Hi There,

Actually there are three Marriott properties on STT, The Ren and two over at Frenchmans...Frenchman's Reef and Morningstar. I can tell you about those two choices.

Morningstar shares the same beach as its sister Marriott property, Frenchman’s Reef. Morningstar is the low rise resort on the beach while Frenchman’s is the high-rise hotel up on the hill. Morningstar’s rooms are in three story buildings, each having four units per floor. These buildings run along the beach and depending upon which direction your door faces, you either get beachfront or gardenview prices. The rooms are nice and IMO don’t have that ‘hotel/motel’ room feel that you get at Frenchmans. The property is beautifully planted.

Morningstar shares all the amenities that the Marriott offers including the shops, restaurants, entertainment and services located in Frenchman’s. There are tennis courts as well as pools available. The resorts are located just across the harbor from downtown Charlotte Amalie. This allows the resort to run its water taxi that is a great way to head into town for some shopping. For a couple of dollars you can take the trip across the water into town and avoid the roads altogether.

The beach here is very pretty but not one of my favorites. Besides it being crowded at times simply due to the large number of people staying at Frenchman’s, I’ve found that it can be ‘cloudy’ which makes it tough to snorkel there. But that shouldn’t be a major concern since it’s so easy to visit any of the STT beaches. It is a nice place to ‘beach it’ and it’s nice to be able to walk out of your room and onto the beach without having to go through any over A/C’d halls or elevators. You get the latter at Frenchman’s along with views out over the harbor that many folks really enjoy.

You have a variety of restaurants to choose from without leaving the resort. I happen to really enjoy the bar/restaurant Coco Joe’s (formerly Caesar’s) which is located right on the beach and is one of my favorites for lunch. Tavern on the Beach is also a decent place with a great view out over the beach and water. I’m not a fan of the restaurants inside Frenchman’s. I much prefer the open-air atmosphere of the two I mentioned.

Overall, Morningstar would be my choice of the two Marriott properties. It is a nice place to stay and is one of the resorts I usually consider when I’m making plans to visit STT.

Schultz