Sapphire advertisements are terribly exaggerated...it has been in terrible disrepair for years but individual units are maintained by their owners and are hit and miss as to upkeep, decorating etc. Some may be gorgeous for all I know. The grounds are lovely, the beach and snorkeling top notch. There are no restaurants there that are open. There is some talk of restoration of facilities but this is just talk. Summer is the "low" season in STT and any owner would be thrilled to get a rental...I suggest you stay somewhere else. Secret Harbor has a great beach with excellent snorkeling, but the several star restaurant there, The Blue Moon, has changed owners very recently and the new owners may be using this slow season to redo the place. I have heard that the patio bar is open. The Elysian also has closed both of their restaurants Roberts and Ainsley's Beach Bar. I would recommend Bolongo I guess at this juncture, feeling very sad over these closings...

Even without Roberts and Ainsleys, would you say Elysian is still good, just need to go off site for restaurants and bars, etc? We can still bring our own drinks down to the beach from our units at Elysian, is that not true?

Most of the private condos available on vrbo at Cowpet Bay are extremely well maintained and have full kitchens and are all on the same beach as Elysian. Usually with beautiful furnishings and they have a great view. I have had family stay at a unit called Beach Tops Villa - 3 bdrm and immaculate.
You can certainly take drinks or a cooler to the beach - actually most of the best beaches are cooler friendly!!

Poohwear wrote:
Sapphire advertisements are terribly exaggerated...it has been in terrible disrepair for years but individual units are maintained by their owners and are hit and miss as to upkeep, decorating etc. Some may be gorgeous for all I know. The grounds are lovely, the beach and snorkeling top notch. There are no restaurants there that are open. There is some talk of restoration of facilities but this is just talk. Summer is the "low" season in STT and any owner would be thrilled to get a rental...I suggest you stay somewhere else. Secret Harbor has a great beach with excellent snorkeling, but the several star restaurant there, The Blue Moon, has changed owners very recently and the new owners may be using this slow season to redo the place. I have heard that the patio bar is open. The Elysian also has closed both of their restaurants Roberts and Ainsley's Beach Bar. I would recommend Bolongo I guess at this juncture, feeling very sad over these closings...

Have to disagree with your overall estimation of Sapphire. It's no secret that the beach bar and restaurant have been closed for several years now. The place is not by any stretch in "terrible disrepair" and never has been. I know many of the owners who advertise their vacation units on vrbo and they've remained comfortably booked even during low season. There are few complaints in general with either the privately owned units or those which the management company operates. One private owner who continuously popped up on forums as a "do not rent from" has apparently recently sold his units ...

The restaurant at Sapphire Village has certainly gone through some ups and downs and apparently has changed hands once again with recent reviews being much more favorable than in recent years, while the sandwich/burger/bar operation on the beach has - according to guests - filled a gap most admirably. As far as "just talk" where the restoration of the beach bar and restaurant are concerned, the coconut telegraph has just started humming with news that that impasse may have been resolved.

The former Blue Moon at Secret Harbor changed ownership at the end of May but has remained open with a limited menu while the kitchen area is being completely gutted and refurbished by the new owners. The restaurant should be completely operational come season.

The last I heard about the restaurants at Elysian, a couple of weeks ago, was that there has been considerable interest expressed by several different parties to take over those spots and get them re-opened as soon as possible. I've little doubt that both spots will be open come season. Cheers! 😀

We just returned from a stay at Sapphire Beach Resort and Marina about 3 weeks ago. We rented a condo from an individual owner on vrbo.com, and had a wonderful experience! Our group actually rented 4 condos within SBRM and everyone had a very nice place to stay. I suggest that you look at all the photos available and choose the most up-to-date condo. I was also advised to not rent a unit in buildings E or F as they are not exactly beachfront. Our condos were all in buildings C and D. As far as the grounds at Sapphire, we had nothing but positive things to say about it. The Dive In shop has everything you need for snorkeling/water sports. Most condo owners typically provide you free access to the Dive In shop as well. There is active security walking around and I never felt unsafe. There is a wonderful little cook-shack between building B and C...great mahi sandwiches! The staff was out every morning cleaning up the beach and emptying the trash. The place always looked spectacular. The snorkeling at Sapphire is great as well. The great thing about Sapphire Beach is that it is very close to Red Hook. So you have quick access (within a 2 minute drive, if that) to all the restaurants as well as the ferry system. I really hope you choose Sapphire Beach Resort and Marina and can expercience the wonderful trip that we had! Good luck.

We tried staying at Pavilions and Pools on our honeymoon in December/ January. It was horrible and we tried to find a flight back home the next day. Flights were too expensive so we decided we were just going to avoid our "hotel" as much as possible. While driving around on the scooters we had rented, we saw the sign for para-sailing along the road at Sapphire, so we drove down there. They were not open yet or were on lunch. To kill time, we asked the lady at the front desk (who was extremely helpful) if they had any rooms available. She had one of the "bell boys" show us a room. We walked in and were AMAZED and laughed thinking there was NO way we would be affording that, but we fell in love with the room. It turned out it was only $10 more per night, so we booked the rest of our trip there. We told the lady we would go get a taxi to bring our stuff over since we were on scooters. She said that was non-sense and sent one of their vans over to our resort, the wonderful young man ( I wish I knew his name) came all the way down the long long path to our room, carried all of our stuff up to his van, took it to the resort, up 3 flights of stairs to our room, and once we got inside he took them upstairs to our bedroom!!! His customer service was out of this world. He came back later to bring us towels and free breakfast coupons too! We tried and tried to find him again so we could give him a generous tip, but never found him. Our room was outstanding! I cannot remember the room number, but it was building F, top story (2 actually because the bedroom was upstairs) and if you are facing the parking lot side of the building it was on the far right. The guy at the guard shack was so nice and was great to let us in and out on our several scooter trips. He had lots of great advice as to where we should eat and how to get around the island. There was no place to eat other than the breakfast cart near the beach (make sure you tell her Good Morning, it will get you much further than hello or hi), but they had good stuff. We para-sailed from there and walked the beach. The pool looked nice, but it was too cold. They also have a beautiful walkout area over the ocean and we really enjoyed watching all the big boats come in and out.
We are going back in September and staying at the Elysian through VRBO / www.eastendeden.com. The room looks very nice and the owners of the condo are so helpful and friendly. We cannot wait.

I very highly recommend dining at least once at Shipwreck Tavern and trying there grilled veggies. Also, be sure to go see St. John and take your vehicle.

I hope you have an amazing time as we did on our honeymoon! 😎