Ive never stayd at the resort,but Ive been on the beach and the place looks nice.

Hello OPKS,

Morningstar is a beach front resort; the property is made up of multiple small buildings where the rooms are located and they are walking distance from the beach (hop, skip and a jump basically), lots of foliage around the buildings... a couple restuarants, nice pool. You have use of the sister resort's property at Frenchmans Reef where there are more restaurants and pool. Its a nice area. No comments available on the rooms or service, hopefully someone else can help with that.

--Islander

Hi OPKS,

Does that stand for Overland Park, Kansas? I am from Kansas City. I thoroughly enjoyed staying at Frenchman's Reef Marriott(MorningStar is joined with the Marriott). The rest of this post is from my earlier post replying to someone staying at the Marriott. Morning Star is on the Marriott website as well. I hope you enjoy your vacation.

We (my husband and I - 30 somethings) stayed in April at the Marriott. Our balcony faced St. Thomas Bay so every evening we watched the cruise ships leave. It was really nice. At night the lights on the island looked like the stars did above. Very romantic and beautiful. The rooms are nice. Tiled floors with a big square carpet. If you go to their website you can see exactly what they look like. In fact, I found their website to be very truthful on what you can expect. www.marriott.com Be sure and take the photo tour on the site.

The beach by the hotel is absolutely perfect. If you want an umbrella on the beach you have to get there early! You can get as many towels as you want so don't worry about bringing any. I am so silly and packed four.

Be sure and say 'Good Morning' or 'Good Afternoon' or whatever is appropriate that time of day and it will be appreciated. Staff is friendly and very helpful. Be sure and take advantage of all they offer in the hotel. They will fill your arms with brochures, but take a close look at a brightly colored piece of paper. It is printed daily with cruise ship schedules and any happy hours or discounts that are offered that day. When there are a lot of cruise ships - downtown will be busier, but more stores will be open as well.

The pools at the hotel are great too. Be sure and put on sunblock - no matter how tan you are - you will burn. I was fully covered in sunblock and was on the beach 1 hour and was slightly sunburned. And that was without going in the water.

When you first arrive at the hotel, after you have eaten and refreshed, my advice is to 'tour' the hotel. Use the map they give you and find all the pools, restaurants, beach, and stores. The deli/grocery store is open 24/7, however prices are very high in the hotel. Go to K-mart in town and find all you need for a fraction of hotel prices.

Of course you want to visit other beaches and sites. If you can, spend a day on St. John. It is beautiful and more secluded. On St. John, my recommendation is Cinnamon Bay.

At the hotel, the beach is easier to get to if you take the free shuttle down to MorningStar Resort. It is actually all the same thing, but from the Marriott you have to take a billion stairs to the beach, past the tennis courts, past another pool. It is a long walk back and really unneccesary since they offer the shuttle.

Your brightly colored paper will also tell you when they feed the iguanas. I found them a bit scary at first, but since they are well fed... 😉 You will find them everywhere.

Teresa

Teresa, yes, OPKS stands for Overland Park, KS. That is where I live. I have been here about a year and a half and love it.

Thank you for the info I really appreciate it. I will check out the Marriott website in more depth I am glad that it is pretty true to it's word.

Small world! 😉 I believe you will have a fantastic vacation. Now I will hope for you to have good weather!

Teresa

It is a small world, I didn't even know about this website until a few days ago when a friend emailed me the link. I am getting excited about the trip I got my plane tickets in the mail yesterday!!! 🙂 I had a question, do the rooms have irons in them? I don't want to pack one if they provide them.

Hi OPKS,

The items in the rooms should be listed on the website, but yes they do have irons. Also, hairdryers. The towels I was talking about were beach towels. They have a tent on the beach where you can pick up and drop off beach towels. They of course have towels in the rooms, I sound so silly when I type. 😉 You want to have spare room in your luggage for things you buy on the island, but I always overpack when going on vacation - so I am not one to talk.

We stayed there in April of this year and in August we will be moving there. So you can say my experience was 'moving'. I am this corny in person too, but you will have a fun fantastic vacation.

Teresa

Wow! You're moving there. What caused you to want to move? (besides the beauty) I am always amazed at how many people move to the Virgin Islands I never even thought about it I guess I always thought it was one of those dreams that was just to impossible. Who said you can't live on vacation?!

I checked out the Marriott website and did take the photo tour. Oh, how beautiful! I caught myself slipping away to paradise while sitting at my desk yesterday. I wanted to be there now! The rooms look nice and the beach oh, the pool was so pretty and clean. Everything looked really clean. I loved to pictures of the island after dark.

Thanks for the advise on the towels I bought some to take but I think i'll leave them at home so I can save room for things I buy. I always overpack too it must be a woman thing or all the shoes that we "just can't leave behind!" Does it get cooler in the evenings or does it stay pretty humid and warm? I get cold really easily (like 76 and below is cool to me) Well, thanks for all the advice I am truly getting excited and can't wait.

