Finally - it took a long time. Thanks to those who helped in the planning.

St. Croix, May 7 – 13, 2004

Summary:

This was my fourth visit to St. Croix, and the third time for my partner, John. We had only 5 nights; this is not long enough, in case anyone was wondering. We stayed at Hotel on the Cay, and rented a car for just one day, since we’d been all around the island on our visit in June 2000. It was, as St. Croix always is, just beautiful – still our favorite place to visit. The weather was not great; it was overcast and rainy much of the trip, but we still managed to get an hour or two of beach/pool time in each day, even if it was sitting under clouds instead of sun. The upside is that the clouds kept the heat tolerable. Even the locals were commenting on the peculiar weather pattern. More sun would have been nice, but we still had a great time. A rainy day in St. Croix still beats a sunny week at work… J What follows is a fairly detailed report. I hope it is useful for someone.

Miscellaneous:

Flew TPA-STX via MIA on American with frequent flyer miles. This is an easy trip – less than 45 minutes TPA-MIA, about 2 hours MIA-STX – other than the 4-hour layover in MIA on the way down. We arrived in STX about 20 minutes ahead of schedule.

I had prearranged a taxi from the airport to Hotel on the Cay through the hotel website. They’ll put the cab cost (though not the tip) on your hotel bill if you prearrange. The driver was at the airport with my name on a card about 10 minutes prior to our scheduled arrival. Note that their confirmation to me stated $14 per couple or $28 total round-trip, but upon checkout, we were charged $30. When I questioned it, I was told the cab companies sometimes raise their rates without notifying everyone. My feeling is HOTC should have honored the confirmation price, but they didn’t offer, and I didn’t push.

We brought our own coffee, sugar, sweetener, powdered creamer, peanut butter, chocolate bars and crackers packed in a small 6-pack cooler, which we used throughout the trip to cart stuff around. We asked the driver if he could stop at a grocery on the way to Christiansted. He stopped at Schooner Bay Market, a nice store with a good deli and bakery. We quickly got bread, ham and cheese, chips, a lime, a bottle of yummy Cruzan Vanilla Rum, liquid coffee creamer, two 6-packs of soda and two gallons of water (the tap water is okay, but tastes funny to us, and isn’t great for coffee). Total, just under $30.00. For the extra accommodation provided by the cabbie – since he doesn’t make money waiting while we shop – each couple in the cab tipped the driver $5, which is about $3 more than we would have normally tipped for two people with a $14 cab fare.

Btw: One of the others in our cab said a friend told her if you walk to Schooner Bay Market and buy groceries, that the store will pay for a cab to get you back to town. I’m not sure if this is true, and the cabbie was doubtful, but apparently her friend has used this service. Certainly worth asking if you’re there; it’s close enough to walk to from town, but far enough that lugging several bags of groceries or jugs of water would be a haul.

We were dropped by the Scale House in Christiansted to get the Hotel on the Cay (HOTC) ferry. The captain helped get everything aboard and we were at the HOTC about 30 seconds later, met by a young man with a golf cart. He took all our stuff, and delivered it to our room shortly after.

Hotel on the Cay:

We loved HOTC. It was perfect for us, and we’d recommend it to anyone who wants clean, safe, and economical lodging. And it’s perfectly located just a 30 second ferry ride from the Christiansted waterfront. Only once did we have to wait more than a few minutes for the ferry, which runs from 7 a.m. to midnight.

Based on recommendations, I had asked for a 3rd floor, east facing room when I made the reservation. We were instead given room #313, facing the fort in Christiansted, which is south. The room really was fine and the view very nice, but the breezes are better from the east. I asked, and the next day we moved to room 307, which faces east (rooms 1-9 face east, 10-15 or 16 face Christiansted/south, 16 or 17+ face west and the beach). Under the category of “be careful what you wish for,” the winds were lovely, but so strong at times that rain blew almost horizontally into the room, and opening the door required considerable muscle against the vacuum the wind created. Ah well. J

We still loved it. We kept the balcony doors open as much as possible, and slept well to the sound of crashing waves. We had to run A/C during the day for the room to be comfortable.

