We were there in November for the second time and we always visit when we're in STT. Last November, everything was fine. Our unit was adequate with an amazing view of the beach and water. The beach party was up and running every Sunday from 2-6. The pool bar was making light lunches and serving drinks. The restaurant up in the Village was open.

Pools were clean, beach is always VERY clean.

I too have read the reviews about Sapphire and they can go pretty far back, so keep that in mind because there has been changes that seem to be continuous.

Hoping someone that owns at Sapphire can give you an updated report.

Hi, In March i took a last minute trip with my daughter and 2 grandkids, got a great deal on flight and condo at Crystal cove , when we arrived we had been "up-graded " to stay at Sapphire. Newly remodeled condo, 1st floor had new bathroom, beautiful kitchen, living room with pull out sofa and a whole wall of windows going onto a large lanai, beautiful view of the harbor and St John lights at night. On the 2nd floor was a very comfortable king bed, another sitting area with pull out sofa bed, another full bathroom and another full wall of windows with lanai. It was beautiful! The only catch is it was on the 3rd floor plus one. With the bell man we were able to unload everything and did shopping with all those steps in mind! There was a free cold breakfast and daily maid service.

The pool and beach were around the harbor from us, not a long walk. Our 1st night we had cheeseburgers,chips (3) 1 salad with chicken, 3 bushwackers and it was $80. Hubby and I had been in Hawaii in Feb and thought these prices were up there with Maui. Definite changes since last year.

The pool and beach are beautiful , they are bringing a lot of cruise ship people to this beach, but it is so large it never felt crowded. Besides the pool bar, there is a restaurant by the lobby and a convenience store in the same area. I took PB&J down with us and got bread at the hotel store so the kids were happy the 1st day. We never really cooked, had breakfast and sometimes lunch, usually left-overs from the night before.

We will definitely stay there again.

We were in unit F 310 and I think any unit from E back is right on the beach. The Antilles resort group are really trying to bring this place back.. You can also look on VRBO.com for an idea of what these units look like. I called 1 800 874-7897 and Kareem helped us, sometimes a little personal touch will help.Tell him Mrs Chambers from Iowa referred him.

You will love it there, if you have any more questions please ask.....Donna

I live in a house right above Sapphire Beach and rent my units at Crystal Cove if interested. Sapphire Beach resort shares the beach with Crystal Cove. Sapphire Beach Resort has had considerable financial problems over the past few years. Including problems in selling time shares that they never built. Not that withstanding they began a turn around last November. The resturnats are open, the Sunday Beach party is on. The rooms need a little TLC and the staff has some problems but they are on their way up.

If you chnage your mind and want a much bigger place then PM me. Otherwise enjoy the beach.

billd

thanks for your responses! We decided on sapphire beach vs crystal cove merely for ease for "granpa" to get to and from the beach as well as our 3 and 5 year olds.....we thought being close(r) to the water might be better for our group. We didn't think we'd need tooooooo much more space than sapphire...as our kids would end up sleepig with us anyways...so we will be upstairs and granpa will have the pullout downstairs !

I guess we'll keep our fingers crossed for the restaurants and bar to be open in June......it would be a nice ammenity we were hoping for.

Just got home from a 10-night stay at Sapphire Beach. I don't know quite what to say.... It was both Heaven and Hell.

I have been to Hawaii a few times, and to numerous "all inclusive" resorts in Mexico (Mayan Riviera). This was unlike anything I have ever seen.

On the PLUS side, we were in two rooms, and both were clean and well stocked with dishes, glassware, etc. The first room had no hot water (not even warm). We shuddered our way through showers, which is fine if you come in hot and sweaty from the beach, but not first thing in the morning out of a warm bed... The next room did have hot water, and lots of it. I wasn't there for the room, anyway, so both were perfectly fine.

