Westin St. John Resort & Villas

My husband and our two teenage daughters just returned from our week stay at the Westin St. John Resort Villas. Here's the good stuff: the resort is beautiful (great pool and beach area, gorgeous grounds, etc.), our room was lovely and perfect for what we needed (two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen area, sitting area, plenty of closet space, etc.), and it was very easy to get a taxi to nearby restaurants and beaches. However, the service at the Westin's two on-site restaurants was horrible, especially when it came to dealing with food allergies (eggs, nuts and shellfish for my daughters). They were not equipped whatsoever to respond to guests with food allergies. The staff were unable to respond to questions about what food items were safe and they made zero effort to try to accommodate food allergies. They demonstrated a complete lack of understanding of food allergies in general (no, gluten free does not mean egg free) and acted annoyed with having to address our questions/concerns. On top of that, the service was very slow (like 1.5 hours to just get our food for lunch and when it arrived, it wasn't even safe/right). After a negative experience for dinner and lunch at the restaurants (Lemongrass and Snorkels), we learned very quickly that we could not eat meals on the Westin's premises. Rather, we purchased food from the nearby grocery store to eat breakfast and lunch in the room and eat all dinners at restaurants off the Westin's property. For parents of kids with food allergies, I would not eat at the Westin St. John Resort Villas restaurants. I strongly recommend you scope out menus in advance of your arrival, and then email or call St. John restaurants to discuss allergy-friendly food options. It paves the way for when you arrive. We had great meals at The LongBoard, Lime In, St. John Brewers, Banana Deck, Cafe Roma, and Ocean 362 (especially at Ocean 362). The staff at these places were super helpful, thoughtful, responsive and the food was delicious. Hope this helps.

We had a lovely time on the island. The Westin Resort is beautiful but we rented a vehicle onsite through their rental company O’Connor Car Rental and we were charged twice and having to try to get a credit for one of the charges is a pain and should never of happened in the first place. I do not recommend.

I am on property right now and it became clear the day we got here that this place was for sleeping only. The beds are comfortable. The food is terrible and the staff is lazy and rude. Seriously we have never stayed anywhere like this where the staff feels like they can basically tell you to go away. The Westin staff gets 5 stars for being unhelpful and RUDE. It seems empty (a staff member confessed it’s been slow for some years now) but ironically we can’t find a chair on the beach. There’s plenty of room but a lack of chairs. We called and asked if it was possible for them to move some chairs from the pool to the beach and they literally said “no, but you can”. Enough said. We rented cars and have done everything in our power to be off property as much as possible, where ironically the food and service has been amazing.

2/10, would not recommend. A few small positives: decent grounds, in-room washer/dryer, and a convenient location near a grocery store. Unfortunately, that’s where the good ends. Staff was consistently rude, facilities were dirty (especially the pool bathrooms), and the food and restaurants were bad and poorly staffed. The pool experience was awful — loud karaoke was forced on guests who were clearly there to relax.

We had a terrific time at the Westin St. John, one of the more beautiful properties we've at which we've ever stayed. Special shoutout to one of the managers, Dermica Olivieri. We had booked an upgrade to our room a couple of months before going, from a studio to a 2 bedroom with a loft. When first making the reservation earlier this year, only a studio was available and we're a family of four with two high school girls. Upon arriving they put us in a studio, the old reservation. There had been some glitch and didn't have the upgraded reservation. When I went to the front desk to figure things out, Ms. Olivieri was the consummate professional. I showed her the email from Marriott making the upgrade and forwarded it to her. After a few minutes to discuss with others, she came back and told me they didn't have a two bedroom available, so they were putting us in a three bedroom at the rate we booked the two bedroom. This made our stay even better and we greatly appreciated it. Another shoutout to concierge Susie Nicholas, another consummate professional. She hooked us up with a snorkeling trip, a night kayaking trip and an all day excursion to the baths at Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands. Everything either leaves from the Westin or takes place there. The lure of St. John is some of the best beaches in the world - Trunk Bay, Cinnamon Bay and others. You have to take taxis there, pay cash only and it's expensive - $14 per person, one way, to Trunk Bay. So bring cash or be prepared to hit the ATM. Loved it all.