin Island. Do not forget your passport, you will need it to go to Tortola, as it is part of the British Virgins. Enjoy!

Overall good resort

23 people in my family went to St. Thomas for a 10 day holiday over the Christmas vacation. First of all, the taxis cost a bundle! The taxi drivers (usually vans) are generally helpful and nice.

The resort fit the needs for all of the generations in my family. It is spread out, however. So, be ready to walk up and down steps to the beach. Get to the beach early to get beach chairs under an umbrella. Beach towels are available at the pool or the beach. The beach was great. Staying at Marriott's Morning Star Resort (on the same property as Frenchman's Reef has much nicer rooms and is located on the beach).

The best things about the resort: The beach, Presto Marketplace (market and deli open 24 hours a day, great sandwhiches and pizza etc.), Tavern on the Beach Restaurant, lunches at CoCo Joe's (limited menu but on the beach), the Adventure Activity Desk (they book resturants and activities and are independent of the hotel but located in the lobby. You have to pay for activities by credit card, but they are VERY accommodating). The resort has a water taxi to the town of Charlotte Amalie.

Best activities on the island in whcih we participated: full day sail, snorkle and lunch on the Dutchess sailboat (can't say enough about our hosts Dutchess and Dick), day trip and tour to St. John's, snorkling at the resort beach (far side of the beach), spa and workout room, dining out, some shopping, the beach and pool at the resort, parasailing, SCUBA diving with Underwater Safaris, babysitters (teachers from the local schools) cost $10.00 per hour, but were excellent...... no children's programs at the resort though, **** children could eat 3 meals a day from the children's menus and have all beverages they wanted all day for $10.00 per day (must ask for this children's meal plan), breakfasts at Windows on the Harbour.

Low points of our trip: taxi costs, eating any dinner at Coco Joe's or Windows on the Harbour, Check in took us 2 1/2 hours because they had confused all of our reservations, not getting promised connecting rooms for 2 out of three families who have small children, our families were very spread out over the resort,

Excellent restaurants: Craig & Sally's, Old Stone Farmhouse, A Room With a View, Banana Tree Grille, Tavern on the Beach, Herve Restaurant, Fujiyama Japanese Steak and Seafood. All of these restaurants were absolutely excellent!

Restaurants to avoid: The Caribbean Lobster House at the Old Sugar Mill, dinners at Windows on the Harbor and Coco Joe's.

Fantastic hotel and great vacation!

My husband and I spent 9 nights at Frenchmans' Reef in December of 2000. It was terrific. I found a deal on line for a room with a view and when we got to our room we found it overlooked the roof. We told the bellhop that wasn't acceptable so he asked us to come back to the lobby with him and he'd see what they could do. They got us a cocktail and we hung out for about a half hour and they took us to an oceanview room with a private patio - it was beautiful! Staff was great. We had full breakfast included in our price and that was unbelievable! The pool is beautiful and the cruise ships literally come right by the hotel! This was my second trip, my husband's first, and we both intend on going back and would stay at F.R. again in a heartbeat!

Marriott Frenchman's Reef

Traveler beware, I had a very bad experience at this hotel during a recent stay, end of February 2002. After checking in were taken to our room where construction work was underway on the room directly above us. We telephoned the front desk to complain that we could not even hear the sound on the television set. They told us they would get back to us. After 45 minutes we called again and asked for the manager. We got an assitant manager who also told us he would get back to us right away. After 30 minutes we decided to go to the pool area for a drink. Upon our return to the room the noise had stopped, it was after 5:00 pm, however there was no message on the phone. All this for $350 per night. We checked out the next morning.

Great place

Loved it great food nice rooms, could be better. All in All it was great not sure about the cost.