As it turned out, our second floor (C208) room's tub started flooding the bottom floor C108, so after 3 days they moved us to C107, which was cool, we had beach access out of the patio door. Onto the part of the beach that is government-protected coral. No problem, it's just a few steps over to the wonderful sandy beach floor leading out to the turquoise water... The beach is beautiful sugar white sand, and the water is warm, and there are many palm trees for shade, and lots of space for sunning, even on days when the cruise ship passengers invade (Sapphire and Megan's beaches are on their hit list). Sapphire Beach is A+ in regards to sun, sand and water.

The split-level pool is kinda cool by day, if you ignore the kids, but if you swim at night, "things" bump into you. Maybe ducks, maybe something else. The pool bar seems to open and close whenever the bartenders feel like it. The beach bar will only open at 11:00, even when the bartender is there at 10:00 and there are 20 customers waiting... I have no idea when they close, never stayed or visited that long. Drinks are PRICEY. We never ate there, but they do have food now, unlike what you may have seen posted online from outdated reviews. Also, you can apparently order food to be delivered beachside or to your room from the Grapevine (we didn't try it).

There is a mini-store onsite. HUGE price markup (think $8 for a bag of chips, $12 for a six-pack of Bud, $20 for a bottle of wine that costs $7 at home). The hours seem to be at whim, also. For whatever reason, the store is closed whenever a band plays at the beach bar,

Bring industrial strength BUG SPRAY to fight off the NOSEEUMS at dawn and dusk, and after you have been bitten, try vitamin B12, benodryl, lanocaine, Bactine, "After Bite," aloe vera straight from the plant leaves, whatever you can find, because different things work for different people. Hubby and I spent $50 at the pharmacy, and we both reacted differently to several remedies. I had about 200 bites the first night out, before I ran for the bug spray ---- after the first night, I probably only got 100 more over the next 10 days, but I've been home 3 days now and still finding more.

If you book through an internet site, such as Travelocity, Expedia, etc: PLEASE LISTEN TO THIS ADVICE!!!! Depending on the dates you pick, you may have a choice where the Sapphire Beach air/hotel package offers you two days of "FREE" car rental from Budget. Trust me, it's not worth it! You know they are adding the cost of the car into the package anyway, and it's only for 2 days, forcing you to dick around to figure out the rest of your stay. Pick a package that does not include "2 days car" and book a car separately (I recommend Dependable). Our car rental was an ordeal that ended up costing us about three times as much to get the "2 days free" after booking roundtrip transport to/from airport, wasting a whole day arranging the "free rental," then wasting another half day getting a car for the REST of the stay (Oh yes, Budget couldn't accommodate us for the whole stay), then wasting a half day to return the second rental, then paying for a taxi because (due to cruise ship traffic) they couldn't give us a lift back to Sapphire, then having to use the ground transport a full 3 hours before we needed to go to the airport. Not to mention, the lady at the Budget counter at the Sapphire Beach hotel was the rudest person I have ever met in my life --- although, when hubby went back to her to get himself added as a driver on the contract, she was sweet as pie to him!

Speaking of attitude: You must always say "Good Morning" or "Good Afternoon" or "Good Evening" before you ask a question, or directions, whatever. It is simply a courtesy that is expected, or you won't get anywhere. Trust me.

My husband used to live in STT, so he was well versed in the customs, and prepared me. Despite that, we ended up having a horrific experience. Sad to say, my husband brought me on this trip with the idea that we would plan to retire there. We both went away saying there is no way in hell. Even hubby said he had forgotten some of the bad parts, and when he lived there, he managed to avoid those.

