Frenchman's Cove is adjacent to Frenchman's Reef and has a nice pool area and beach. The restaurant is at Frenchman's Reef Resort and you may use their beach. A shuttle is provided should you need one.
Unless you don't plan on leaving the resort I would recommend renting a car and reserve it in advance. Frenchman's Cove villas are fantastic, but the resort is still under construction and should not interfere with your vacation. Should you take a day trip to St. John you can catch the Ferry from either downtown or Redhook should you rent a car.

Yes, the Cove is next door to the Reef...it's nice enough...but I would only sleep there if I were on vacation here....many nicer places/beaches to hang out...Lots to see and do on island, why stay at your hotel all the time? When you get your luggage, there will be a taxi dispatcher who will put you in the appropriate taxi and you'll be on your way...this is a whopping 3 minute process....then it'll take about 15 minutes to reach your hotel....check in, go to room, down to the beach...I'd say you'd could have your toes in the sand with a drink in hand within 45 minutes of landing...an hour at the most....

We stayed at the Cove in July and loved it so much we bought a timeshare. The set-up is great in that the Cove has wonderful ammenities but you aren't over congested. Anything you could want will be at the hotels right next door if not at the Cove property itself. The restaurant at the cove is a nice pool/beach side restaurant and bar open for breakfast lunch and dinner. There are five more restaurants at the hotels next door. There is a shuttle which takes about 2 minutes to zip you over or you can walk a pathway which would take about 10 minutes. They are very close but the properties are very large so the walk takes longer than one would think. Between the hotels and the Cove there are 3 pools, tennis courts, water sports, nightime movies in the pool, swim up bar, hot tubs saunas, exercise rooms, spa, you name it.

We did have a car though. I'm there to see the whole island and I wanted to try different beaches and different restaurants. Even just getting to the ferry dock to go to St. John's it was nice to have a car. If you didn't want to leave the resort you don't have to but there is so much to see I think you would be missing out if you went that route.

I don't know about renting a car once you get down but I've heard some negative things on this board about Budget. We used Zip Rentals and they were great.

I hop this helps and if you have any questions for someone who has stayed at the Cove, please ask.

Jean

Thanks so much for the all the info very helpful and i will definitley take all the advice!!

I really just can't wait to get there!!!!

The cove villas are very nice, but we are biased. We are owners there. There are two beaches around the Marriott properties. One at the cove only for those guests and then morningstar which is more for the hotel guests. Morningstar is a nicer beach imo though. The cove beach is nice for lounging, but not so much for swimming....although there is some good snorkeling right off the right side of the beach.

It only takes a few minutes to load up the taxi if you decide to go that route from the airport. A planeload of people and bags fills up quite a few taxis pretty quickly and they sort you based on destination. I would rent a vehicle though. You basically have your own parking space at the Cove on the first floor. You park under the villas. Its not assigned by unit location, but we never parked more than a couple spaces away whenever we have stayed there. Its also nice to be able to have your vehicle out of any evening rain. I would also make advance reservations....you don't want to be left with the worst car in the fleet with Budget. I would also check out Dependable Rental, they always have new and clean vehicles. They are off site, couple minutes, and the pick you up and take you to their facility to fill out paperwork and then you are on your way. Its always seemed faster than getting a car at the airport. You also don't have to pay the airport rental tax since they are off site.

Also, its good to have a rental vehicle to do a day trip or two over to STJ. That way you can drive on your own and not have to worry about getting a taxi. Much more freedom that way.

The property does not seem over exaggerated to me at all. We bought early on before they even put a shovel in the ground and we were very pleased upon our first visit. It was everything we had read and envisioned. If you have any specific questions feel free to ask away!

We just got back from the marriott and we rented a car from discount car rental they were great. We rented a toyota corolla for 261 for a week , we booked it the day before we left, we called them from the airport and they picked us up in 5 minutes , it was a new car . We wouldnt do it any other way , so nice to come and go as you want , we toured the island it was great . It was so nice not having to wait for taxis. The weather was beautiful, really hot!!!!!