The Ritz was across the street from the condo that we stayed in for our first trip this April. We spent a late afternoon exploring the property. The Ritz has two sections of what I thought was a very nice beach. The grounds are kept very clean, well manicured with flowers. They will pamper you with towel and drink service. They have a nice outdoor bar with tables. There is even a pool table outside. Very nice blue floats are provided for their guests to use as well. I believe the Ritz does tack on a daily non-optional "resort fee" for each room to use certain amenities at the resort.(What that includes I have no idea) They do have a dive shop on the property that also does snorkeling lessons. They have a hot tub that was very quite and off to the side from the other pools. They have a brand new infinity pool on the Club side that they are waiting for a fence to be put around so that they can open it up. I believe I counted four pools if you include the new one. The Ritz schedules entertainment in their lounge. They have a class you can take to learn about shopping and the deals. They have a sail boat called Lady Lynsey that leaves directly from the the property for half-day, full day and sunset sails.
We did not eat at the Ritz because I looked at the prices on the menu and felt they were way too expensive. Breakfast alone can cost two people $50.
The Ritz is located close to Red Hook which is where the ferry dock going to St. John is. Parking is on the street unless you take a sailboat out of American Yacht Harbor to St. John. We took two daysails from there to St. John for snorkeling. One on Ike Witt (Captain Pat actually dropped us off in the bay of the Caneel Resort where we had a nice dinner (Equator restaurant) and then took the passenger ferry back to STT that evening. The other one on The Alaunt. I can highly recommend both of them for a great day. Let me know if you want contact info for them. They only take out 6 passengers and I believe the Lady Lynsey takes out more.

We did have some nice dinners at restaurants that are closer to The Ritz than where StuScott suggested. However, Havana Blue at the Marriott Morningside Resort is just a short drive and really worth the trip. Blue Moon Cafe at Secret Harbour resort is open air oceanfront dining. For a casual oceanfront place with reasonable prices I would recommend Latitude 18. You may want to go on a night that "Lighting Phil" is playing, which for the week we were there was Monday, Friday and Saturday night. Latitude 18 is owned by the Captain of The Alaunt, Ron Arens. Not everyone likes this place but we enjoyed our dinner at Bonnies by the Sea which is at the Elysian Resort right up the road from The Ritz. They have some tables sitting in the sand on the beach. There is also a coupon for buy one dinner and get the second dinner free up to $20. The night we ate there a guy was playing on steel drums.The Elysain also has another restaurant called Roberts that had both indoor and outdoor dining which is recommended but we didn't try it. We didn't get to try these places but our condo owner recommended eating at Arthurs, which is also down the road at the Anchorage, and Dotties Front Porch.

We enjoyed all three of our dinners on St. John. Equator was probably my favorite because of the view and it is a beautiful resort to walk around. You can walk for 45 minutes on a well lit path along the beach and still not get to the end of the property. The sugar mill ruins are lit up at night. It had a very romantic atmosphere. We also liked Panini Beach Trattoria which sits right on the beach in Cruz Bay - the owner is a friendly man. We ate at ZoZo's, Gallows Point Resort, which is walking distance from the ferry dock. That was our most expensive meal. I liked the view from their upstairs bar which had cozy furniture. I also liked their key lime martini. The portions were very large and we could have split one dinner between my husband and me.

For a honeymoon I would have to recommend a sunset sail. (Take the Dramamine 1/2 before you go though - we saw two guys get sick on sailboats.) There is nothing as beauiful as all the shades of blue in the Caribbean against the sunset.

The Ritz was probably the nicest property we saw on St. Thomas. It is more hotel style buildings set back from the beach a little ways in contrast to a few other resorts (like Caneel) where you can walk out your door onto the sand. I talked to one gentleman who is so happy with The Ritz he returns for a stay every year.
I wouldn't second guess your choice of staying at the Ritz as long as you can afford it.

You might want to read my very long trip report to see how we spent our day on St. John. This was a romantic get-away-from-the-kids vacation for us. I'm sure that the Virgin Islands will not disappoint you for your honeymoon. Congratulations!

The Ritz was the site for my son's wedding in mid-April. None of the 40+ wedding party stayed there (see our report on Pavillions & Pools)because of the $$. We thought the R.C. did a terrific job on the wedding --- went like clockwork --- which we would expect for the $$ they charged. Marlene the wedding coordinator was great. The ceremony at the gazebo with the ocean and St. Johns in the background was absolutely beautiful. The reception on the deck overlooking the bay and the dinner was excellent. Give the R.C. high marks for their efforts and teamwork on this wedding.
JJH

If you have ever stayed at a Ritz Carlton before, you will know they have a certain service quality that can’t be beat and should enjoy the trip very much. My husband and I spent a week on St. John in July 2004. I don’t remember the specific temperature, but if I had to guess it was probably in the high 80’s. It was not uncomfortable to walk around town and I don’t remember being hot other than during some of our hikes on St. John. The hike from the parking lot to Salt Pond was brutally hot!! But we live in Memphis where it is often 90+ degrees and humid in July with no trade wind.