It started when he lost his wallet. I believe he had a bushwacker or two too many, and left his wallet on the bar. A good samaritan (another hotel guest) TRIED to turn it in at the hotel desk. The problem was, I was the one who booked the reservations, so the room was in my name, and he and I have different last names, so the hotel desk refused to take the wallet. (What? They don't have a "Lost and Found" drawer?) So they told the good samaritan to turn it into the police station. Yeah, right. So then when hubby inquired at the hotel desk, they told him that somebody tried to turn it in, but they sent the guy to the police station. So hubby went to not one, but TWO police stations ---- no wallet. It happened to have MY ATM card in the wallet, because I had just sent him out to pull out $500 cash, yes, also in the wallet. I do have a couple of credit cards, but I was planning to use the money in my bank balance for this trip, for which I needed the ATM card. But since we were TOLD that some guy was actively TRYING to return it to us, I didn't report it missing right away. Meantime, the hotel, the bar, the police, did NOTHING. When, a couple of days later, I did finally TRY to report it to the police, so that I could inactivate my card, I was YELLED at, first by the hotel desk, then by the bar, then by the police. WTF?????? Meanwhile, although I did have credit cards (with very little credit available, since I had paid them off with no intention of using them again) WE HAD NO CASH! I mean, we had maybe $7.50 in quarters in my change purse!

So we spent the last 5 days holed up in the hotel room, living off the bread and cheese we bought earlier in the week. Finally, I was able to get a cash advance from one of my credit cards (after spending 2 hours in a bank wheedling and crying) in order to get enough cash to eat something, tip the maids and the transport to the airport, etc. I held my breath as we used my credit card to get the car out of the long term parking lot at our home airport.

All because our hotel refused to take the wallet when somebody tried to turn it in.

On an ironic note, I was able to cash a check (not just out of state --- California--- but sort of out of country, kinda) at KMART. If somebody tried to cash a VI check at a KMART in California, it would go over like a lead balloon. Yet, I couldn't cash a check at a BANK, I had to take a cash advance from a credit card.

I'm still hoping that if the guy took the trouble to try to turn the wallet in, even if he didn't feel motivated to make the trip to the police station, might drop the wallet into the mail. Even if he kept the $500, it would save hubby the trouble of replacing driver's license, SSN, all the stuff that is such a nuisance.

And no, THIS one incident was NOT what made the trip horrific --- it was only the catalyst that started a whole chain of events that I won't bore you with. Let's just say that my experience in STT brought me into contact with some very lovely people, and some very incredibly stupid and nasty people. That is probably true of virtually any place on earth that you could select, but the stark contrast in this case was something that was very unsettling to me, to the point where I no longer even took pleasure in looking at the beautiful beach at the edge of my patio. We kept the curtains closed, watched TV and read books, waiting for the days to pass until we could go home. You would have to know me to understand how totally bizarre this reaction was --- I am sure that I was a sea creature in a previous life --- I LIVE for any chance to be near my ocean. But my husband reacted the same way, too! So this was an unforgivable waste of a vacation that we were so looking forward to.

So as not to be entirely negative --- yes, Sapphire Beach is gorgeous! It is Paradise. If you don't expect too much from the service. Apparently, we hurt their sensitive feelings, but before the wallet incident, when we bowed and scraped and stuff, we were usually treated very well.

I'm assuming that it's your husband that posted on tripadvisor.com about the same incident. I hope something like that never happens to me, although I've been through some vacations that were challenging.

I certainly wouldn't of stayed in my room. Husband and I do have different debit cards, so that if he did lose his wallet, I would still have access to my bank account. Maybe you could of even had money sent to you via Western Union.

I'm sorry you didn't seem to have a good vacation at all.

If you 'lost' your wallet in NYC, Chicago, LA, or anywhere else would you expect anyone to even try to return it - why blame the hotel staff or even the police - maybe a managed care retirement plan would be better than a VI plan.

It does sound like an awful trip. However, show me someone with no vacation nightmare stories and I'll see someone who travels little. For myself, Virginia Beach is off my list forever. So, okay, Star won't be back. For anyone else, if you want to stay at Sapphire check out the for rent by owner sites. You'll get a better rate and you can check out the pictures and reviews for any individual units that interest you. I always take bug spray--have never needed it. It seems to be a seasonal thing. I have heard the little buggers are bad after a rainy period.

