Westin St. John Resort & Villas

We arrived after 4 pm to a lobby of frustrated customers whose rooms were not ready. We soon found we were in the same boat. Check out is 10 am with no allowance for platinum customers so really no excuse for this. Both showers in our 2br 2 bath were broken. Stains on 2 of the 3 beds. Our room was over $1,000/night. We were promised compensation but it never came. As a lifetime platinum bonvoy I think the blending of hotels with timeshares is a horrible marketing move. This property is not worth the price. With zero platinum benefits there is no reason for us to choose a vacation club property over a non bonvoy property.

The resort is great in concept. We have stayed here twice. Great location with many conveniences, including beach, pool, on-site dining, kids' club, readily accessible taxies, easy to book excursions, etc. However, the execution often falls short because of inconsistent service and poor communication. For example, on our last stay: 1. The hotel was supposed to process our credit card in June when we booked for a stay starting in January 2025. They did not, and we received an email about two weeks before our scheduled check-in date stating that they needed payment immediately or our reservation would be canceled. I called the number provided four times within the hour and there was no answer. The Marriott reservation line they referred to did not take payment. Eventually, after emailing, someone called me back. 2. We ordered groceries to be stocked in our room upon arrival. Per instructions, we ordered more than 72 hours in advance. We arrived approximately 730pm and the groceries were not there. Not a big deal, we called the front desk the next morning, who transferred us to the convenience store...who told us to call back later because they were busy. Took about 30-45 minutes of legwork to chase down the convenient grocery delivery. 3. We had a rat in our room. To their credit, they patched up the hole immediately. For the next two nights, though, there was incessant scratching. They followed up, and we asked to move rooms, which was accommodated. (Honestly, the rat was the best service we got!) 4. Upon check-in, we were asked to schedule housekeeping service, so we did, for 4-5pm three days into our stay. At 930am that day, staff stopped by and asked to clean. We were still getting ready, so I asked if we could stick to our previously scheduled time of 4pm. She laughed and said, "I'm not coming back at 4." We eventually settled on 2pm, which was fine, but don't bother to schedule if you're not going to stick to the schedule. 5. When we arrived, we booked a round-trip on their ferry. She handed us a ticket, circled 10am as our return ferry time, told us to have luggage out at 830am and be at the dock by 945am. We put out our luggage at 8am; it does not get picked up. That's OK, it's not a long walk, we get to the dock approximately 940am...to find that they changed the ferry schedule between our arrival date and our departure date without communicating to us and the ferry left at 930am. So we scramble to get a taxi to go to the public ferry dock and get on the 11am ferry and take a taxi to the airport. We were lucky to be able to pivot and still make our flight, but it was unnecessarily stressful when this was clearly anticipated in advance and all they needed to do was tell us. We love a lot of things about this resort, but we'll definitely be looking into other accommodations next year, given the price and subpar execution.

Kevyn and Amie at stjohncondos.com have earned our highest recommendation. The process was very smooth and helpful, starting with their advice on which villa to select (ours was perfect -- a great view and an easy walk from the pool and the front gate) to the check in process to the practical advice on where to buy groceries. The resort itself is best for families with young kids with the beach and pool. We rented a car (at the rental company at the resort) which was a good move, as taxis are expensive and cash-only. If you're headed to St John, check out stjohncondos.com.

The island is beautiful but we would not stay at Westin again. We are generally comfortable at 3-4 star lodging and never care about service. The only place to have lunch at the entire gigantic resort is at beachside restaurant. During the week after Christmas which I’m assuming is a busier time for the resort, we sat with an entire restaurant full of ppl and everyone waited 2 full hours for lunch. Not a single table around us got food during that time. There were 2 servers who had to bus, and take orders and bring out food and every table wound up walking up to the bar to get drinks. There is no service at the beach whatsoever and no service poolside. We watched several tables of ppl get up and walk away after 1.5 hrs of waiting. Tables around us sat unbussed for the duration of our 2 hrs wait. Rinaldo was hustling and smiling and trying but could only do so much. My husband who works in hotel business said the GM is not doing his/her job. Dinner at Lemongrass was not good. Very limited menu and not a fun or vacationy vibe. Our server at dinner was friendly as was dive shop employee but everyone else could barely muster a hello. Did not feel like a welcoming place at all. We constantly felt like we were intruders at the Westin. For a $12,000 vacation it was incredibly disappointing.

Manage your expectations - this is now just an aging condo complex. Rooms are dated with stained furniture and the one restaurant is terrible. We stayed here years ago when it was a Westin hotel and couldn’t believe the decline. This is not a resort. The beds were comfortable and the staff was very friendly. For the price, we would have been better off booking a spacious private villa with beautiful views.