Ingrid:

I stayed there last January....and my friend owns a unit there.

Yes, I would stay there.

While some owners do not keep their properties up to date the majority do.

F.I.

Sapphire Beach is one of my favorite places on STT. We've stayed there once, visited many other times and plan to go back on Nov 7. We are staying in a condo, the second floor on the beach.

As Islander says, most keep their properties up to date. You have to do your homework and make sure you are renting from an owner who takes pride in their place.

Which unit are you staying in. It would probably be helpful if we knew that.

Also, you are incredibly close to Red Hook. Lots of restaurants, the ferry to St. John and just in a location that is perfect.

I would also stay there. I love sapphire beach, I just love the color of the water. I have stayed in a condo that is very well taken care of and have had no problems. I haven't stayed there since the restaurants have been open but still like it alot.

I've only spoken with representative from the hotel part. I haven't been assigned any particular suite yet? If I decide to stay -should I not book with the hotel portion?

Ingrid, have you gone on www.vrbo.com and looked up units that are privately owned?

If it was me, and this is only my personal opinion, I would look because there are alot of owners that post their units there.

Contact "Future islander". He may be able to guide you in the right direction.

Future?

My wife & I honeymooned there for a week last May. Your opinion of the place will depend on your expectations and how you handle numerous minor annoyances.

I believe we stayed at a privately owned condo. Since the accommodations were a wedding gift from my parents timeshare, we didn't mind the flaws with our room that would drive many people to another hotel:

1) We weren't able to check into our room until 4:30 PM, because the unit hadn't been cleaned yet. The woman at the registration desk actually took her lunch break in the middle of our check-in process (without telling us). Some people would throw a hissy-fit (like the couple that sat in the humid lobby for 2 1/2 hours waiting to check in). As for my wife and & I, we just headed over to the grill, ordered some burgers and drinks, and spent the next hour-and-half lounging at the beach.
2) The toilet constantly leaked water to the point that a small puddle would form on the floor after a few hours. It was never fixed. Our solution... wrap a towel around the base of the toilet.
3) I killed more mosquitoes than DDT, but we still couldn't keep them out of the unit. I think they made their way in through the A/C vents.
4) The condition of the stove, cookware, & utensils that were provided with the condo rendered cooking our own meals nearly impossible.
5) The slide door that was supposed to separate the bedroom from the den was broken, and could not be fixed. This limited our bedroom privacy in the daylight hours. Since our unit was on the ground floor next to the marina, there were always people walking by.

We took these inconveniences in stride. We were on our honeymoon after all, and we didn't have to pay for the room. We had so many activities and day trips planned, that we were hardly ever in the room during the afternoons, anyway. And, there were plenty of fine restaurants on the eastern side of the island to have romantic dinners. That being said, here's what we loved about the place:
1) The A/C work great, which was most important to me, because I don't handle hot and humid hotel rooms very well.
2) The beach was about as perfect as we could have hoped for.
3) The beach was never crowded, even on weekends. This might not be the case anymore since I heard they recently re-opened the bar and restaurant.
4) It's only about a 2-minute cab ride to Red Hook (I wouldn't suggest trying to walk there).
5) Our room was cleaned daily and fresh towels were always re-stocked.
6) The staff was very friendly and helpful (except the starving clerk at the front desk)
7) The adjacent Sapphire Beach Marina had all the activities you could ask for in one convenient location.

My wife and I would stay there again. But, if we were paying for the room, we would definitely have different expectations.

I have stayed there many times in the last 10 years. I stopped staying there in 2004 due to the conditions and service. I would not stay there again unless I could be more confident that they have fixed the problems, improved the facilities and improved the service. Otherwise, if it has not improved, I would describe the hotel as N-A-S-T-Y......ick!

Blu, I really don't understand why some people call it a hotel and others call them condos.

Just what is the hotel, who owns it and which ones are the condos.

I'm renting on the second floor (private owner) in November. Are some units not privately owned. Maybe because nobody wanted to buy them? Sound like it may be a good deal to jump on if the prices are low and new management may be coming in?

I was in STT this past June and had to go visit Sapphire Beach since I once lived-worked there back in the 90's. Many many changes and disappointing changes, though they are on the mend from what I read. Very good news to a sluggish resort. It has potential but needs a lot of attention. I sat in the court area where the bar use to be, which was still closed in June, being used for the breakfast area. Ducks were walking around the tourist waiting for hand-outs, but the problem was,,,duck poop every where, had to watch where you stepped. I like ducks, but.....???? Next time I'm in Stt I will definitely visit Sapphire and hopefully it will be up and running, and be the spectacular resort it once was. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Carla

Connie,

"Hotel" is my own general term. I think they call it a "resort".

As far as I can tell, there are multiple entities controlling Sapphire. This is claimed to be a big part of the problems experienced there.

There is a "resort" on the beachfront and at the marina. The "resort" units are either 1 bedroom suites or 2 level "villas". Floors 1 and 2 have the 1 bedroom suites and the 3rd and 4th floor are the villas.

From what I gather, some of the "resort" units are timeshare owned (some may also be totally private, not timeshare) and others are not. You seem to be able to rent resort units directly from the owners and also from the resort management (Antilles Resorts, to name one).

Aside from the resort, there is a series of condo buildings up on the hill above the resort. This section is called "Sapphire Village". These are condos that are owned privately and are often lived in by permanent residents....but a good deal of them are rented out on a short-term basis. You can rent them from the owner, but some are in the resort management program and may be rented through Antilles Resorts or maybe anothr resort mgmt program.

I have seen some photos of the units in the village and they range across the spectrum. It depends on what the owner has done to keep the unit up. There are 2 pools in the village. The units are either studios or 1 bedroom.

I am not excited about the "new management" coming in. I've been visiting Sapphire through several managers and things have never improved. Need an owner with really deep pockets to keep that place going. Anything built that close to the water is going to need constant work.

My wife and I stayed at the Sapphire Village up on the hill in August and we knew going in the accomodations were not going to be 5 stars but we got a really cheap rate on the place. It wasn't any worse than staying at a comfort inn or any hotel of that caliber. We were able to cook in our studio and it was clean and not like a lot of people have posted. I guess if you are willing to take the chance to go to STT and get a cheap room it was worth what we paid. The only restaurant open while we were there was the one up by our studio. Forget the name right now. It has great food and is right next to the pool. Both pools up on the hill at sapphire village are great. Most days we had it all to ourselves. We came home with great tans. Keep in mind if you stay at the sapphire village on the hill it doesn't include breakfast etc that you get with sapphire resort down by the water.
If you want a cheap place to stay and don't have first class expectations you will have a pleasant stay there. We will stay again especially now that they have opened the bars and other restaurants back up. You will love the water at sapphire, beautiful to say the least.