Thanks for the encouragement....I am no longer tooooooooo worried. Like I said...we are low maintenance people who are really in it for the location. We are "encouraged" by the resort amenities...but with 2 small kids and grandpa in tow...we will be eating "in" quite a bit too.....

just out of curiousity....which unit(s) do you own?

Holly

Katie,

I sent you a PM. I don't like to use forums where people are looking for advice to "hawk my wares" so to speak. Have a great trip.

Hey, it's no big deal. Hubby's agenda was to convince me to move there. After this trip, even HE remembered the bad things that he had forgotten after he moved away. WE both agreed that, despite the "paradise" surroundings, the actual logistics, but MOSTLY the local attitudes, sucked.

I realize that it seems ridiculous that we both had the same reaction, and I DO plan to seek psychiatric help, given th fact that I LOVE any sugar white beach with warm turquoise water, yet I HATED every moment of the last 6 days I spent on STT.

I guess you would have to have BEEN THERE to understand. .

geeez...i am sorry you had such a bad experience. We've been to St John 6 times prior to this, and stayed on water island once. Our very first trip was to st. thomas...and it was lovely.....but......we fell in love with st john.....but this time we are staying in st thomas. We hope we will have the trip that we think we will have.....we do not expect the ritz...we are sooooo NOT ritz people. We plan on using the kitchen a lot...but we hope to have options at the resort......

We are also pretty savvy travelers.....we have our own credit cards and such....we use travelers cheques...but mostly we have separate accounts so that won't happen......

I am sorry you had some unexpected poor experiences due to poor judgement/planning and unfavorable people in your path.....

I bet you learned many lessons that will hellp you in your next vacation!
Holly

Perhaps you misunderstood.

We KNEW that somebody was TRYING to return the wallet. That is the whole point. The hotel desk turned him away, told him to go into town to turn it into the police station (involving a $20 taxi). The good samaritan evidently decided there was a limit to his philanthropy.

Meanwhile, the hotel desk got a good dose of my incredulous assessment of their ineptitude, which apparently hurt their little feelers, ensuring no assistance thereafter. Ditto the police station. AS a matter of fact, the police station YELLED AT ME when I finally made a report 2 days later. Wait, they did not ALLOW me to make a report.

yeah......I understand.....that must have been a baaaaad scene...

BUtT...you get more bees with honey!

I have "lost" my wallet before...but in Boston.....it was NEVER returned.......I would have peed my pants in glee that someone, probably on vacation...tried to return it...

There ARE good people in the world....Pay if forward!

geeez...i am sorry you had such a bad experience. We've been to St John 6 times prior to this, and stayed on water island once. Our very first trip was to st. thomas...and it was lovely.....but......we fell in love with st john.....but this time we are staying in st thomas. We hope we will have the trip that we think we will have.....we do not expect the ritz...we are sooooo NOT ritz people. We plan on using the kitchen a lot...but we hope to have options at the resort......

We are also pretty savvy travelers.....we have our own credit cards and such....we use travelers cheques...but mostly we have separate accounts so that won't happen......

I am sorry you had some unexpected poor experiences due to poor judgement/planning and unfavorable people in your path.....

I bet you learned many lessons that will hellp you in your next vacation!
Holly

Yes, exactly! Just because we had a horrible trip doesn't mean you will!! And I did love St John! And my husband is an idiot (LOL), this is the THIRD time that he has forced me to inactivate my ATM card because he's totally incompetent....

The islands are beautiful. There are good and bad people, just as anywhere else on earth. I met several old friends of hubby's who I was ENCHANTED with, strictly authentic. I met people in many situations who were lovely, but I also encountered people in crosswalks who would skewer me for the rings on my hand, people in supermarkets who scared the hell outta me, etc.