The staff was very friendly and accommodating, the grounds nicely landscaped, and relatively well kept. Though the rooms are simple, they are comfortable and very clean. There’s some wear and tear and a few oddities: 1) The air conditioner, which vents from the ceiling, drips on the floor. We finally just put a bathmat beneath it. The maid caught on quickly as the next day, she replaced the one we’d put on the floor with a clean one, also on the floor. 2) The shower floor was not solid… not sure how to explain this – it seems the molded tub’s plastic was sitting above the footing, or wasn’t connected to it, so when you walked in the shower, the floor sort of buckled and moved around; somewhat disconcerting, but still functional. 3) The showerhead was set very low in the wall. Great for me, as I’m just 5’, but my partner, who is 6’3”, had to do a backbend to get his head wet. The shower was not super strong, but hot water was always plentiful. 4) As an example of the varying condition of the facilities – the railing on the balcony in 313 definitely needed sanding/painting, it was very rusty, but the one in 307 was fine. All these are minor to us, and nothing that would keep us from going back (tomorrow, if we could).

Each room has a fridge, toaster or toaster oven, coffee maker, microwave, ice bucket, and enough plates, cups and utensils to function. They are in the process of remodeling and I heard they are adding a sink to each kitchen area, but we just used the one in the bathroom. Bathrooms have only soap and drinking glasses; bring your own toiletries. The TV had about 5 stations, with so-so reception. Room 307 had a ceiling fan, 313 did not, but I think they’re adding them to all rooms as they can. There are two queen beds in most rooms. Folks on the boards have commented the beds were not comfortable, but we had no complaints. True, they’re not Westin Heavenly Beds, but they were comfortable enough for us. Some rooms have one bed with a sleeper sofa, but I think those are all in the separate building that is set to the north end of the property. I saw one of those rooms when looking for a room to move to from 313, and it was very nice, but no balcony. This building would, however, be a perfect place if you want quiet and don’t mind a short walk to the pool and the beach. There are some rooms in that building with balconies that face the water, just not the room I saw.

The pool is large and clean with a deep end and perfect water temp. Never busy when we were there. They do need to replace the carpeting on the deck, as has been noted elsewhere, but who cares. Once they do that, perhaps they’ll also put some tables and chairs out; currently there are only beach chairs. It’s also a nice spot to just watch the harbor or sunset.

As noted elsewhere, the beach is relatively small with shallow water. The snorkeling is just ok – we saw mostly small fish - but the visibility is very good. It’s perfectly adequate for those who are not fanatical divers or who need a long expanse of beach.

Again, we were completely satisfied with HOTC. They are fixing it up as they can, and it’s a great option if you want an economical place to stay. My hope is they will not fix it up so much that it becomes too expensive. There’s nothing wrong with “a little worn around the edges” if it’s clean and keeps the costs down.

Food:

We ate breakfast Sunday at the Golden Rail in Gallows Bay, about a 10-minute walk from town. I’d been there on a previous trip, and the food and setting are still good, it’s a friendly place with lots of locals. John was thrilled to get biscuits and gravy. Total for two, about $12 plus tip.

Every other day, we ate at Shenanigans (closed Sunday), for about $10 plus tip. This is a great little place with a counter that seats about 8, and four small tables, good food, served quick and hot. John said the biscuits and gravy were better than at Golden Rail… The owner is very nice, and several times helped us by answering questions, circling places on maps, and making suggestions for things to do and places to eat. Highly recommended.

We had dinner twice at the Bombay Club, another placed I’d been to before. The first meal was superb. They have a hot Brie with baked garlic and bread appetizer that is fantastic. We had that, split a crisp salad and a filet mignon entree, which was excellent. It comes with two approximately 4 oz pieces of meat – perfect for splitting. Cost about $41 + tip for the appetizer, glass of wine, soda, and one entrée, split.

