Rochelle,

My wife and I have stayed at Tropic Leisure Club (TLC) in STT so I can give you some detail on that resort, but not Bluebeard’s Castle (BC). I can only give you some general comments on the Bluebeard location. I am assuming from reading between the lines that this may be your first sojourn to this part of the Caribbean.

[Are there a great deal of stairs to contend with?]

Both Tropic Leisure and Bluebeard’s Castle are built on the side of a hill. So yes there are steps. At TLC they are fairly minimal, but there are steps. In fact almost every place I know or stayed in the USVI or BVI is on a hill. The only flat places are the beaches and once you leave the sand one starts uphill/steps almost immediately.

TLC is part of a bigger complex at Megan’s Bay on the North Shore. They overlook the bay and is in a very quiet area of STT. Rent-a-car is probably a good plan. A taxi can be fairly expensive from this location, so a car pays for itself pretty quickly.

It is about a ½ mile walk downhill to the beach or they have a shuttle. Megan’s Bay Beach is absolutely beautiful with one major downfall – Its’ Beauty. It is so beautiful that the Cruise Ships bring over buses of thousands (ok maybe only hundreds) of excursion folks. Without a doubt if 5 ships are in port, Megan’s looks like the Jersey Shore on the 4th of July. Early morning and late afternoon – very lovely beach. It is part of a National Park so there is $3 entrance fee. TLC has a resort party down on the beach one day with lots of food and drinks.

TLC has a wonderful restaurant associated with the resort, with a good wine list and great food. Sitting outside overlooking the BVI provides quite a setting to end the day. The bar is also very nice and it appears many locals gather there later in the evening.

Bluebeard’s is not as close to water. If you are a shopper you are very near town where shopping is KING. STT is not that big so you are really never far from the beach, but Bluebeard’s is more centrally located, but further from the water if that is what you are looking for. I am sure others will chime in with a better description. They do have some stunning views of the port in Charlotte Amalie.

[Is it clean?]

Clean is relative in the Caribbean. Both places you mentioned in STT are timeshares. They are both in the tropics on an island.

Probably an individual is not using their week or the resort has open rooms in inventory. TLC rooms do get serviced, but if I remember correctly it is every other day. Could be wrong. Being a timeshare they have a small kitchen area, and if you drop the smallest amount of sugar while making your coffee it is like putting out a welcome mat for ants. With ants you get lizards, and the circle of life begins. By no means please do not think I am saying the place is not clean. TLC, nor any place in the islands will equal a Hilton in small town USA.

Remember in the Caribbean the most precious commodity is fresh water. There was always plenty of fresh water for showers at TLC. I recommend bottle water for drinking. There is nothing wrong with what comes out of the tap – just does not taste very good.

[I found this on Veterans Holidays and also rentalholidays.com. I would really like to know how this location is.]

You may want to check sites like cheapcaribbean.com – sometimes they have some pretty good specials and may open a few other options.

[Is there anyway someone could be in the basement? I ask this, since one time in Branson MO a location had that, with a wall in front of the window. The people were not happy.]

Our room did not have a straight on view of the water – had to look a little to the right. We were on the second floor. Not sure what the view from the first floor would have been. From the pool and restaurant area there are stunning views.

[Also, anything on Bluebeard's Castle Villas II or Green Bay Hotel in Netherland Antilles?]

The Netherland Antilles are made up of more than one island. If I remember correctly Green Bay is in St Maarten, which is a different island than STT and has its own unique ambiance. Have stayed in SXM 4 or 5 times and we really like it a lot, but it is different than the VI. That is what is so neat about the Caribbean – The islands all have warm sun, blue water, a slower pace life – yet each has their own unique identity.

I guess to get folks helping you on the board you may want to go into a little more detail on what you are looking to do or not do for a week in paradise. If you said I want to walk out of room and sit on the beach – neither place would meet your expectations. If you wanted a reasonable priced base for exploring the island or to find a quiet corner and read a book, lounge by the pool with a great view – both would probably meet the requirement.