I guess that I have been sheltered from race issues until I visited the islands. Despite hubby's warnings, I was not prepared for such a hostile atmosphere, and certainly not prepared to be blamed for things I find abhorrent, myself. It certainly was a lesson, as you say...

true.......it is a learning experience for sure. Since Ilive in a "big city"..I am sort of used to different walks of life and the such. I know how husbands can be idiots! LOL>.......but I am glad you have a sense of humor over it all.....

ahhhhh......there is always something! huh? I hope it's "ok" when we get there...only time will tell .I am sure there will be a story to tell. Our quick trip to St. John in december started with my 4 year old throwing up on the car ferry on the way to StJ.....we "thought" she had sea sickness, but she had some sort of tummy bug. Nothin' worse than throwing up "camping" at cinnamon bay! LOL......

hopefully...this will be alittle more smooth sailing, so to speak!
Holly

Hahaha! I showed off my "sea legs" by standing on the prow of the St. John Ferrry without hanging on to the sides. I equate it to my ability to ride the Paris Metro subway system without hanging onto a rail, with a little sea action thrown in. LOL.

Enjoy your trip! I know it will be awesome!

Hey, it's no big deal. Hubby's agenda was to convince me to move there. After this trip, even HE remembered the bad things that he had forgotten after he moved away. WE both agreed that, despite the "paradise" surroundings, the actual logistics, but MOSTLY the local attitudes, sucked.

I realize that it seems ridiculous that we both had the same reaction, and I DO plan to seek psychiatric help, given th fact that I LOVE any sugar white beach with warm turquoise water, yet I HATED every moment of the last 6 days I spent on STT.

I guess you would have to have BEEN THERE to understand. .

You spent the last 5 days of your vacation in your room...no wonder you hated the last 6 days!

Boy, I hear you about the bad experience with the local "authorites" in the VI's. A few years ago, we stayed at our usual cottage on STJ. We went to the beach on our first day, came back, and our place had been robbed. The safe was yanked right out of the closet it was in, with my wallet, license, birth cert. passport, credit cards, money, car keys, cell phones in it. I completely paniced. How the hell was I gonna get home with no ID, Passport? My husband had a little cash, and we had gone shopping for food already, but the majority of the cash was long gone. The little bastards that robbed us had just been waiting in the bushes for us to leave. Two other places had also been robbed that morning in the same area. Well, we called the police, and after an hour or two they came. They took our statements, but it was obvious they were not going to do anything. They didn't even check for fingerprints. Which you thought they would have. Maybe if they had a little evidence of who might have stolen our stuff they might have been able to at least throw the little sh*ts in jail for a few months. Anyway, the cop said that I could go to the police station the following day and get a written report so that I could at least get through customs and security etc to get back home.
Well we went down to the police the next day. They went "huh?" and said that we would have to go over to another building to pay for the report and go back to the police station and pick it up. Off we went, paid for the report with a very crabby worker, back over the police station where they said that we would have to come back the next day and get the report. Trying to argue with them about how the first officer who came to the cottage said it would be ready the next day was about as effective as talking to a fish, so off we went, half the day spoiled.
Anyway, one of the neighbors at the cottage offered us some money because we had none to finish our stay. Some of the local (white) business people, after hearing our tale of woe also offered us money, use of their phones, etc. The ladies down at connections in Coral Bay were the best. They helped us out a lot getting car keys sent to us, new credit cards shipped, use of the phones, etc. What a great bunch. (shipping anything "overnight" to VI's will take at least 3 days!!) Now, I am normally not prejudice, but the local native STJ-ians didn't give a crap about us, but the people that had come from the states could not have been nicer, more helpful, and generous to us. I would think that the people born on the island would want to be as helpful as possible to the tourists that bring a great deal of their livelihood to them in tourist dollars. They police situation needs A LOT OF WORK. Not just because of my situation, but of others I've heard. They just don't give a crap about the tourists and visitors. I'm sure that if we all stopped going there and no cash was coming in to pay their salaries, they'd put up a fuss.

Anyway, I hope that things improve in the Vi's. Crime is on the upswing and it can be scary going there now.