Saw that California Girl! I can't either (just came back from vacation), but it's very tempting at that price!

Oh so tempting! 😉

This deal is not what it sounds like, at least as far as I was able to determine. I'll already be in St. John during the available dates, so I checked this out. I'm not sure how they're figuring the "from $899 per person" rate, but the cheapest room with air from the cheapest airport (washington national) costs a minimum of $1,783 for the 5 mights. Since I'll already be on the island, I checked out the cost to book the hotel alone...and that came to $1,896! Plus, the hotel is undergoing construction the whole month of June.

I don't know... it's a special "package" deal.

It says:
-Round-Trip flights on a major airline from your departure city to St Thomas, USVI
-5 Nights in a Gardenview Room at the Westin St. John Resort & Villas
-"Free Your Mind" Travel Protection Program.

Your Package Does Not Include the Following:
-Any meals or beverages
-Tips or Gratuities
-Ground Transportation to and from the airport
-Tax and Service Charges*

It's quite possible there may be hidden charges or special circumstances when you get down to the "nitty gritty". I'm sorry if this turns out not to be what is advertised. I just thought it sounded good and thought I could share the information with you guys. Oh well....

Isn't the Westin a timeshare, either partially or wholly? Could be timeshare "come on down"

Excellent point!

How severe is the construction? We are due in there on June 12th and hadn't heard anything about it.

From June 1, 2006 to July 31, 2007, there will be construction limited to buildings 24-27, which are located at the rear of the resort. The typical hours of construction will be 9am - 6pm daily, and the staff will do everything possible to ensure that the guests are minimally impacted. During construction, all amenities will remain open and available. Please contact the hotel for further information.

Never mind, I answered my own question.

Yes, $899/pp is indeed a total of $1,798 for 2 people (air plus hotel from Wash DC). Other airports may be more. So the deal is what they advertise. I checked for the first week in June. I think changing the dates may affect the rates as well as changing the airports. Sounds good to me if I had $2,000 to spend!!

Westin is both a timeshare and hotel - Villas 31-34 and 41-44 are timeshares - the rest is the booked by the hotel (at usually very high rates) - although they do book some of the 1Bd timeshare villas.

You can rent a timeshare villa at a very reasonable rate (much better than the hotel rates) directly from the owner by searching the various timeshare websites (and eBay).

It looks as if is one of those timeshare incentive programs that is attempting to get buyers for the timeshare villas that they are converting buildings 24-27 to over the next year (6/06-7/07).

This is a good deal considering the cost of the flight alone - as long as you are good at saying 'No!' to the TS sales pitch.

It will be interesting to see what they price the new TS villas at, and what incentives they are offering. I will be there in a few weeks - and will follow-up here (and also on TUG).