Marriott:
Pros: Marriott Points, nice beds, nice (albeit expensive) selection of restaurants, large pool, iguanas, swim-up bar, has own ferry to CA, close to downtown CA, shuttle to various Marriott hotels/beach at complex
Cons: Far away from Red Hook, small bathrooms, lack of parking, not good access to beach, Morningstar beach crowded when ships in, large break at beach, VERY slow elevators (and there are only 2) at Frenchman's Reef

Wyndham:
Pros: can do all-inclusive plan, less expensive restaurants, VERY close to Red Hook (5 min), nice pool, many activities during the day, Kids Club offered, iguanas, spacious rooms, great view of STJ, great breakfast buffet, shuttle offered dwon to pool/beach area
Cons: Beach is rocky

I would pick the Wyndham personally, plus it's a better value for the $$. But that's just me. Take a look at the pros and cons to see what suits you best.

IMO, the rooms are nicer at the Wyndham. Maybe they were updated more recently? Bathrooms at Wyndham are really large..lots of marble....very pretty. Marriott bathrooms - eh...

The Wyndham is one of those where your room opens to the outside walkway. The Marriott rooms open to the interior hallway, unless you stay at the Morningstar part of the resort.

The Wyndham has three pools that are all connected. Nice - but nothing spectacular. The pool at the Marriott is also nice - nothing spectacular. They are both large enough to accommodate the guests. The pool deck at the Marriott's main pool is nicer because yo can look out over the sea and look at the mountains above Charlotte Amalie -and the Cruz ships go by so closely that you an see what people are doing inside of them. The Marriott pool faces West, so sunsets are really nice. Wyndham has pool tables in shaded outdoor area by the pool. Both the Marriott and Wyndham have features in their pools...waterfalls, etc. Both have pool voleyball nets in one area. Both have food and drinks at the pool. The Wyndham has a huge grill next to their pool area, where you can get them to grill chicken, burgers, hot-dogs, etc....there's usually a guy at the grill all day. They also have a bar there with those slushie machine things in the wall, so you can order frozen drinks and they just pull the handle and there it is. Like LLBL said, the Marriott has a swim-up bar. Problem is, it closes so early - like maybe 5:30pm? Why CLOSE the bar at cocktail hour?

Wyndham has a nature walk area - which winds through some tropical mangroves. You will see tropical birds, iguanas, etc.

The beach at Wyndham is not so great. Don't expect to enjoy the beach here, but you'll be really close to Coki and Sapphire, and as LLBL points out, Red Hook.

Both have really nice lobbies. The Marriott has a large sun terrace on which you can sit, watch the sunset over Charlotte Amalie and be served drinks from the lobby bar. The lobby at the Marriott seems to be busier - lots of chatter, socializing, cocktails. The lobby at the Wyndham seems to be more of a nice, pretty, relaxing lobby, but not the social epicenter. The lobby at the Marriott is definitely more swank and sophisticated - and it is stunning - like something out of a movie.

I find that the Marriott far outshines the Wyndham for restaurants and cocktail lounges. Food at the Marriott restaurants and even the little cafes and sundry shops is very expensive - but good. I found the Wyndham to be more of a buffet place - maybe catering to their "all inclusive" roots. The food at the Wyndham isn't bad - but isn't memorable.

The Marriott is not located near anything except Charlotte Amalie. since I don't spend time in CA, that doesn't do anything for me.

There's a shuttle that takes guests back and forth from the Reef to Morningstar - and it runs very frequently, so I've never had to wait, unless lots of others are trying to board and I have to wait for the next one - 2-3 minutes behind. The Wyndham has a parking area down by the road, and a shuttle that takes you up a hill to the lobby - and then they have little golf carts that take you to your room since the property is large and can be hilly. The Marriott property is large, but the guest rooms are more centralized and easy to navigate....unless they put you in one of the side buildings, which are the worst to be in. Ugh.

If I was going to select one - I'd go with Marriott Morningstar.

Marriott Frenchman's Reef is very nice if you plan on spending lots of time on the property and taking advantage of the resort. If you plan on getting out and about during the day, and using the room to relax in the evenings and sleep - I'd go with the value of the Wyndham and the fact that i think they have nicer rooms.

I've found more parents of very small children at the Wyndham and more families with teens and childless adults at the Marriott.

Can anyone tell me the difference between the rooms at the Frenchmans reef and the Morning Star? i.e., the quality of the rooms, the views.

My dad stayed at the morning star the week of the wedding....IT WAS GORGEOUS! Great location, nice beach, great pool!

During the week of the wedding we had guests at frenchmans reef, the wyndham, secret harbour- and by far the morning star was the nicest! HOWEVER, the one room at secret harbour was amazing....cant remember the number but one of our guests had that room and it beat every hotel!

We honeymooned at the Wyndham last September for almost ten days. We couldn't have asked for a better experience. Everyone was so nice and helpful - from the gift shop to Danny at the pool. 🙂

The beach isn't the greatest but you can walk to Coki point and it's beautiful. We only had a few meals at the hotel(all good), we wanted to experience the local fare. Don't miss Duffy's Love Shack, A Room with a View or "Off the Hook".

Also, when we arrived at the Wyndham we asked if there was a possibility of a room upgrade - they upgraded us to an ocean view room - we felt like royalty. 🙂

I can't wait to go back - I miss the Iguana's LOL

Jen