Is this villa part of the Sapphire Beach Resort or is it in the condos above? For $99, I assume it's the condos.

The condos above Sapphire beach have full access to the beach and have their own pool (or pools, as their used to be more than one - maybe still is). The condition and decor of your condo is up to the owners. If you'resure about the condition, $99 is a nice deal for this location. Though, with a Traveler's Advantage membership, you can get a night in the Sapphire Resort for about $15 more per nt....which will put you right on the beach.

There is a bus that runs by the entrance to Sapphire, which will get you to Red Hook in less than 5 mins. However, the road that runs by Sapphire (Smith Bay Road) is up high over the resort - the resort and beach sit way down below. In order to get from the resort to the road, you walk up a steep hill. I would imagine this being a pain when you're trying to stay cool.

If, however, you stay in the condos above the resort, access to the road is much easier becasue the condos sit on the hillside already.

There is a Budget Car Rental counter at the Sapphire resort. So, even if you later decide you want to rent a car, you can do so right there (thus, avoiding the airport tax).

Everything you could want in terms of restaurants/nightlife is in Red Hook. Also, the ferry to STJ is in Red Hook - as is the Marina Market. Coki beach is very, very close (also accessed off of Smith Bay Road, so you could take the bus to Coki from Sapphire). Megans is on the other side of the island, so transportation is needed.

Depending on the condo you select, the condo may be in better shapre than the Sapphire Resort room. Sapphire sits so close to the water, I imagine it's hard to keep it in tip top shape. It always looks a little "rustic" to me (again, this IS the tropics).

And, for a honeymoon, the condo may be a better option as it will be quieter. I don't think of Sapphire Resort as being particularly romantic.

Congratulations and enjoy.

We stayed in one of the privately owned condos in Sapphire Village last year, in July. It was great! They have a beautiful view of St. John and other islands, and we used to sit on the balcony sipping island drinks and watching the boats in the marina.

They also have an excellent restaurant, Azure, which overlooks the swimming pool. The pool is large, and hardly gets any use at that time of year.

The beach is nice, good snorkeling, and not crowded in the summer. I understand they have a nice outing every Sunday at the resort, but we didn't go. They have a band, buffet, etc.

You also have access to all the resort amenities, the beach, restaurants, etc.

I would recommend a rental car. You can get one from Budget at the airport for less than $200, and it's well worth it. Taxi fares add up. If you have a car, you can check out other beaches, go to different restaurants, etc.

Colleen,

My cousin and I just got back from the Virgin Islands yesterday. We stayed the first 3 days in St Thomas at the Sapphire Beach Resort (the one right down at the beach). Our room overlooked the pool, we were on the 2nd floor with a huge corner balcony. There was a complete kitchen and seating area. The beach is nice, fair snorkeling, good view of St John from our room. The room was exactly as described in Expedia where we booked the room. Everything worked in our room, really no complaints. Even the pull out sofa bed (my bed ) was comfortable (I was traveling with my cousin and we each wanted our own bed and the room divided apart with a huge sliding divider so we each had a room at night.) It wasn’t luxury, a little tired in places but by island standards (In retrospect after 17 days visiting in a number of islands)It was clean and comfy with No bugs! One of the things we liked the best was walking everywhere on the resort in our barefeet. We only put our shoes on for dancing at the Resort on Saturday night. ( I saw only one bar.)
We caught the Safari $1.00 bus to all around town. Yes, there is a hill to walk up to get to the safari. But no big deal if you are in any shape at all. We often took a taxis back especially if we had groceries or if it was late at night. We were only there for a short time so didn’t use all of the amenities. We did sit on the beach one day for a little sun, made use of the well stocked little store on the beach and ate all our meals there one day to regroup from traveling. I look back at our first few days there with fondness. We were able to visit family before we headed to St John for the majority of our vacation. (Trip report to follow at some point) As far as the “we have a great deal with a condo for 99$ a night”… it sounds too good to be true. ASK a lot of questions and pictures. Then ask again. In conclusion Sapphire Beach is comfortable but I’m not sure if I would want to stay my whole vacation there. Really depends on your budget. All for now. Hope this helps. Gail