We went back another night, eagerly anticipating a repeat, and had a singularly mediocre meal. The Brie wasn’t hot, the salad was tired, and the filet, which was 2” thick on our first visit, was barely ½” thick. My portion of the entree, ordered med-rare was delivered charred on the outside, still mooing on the inside, so I sent it back, and it came back very well done… like shoe leather. It was disappointing. I complained, and the server removed ½ the cost of the entrée, and did not charge us the split plate charge. Any place can have an off night, and I’ve been to Bombay about five times now, and this was the only meal that wasn’t good, so overall, I’d recommend this place. They were just off this particular night.

Our last night, mom was buying (yeah mom!), and though we planned to go to Kendrick’s which was recommended by Shenanigan’s owner, we decided we wanted lobster, so ended up at Tivoli. We’d stopped there the night of the bomb at Bombay (so to speak), and salvaged the meal with coffee and a wonderful dense chocolate cake. So we went back for the last supper. It’s a nice setting, upstairs and open-air, with twinkling white lights and plants all around. A friend says the um… unappealing evening entertainment keeps her from going there when she visits, but there was none the nights we were there, so it was quiet. The meal was excellent: perfect shrimp cocktail, surf and turf with a huge, sweet and tender lobster tail and tasty filet, and Steak Diane. The lobster was heavenly. We split a yummy chocolate rum cream cake for dessert. A very nice meal, with all beverages, $80.50 + tip.

One night we went to Pizza Hut. Well, what can I tell you, it’s Pizza Hut. The only cautionary note – it smelled like a sewer. Yuk.

We hit Cheeseburgers in Paradise on our way to the casino on Monday. Split an excellent burger with chips and pasta salad, plenty for two, with beverages, $11.50 + tip.

We ate at Cane Bay Beach Bar on our way back to town from touring around the western portion of the island. It was pouring rain, and the bar was doing a pretty good business. Split another very good burger with fries, also about $11. By the way, it appears they’ve erected a shelter – possibly restrooms?? – at the far west end of Cane Bay Beach.

Waiting to leave for the airport, we split yet another burger (hey, they’re fast and filling) with fries at the Harbormaster bar at the HOTC. It was fine at about $10. I wouldn’t go out of my way for it.

Touring:

We rented a car from Olympic after trying unsuccessfully to reach Goldmine. We ended up just renting for one day, which was plenty since we toured the entire island on a previous trip. We drove the scenic route east, along the north shore, to the casino late Monday afternoon, and drove west toward Fredericksted on Tuesday, returning the car late Tuesday afternoon.

Did okay at the casino. Slots were dismal, of course, but once the roulette table opened, we won it all back, and then some. Ended up a pretty good evening, especially since we left before fortune turned on us. Note that most table games do not open until 6 or 7 p.m.

Tuesday, we’d hoped to snorkel Cane Bay, but the weather wasn’t good, so we toured the rum factory. Tickets are $4. We enjoyed it; it was interesting, and worth the half hour or so it takes. And they serve a free libation when the tour is over.

Also toured the Lawaetz Family Museum on Mahogany Road, and at $6 per person, not expensive. We happened in just when the tour guide (who is a member of the Lawaetz family) was leading a group of 2nd graders through who couldn’t have been less interested, but we really enjoyed it. The family has had a presence on the island since the late 1800’s, and the tour guide and her husband lived in the house until recently, so it’s still a viable home. The house is furnished with some original furnishings and some reproductions. There are many family photos on the walls, along with artwork created by some of the family members. The setting is lush and beautiful, surrounded by the mountains and nice gardens. I recommend both tours.

On the way to Lawaetz, and despite the weather, we stopped at Rainbow Beach just north of Fredericksted. It’s adjacent to Changes in L’Attitude bar, they are friendly folks, and there are beach chairs and tables available. We got in about an hour of relatively nice weather (e.g., not raining). John did some snorkeling, which he said was pretty good – I’d snorkeled there before, and also liked it. Access to the water is kind of rough – take water shoes at least.

We didn’t do much else. We’d already been to Buck Island several times, and the weather wasn’t ideal for the snorkeling we’d hoped to do, so we just bummed around town and did that little bit of exploring. I’m happy to answer questions though, if anyone has any; email me at [email protected].