OPKS: If you get cold at 76- you are probably a candidate for Virgin Islander status! Room temperature to me is 80. If you go out to air-conditioned places at night, you may want to have a light wrap. The temperatures generally are comfortable, we have the usually reliable trade winds to keep it in the 80s in the summer, but it can cool down in the winter to 70!

OPKS,

Well, my husband had an offer to do some contract work for a week on St. Thomas, I decided to go along for a vacation. He worked the whole week, but we did get one day together on St. John. I enjoyed my stay and at week's end, he was offered a job. We laughed and just 'knew' that it wouldn't be possible. We went home and pounded out the numbers - didn't like them, so we researched and found out that cost of living was not as high as we had formerly thought. It is comparable to Washington D.C. - if you have ever lived there - it is incredibly expensive. Anyway, my husband moved there first and I will be moving there in August. We were really lucky, many people save for years to move there. We will have to live on less and change a lot in our lifestyle, but we feel we are ready. I am tired of ice and snow and could use a 'warm' Christmas. My mother is a pacific islander so it is in my blood to be on an island! 😉

Don't get me wrong, working and living on an island is not the same as vacationing on an island. I believe you can truly relax on vacation, while working and living you still have stresses to deal with that makes it unlike a vacation. I actually envy people on vacation, because I still have to work and enjoy the island only a few days a week or month. My friends still don't 'feel' for me at all! I guess I don't expect sympathy, but we will still have to work hard to get that week long vacation. I will remind myself everyday how lucky I am and to enjoy each day given me. As should we all.

Please post on the board how your vacation went. Many people post before they go, but few post after. I would love to hear your opinion of your stay. There is so much to do on St. Thomas, just remind yourself to have one day to do absolutely nothing. It makes time slow down a bit for you to soak it in!

Teresa

How exciting! You get to be warm all the time! I hate winter more than anything! I really really dread it. When I go outside in the winter I bundle to the hilt it's pretty funny. I went to Colorado for Christmas and never really left the condo. I liked sitting inside, by the fire where it was warm and reading a book. 🙂 I think I am a canadate for Island life too. You are going to love living there and what a wonderful experience. Everyone will want to come visit you. Friends will come out of the woodwork. 🙂
I am so excited for my honeymoon and will certainly post how exciting it was when I get back. Just a few more days...this time next week I will be on the beach!!! 🙂 I'll keep you updated.

Hi OPKS,

I'm Teresa's husband who's already living in STT. I've been living in a studio apartment overlooking the Morningstar for the past 2 months. I hope you enjoy your stay there. Waking up and opening your drapes to this view of the Caribbean is incredible. The water is beautiful and the sound of the waves are relaxing. Basically, you'll be staring in your own Corona comercial!! Be sure to check the cruise boat schedule so that you can view these majestic ships as they leave St Thomas in the evenings. You'll be amazed at how close they appear to you on shore. Usually the busiest cruise ship days are Tuesday or Wednesday.

I highly recommend taking a day trip to St John. I took Teresa to Cinnamon Bay there and told her about my job offer. Needless to say, she was sold! Cinnamon Bay is about 1 mile of while sand. There is no charge for entrance and there are amenities including fresh water showers, a convient store, water sports rentals, etc. To get there, take a taxi from the hotel to Red Hook (about $7 pp). The ferry from Red Hook to St John/Cruz Bay is $3 pp. Then the taxi from Curz Bay to Cinnamon Bay was about $6 or $7 pp. Also I believe Teresa enjoyed the shopping more in St John. There was a store there called Close Reach Imports that we spent about an hour in and purchased most of our souveniers from.

Another recommedation would be a trip to the North side of STT. Drake'sSeat overlooks the North side and has an awesome view of Magen's Bay. Magens's Bay would be a nice beach that you would enjoy. And I highly recommend the shake shop at the St Thomas Dairies which is right before the entrance to Magen's Bay.

If you have any other questions about STT (restaurants, site seeing, etc), feel free to post or email Teresa or myself. Be sure to try a free rum punch when you walk into the airport after you deplane. By the way, I actually lived in OP for 2 years. Although I will not miss the winters with the -10 wind chill, it will always have a special meaning to me....that's were Teresa and I met. Anyway, have a great trip!

