If you are looking for moderate pricing try stthomasvirginisland.com. This is a two bedroom vacation rental with full kitchen and pool.

Point Pleasant is nice, but no real beach activities. Have you looked at Bolongo? Family run, and moderate and on a beach.

My family and I have stayed at Sapphire Bay West condo's on Sapphire Beach. We have stayed at practically every hotel on the island and Sapphire Beach is our favorite. These condos are a few feet from the beach and much more inexpensive than Sapphire Beach condo's next door. They are usually one bedroom with either a pull out couch and/or Murphy beds. They are two bathrooms and fully equipped with a fridge, microwave, blender, toaster, BBQ etc. The first floor units have an outside patio. All units have air conditioning and maid service. We are a family of four with two little ones and it was great to be able to make lunch and frozen drinks and bring it down to the beach. We also purchased some local lobsters from the stadium area and grilled them for dinner. We saved a ton of money and rented a car with the cash we saved.

Hello Stefanie,

I have had some friends visit and stay at Point Pleasant (2 different visits/2 different people) both were happy with the large apartments, the setting, the view. Only comment made was about the beach or lack of. I have read other comments and the rooms do differ, so some are nicer then others apparently. What is your family looking for in the accommodation and age range?

--Islander

My son is 9. We don't really know what we're looking for yet. The plan is to go the first week of August to celebrate my husband's 40th birthday. We want to try snorkelling and we need a pool. Tons of beach time is not critical. We want to go on the tram, over to St John's, etc - we like to "explore". I don't want to spend more than $2800 on seven nights (including airfare which is approx $450 per person so that leaves 1600 for accommodations...) Any suggestions will be appreciated!

Hi Stefanie,
I would definitely recommend Point Pleasant. I stayed there in December and loved it so much that I bought a unit there. The resort has 3 pools. There are two beaches that are not directly in front, but on either side of the property. You can also walk to Coral World and Coki Beach where the snorkeling is great and especially good for beginners. Both the studios and 1 bedroom suites have a full kitchen so you can save money by cooking some meals in. If you don't feel like cooking, there are also 2 restaurants, Fungi's and Agave Terrace, at the resort. Just a five minute drive to Red Hook where you can pick up some groceries or take the ferry to St. John. Because the villas are built in the side of the mountain, if you don't like walking thru nature trails and don't want to use the shuttle bus, request a room lower down. The views from the rooms (especially the ones on the top of the mountain) are incredible. If you go to their website, www.pointpleasantresort.com, you can find out more and check on their pricing and availability. However, you can probably get a better deal at expedia.com. A week here should definitely be within your price range.

Sue

Hello Stefanie,

Snorkeling you can try out at Coki Beach. If you enjoy it and want to go to other beaches for snorkeling then try Secret Harbor and Sapphire has fair snorkeling as well. Head to St. John and do some snorkeling at Trunk Bay or Cinnamon Bay, maybe Waterlemon if you are strong swimmers (there is some current out there), Salt Pond Bay on St. John is good too. All these beaches are fun to just go to as well.

The tram you can do anyday, if you want to do it for free go on Wednesday afternoon's during happy hour - its early so you can take your son and watch the sun set and have an early bite to eat. If you have a rental car then you can just drive up to the lookout rather then taking the tram ride itself.

Do an island tour and visit the usually highlights like Blacksbeards, Drakes Seat and Mountain Top.

Spend a day or two on St. John; you can do without car and hike right from Cruz Bay to Soloman and around to Caneel Bay - if you are energetic hike back if not take a taxi from Caneel back to Cruz Bay. You can rent a car there and drive around or take your rental car from St. Thomas over on the Car Barge in Red Hook.

Check out some of the resorts/hotels listed in the accomodations section of this web site - their web sites are listed so you can check them out and see which you like and then ask for opinions on them here;

https://www.vinow.com/stthomas/accommodations/

You might want to get a travel book or two; there are several really good ones like the St. John Off the Beaten Track and Explore USVI, if you get one of the kits they include the books and brochures for various activities - check it out under Vacation Planning at http://www.vitraders.com

Happy Planning.

--Islander

Thanks to all who answered for the information! This site is fantastic. Islander, you really know your stuff 🙂

If you have kids, I would suggest someplace other than Point Pleasant. Beach access is a trek with kids in tow. Lots of walking to everything on the resort. Nature trails kind of place on the side of the mountain. If I had kids I would look for something with better beach access and water activities.

Point Pleasant is reasonably priced, but there are better places with the same or comparable prices. Try Bolongo Bay, they are running a 30th anniversary special right now. Also US AIR is running a Carribean Special.