Chris

Hi OPKS,

I didn't know this was your honeymoon! You must be so excited! My husband is so sweet! We met at Raoul's - great calamari and filet mignon! The chef's name is John and is a fantastic cook! The first Thursday of each month is wine night. If you drink, they have an excellent choice of wines, but anyway back to the island! Chris is right, you can sit on the beach and watch the cruise ships leave. You will feel like you are on a corona commercial! If you plan on a day at the beach, get an umbrella early! You need relief from the sun once in a while or go dip in the pool by the beach. We went to Room With a View restaurant and Banana Tree Grill at Bluebeard's Castle. The first is very pricey and the second is moderately priced. Both were excellent. I can't wait to try many more restaurants. You will not lack for anything to do on the islands. Just do what you can to make time slow down! 😉

Teresa

Thank you for your VERY helpful email! Your awesome! I have learned so much about the island's from this website, mostly from Teresa and yourself. I knew absolutley nothing about St. Thomas when I booked this trip. I just took a few personal opinions from family and friend's and trusted a travel agent I had never met but had heard good stuff about. She suggested the Morning star so I said why not?!

I do need some advice on restaurants. I know there are so many but I don't know what I would like or what the prices are. How do you find this out other than just walking in and being prepared for anything?

Another question, do you have any experience with the Paradise Point tramway? I read about it in a magazine and it looks really neat.

I have heard a lot about Megan's Bay and Cinnamon Bay. A lady I go to church with mentioned we should have our hotel pack us a picnic lunch and then go there for the day she said it's beautiful! Thank's for the shopping tips a girl can always use those as i'm sure your wife has told you. 🙂

So you lived in OPKS huh? what a small world. I don't care for the winter's here either they get pretty cold. If I were to ever move it would be south for sure. Looks like you made a great choice. Thanks again for everything, Jacque

Yes, your husband is sweet. I bet you miss him, I don't know how you do it. I work with my fiance and when he is out in the field with his crew all day instead of in the office with me I hate it. I don't let on to others though because they peg it as being "young love." It's not really that he's just my best friend and the bright spot in my day. I work in the construction business too and it can be a little rough at times dealing so many people throughout the day.

Yes, This is my honeymoon we are getting married this Saturday in fact and we fly out Sunday morning. We should be landing in STT that afternoon. Can't wait to get there and just lay around. I can't imagine how beautiful it must be.

Thanks for the restaurant tips I have heard of Blackbeards and was wanting to try it. Oh, i'm getting excited...and hungry too. Thanks for your help I go home every night and tell my fiance what I learned about STT he thinks i'm a genius I don't always give away all my secrets of how I gain my knowledge.

Jacque

Jacque,
Congratulations and have a great trip. You are one of the lucky one's to find and marry your best friend! 🙂 Same with Mark and I and Theresa and Chris. You will have so much fun finding your new relationship as husband and wife in the islands. What a wonderful start!

Jacque,

Congratulations also from Teresa and I! Eve is right... this will be a wonderful start.

For a romantic dinner, try Room With A View at Bluebeard's Castle. If you like wine, they have a good selection and it was stored very well. The menu had a good selection of both seafood and "land" food. Both Teresa and I had the Surf and Turf and a bottle of Clo Du Bois merlot... words can't describe how excellent it was. If you like sushi, I 've been told that they have the best sushi chef on the Island. The Banana Tree Grille was just as good, but in a more casual environment. Another place you may enjoy is the Mafolie... it has an amazing view of the harbour and Charlotte Amalie. Some places require reservations and some don't, but it is good practice to make them just in case.

A couple notes.... it does get dark here around 7 p.m., so if you're going to a place that has a view, you may want to arrive a little before it gets dark so that you can see both daylight and night time view. Also the Marriott has several restuarants... but they are extremely pricey for the quality of food. We didn't try all of them, but I wasn't impressed with any that we tried. The bartenders however mixed great drinks and are a good source for information.

On the tramway, I haven't taken it, but I have driven (the drive is really fun!) up to Paradise Point. Awesome view! There is a restaurant/bar, shops, parrot show, and nature trail up there. It's worth going up for lunch. Note that it is usually only open when cruise ships are in.

If you decide to rent a car or Jeep (there is an Avis on property), pick up an Esso road map from the concierge desk. Driving on the Island can be intimidating at first (driving on the left side of the road + plus the crazy driving of the taxi drivers), but if you're exploring the Island it's the best and probably cheaper way to go.

Once again, congratulations! We hope everything goes well for you on Saturday and have an excellent trip down here on Sunday. Which arline are you coming down on? It will be a long trip for you, but the reward will be worth it once you arrive. Try to get a window seat for the flight into STT.... great views! And be sure to pick up the free magazine called "St Thomas This Week" in the airport (right inside the baggage claim area after you leave the rum punch stand). It is a good source of tourist information.

Let us know if you have any more questions.

Chris

Oh by the way, I used to live in the AMLI Centinal Park (119th St & Hwy 69) there in OPKS from 2000 to 2002. I met Teresa there at Raoul's right before I had to move to DC..... but that's a story for another time. It's hard to believe, but I've found a nice 2 br apartment here less than the price I was paying for my 2 br in OP. And I'm sure the rates have gone up since I've lived there.