The Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas

We stayed at the club level for a week and thought it was worth it. As we had a baby and a child, it was more convenient to eat at the lounge most of the time. We were given a room on the same level just a couple of doors down and it was easy to pop in and out. The lounge was never private and felt pretty private. The food was good, not a huge spread but we always found something to eat. Drinks were self service and I quickly googled to make some cocktails out of the selection they had and it was good fun. They always had tea and coffee but the tea water wasn’t really hot. Breakfast was good and the omelette chef lady was very friendly. All the waitresses were always welcoming and friendly. It is a large property but we enjoyed walking around although it is not the most stroller friendly due to different levels. Especially from the club lounge down to the beach, we had to take stairs and carry the stroller down. We rarely went to the lobby and stayed mostly in the club area. The room was pretty basic and housekeeping was okay. We did not hear any noise from other rooms and it was pretty quiet when we were there in October. The beds were comfortable and the kids had a crib and a rollaway bed which worked well for them. The balcony wasn’t cleaned throughout the stay and we did not use it as there were some dead centipedes. The pools were nice but we mostly hung out by the infinity pool by the beach. The kids pool was shallow and there were way too many centipede in the water. My son used the slide at the kids pool a couple of days. The beach was rocky but calm. It isn’t a typical sandy beach and it was a bit difficult to get in without water shoes. Once in the water, it was pleasant. There were never too many people in the water and most guests were staying by the pool. We used kayaks one day and snorkels a couple of times. Snorkelling was pretty good and we saw a number of fish. Kids club was closed and by appointment only during the slow season and we did not use it. We had a rental car and used the self parking mostly. We used valet the first day and it was efficient but we later found out self parking is much closer to our room than walking all the way to the valet desk by the lobby. We used the rental car to go check out different beaches, Coral World, and St. John and I would definitely recommend getting a car.

The resort is an oasis . All of the staff are amazing, professional, attentive and treated us like we were royalty. This is the gold standard. Resort itself is gorgeous, quiet, perfectly situated on a sheltered bay. The rooms are comfortable and well apportioned. However you will not want to leave the resort. Most of the island of St Thomas is sketchy, rundown, loaded with abandonded buildings and boat scrapyards. . Roads are really dangerous with 1 foot deep potholes everywhere. We drove the rental car to Red Hook and took the ferry to St. John. Unless you are driving to a beach on St. John its definately NOT worth the trip. Downtown area is about 4 blocks and is just a tourist trap, and not a nice one. Save your time and money and stay at the Ritz. I can't figure out why people would want to go there. Be prepared to spend a LOT of money for food.

TL;DR horrible service all around, will never go back. The Ritz in Atlanta and Charlotte have better service than this establishment. The level of service is that of a JW with rude staff. When you ask for something small like a honey mustard, you get a condescending answer, and a rude look. They will do it, but very reluctantly. Cart boys rushing our makeup artist out of the room and not helping with her bags. They brought us a complimentary martini glass set in a dollar store paper bag for thanksgiving and it had mold on it. Staff was completely rude to our friend while checking in, blaming her switching cards on why her whole reservation is messed up. Also talking to her in a very condescending tone and blaming her for the check in issues. Most of the other guests had issues at check in as well. When a friend asked for the name of the person she was speaking with on the phone, they hung up on her. Friends asked for luggage check so we could go to Saint Jon before our flight and they left their luggage outside all day until 9pm. We called to check and see what time room service was coming on the wedding day and they said 9:30. They didn’t come by 9:30 so at 10:30 we requested a few things so we could finish getting ready for the wedding. They never showed up. At the rehearsal dinner, there was one server who would not speak to us, make eye contact, or even acknowledge our existence, when we asked her for a simple coffee. Two of us experienced this and it was very off putting and weird for her to not simply acknowledge that we were talking to her. This place needs a MAJOR customer service revamp because this does not feel like the ritz. Pros; The bed and the one off person who would actually have a good attitude

This was by far the worst hotel experience I’ve ever had, and I’ll never stay at a Ritz-Carlton again. Our entire group, here for a wedding, had nothing but problems from start to finish. First, three of our rooms had roaches. Yes, roaches in a luxury resort. Unbelievable. But it didn’t end there. The service was appalling. Golf carts took multiple calls most of the time and the staff didn’t care when you had to repeatedly call. I was waiting for 30 minutes when I was trying to go to the front desk to handle an issue with my room key and getting locked out. The staff clearly didn’t care. Nearly everyone in our group had issues with their reservations. Rooms were mixed up, most requests were not even acknowledged. Two times on separate days it took me three phone calls and over an hour just to get a bathrobe after housekeeping took mine and didn’t leave a new one. Kimorah who worked at the front desk was a nightmare. She refunded $1,000 in incidentals without understanding my request, then argued with me for two days. She insisted I wanted to switch cards when I only asked to use a different one for the remainder of my stay, which I extended due to issues with card approvals. She then called me at 7am the following morning telling me she needed a card of file for incidentals. A few hours later I got back to my room after calling my bank while In the gym and my room key wouldn’t work. They had locked me out because they didn’t have a card on file for incidentals. I went down to try to settle the issue and extend my stay for the last 2 days. When shown a $5k balance due, we were confused, as our trip was $4,700 total for 5 days. This second payment was for the last 2 days as we’d paid $2300 for the first 3 days already. She lowered it to $2400 on the screen for me to authorize and sign but secretly charged us double—$2,500 for incidentals on top of the $2400 payment. Janelle was absolutely the worst of the employees I dealt with. She was the other front desk employee. After I got locked out of my room, I called for assistance, and she was rude and hostile. Instead of helping, she made the situation worse with her attitude. The next day, after requesting a robe at 8 AM, I waited all day, and by 2 PM, it still hadn’t arrived. When I called to request one, Janelle assured me it would be there in 10-15 minutes—but it never came. I then called back 30 mins later and asked to speak to a manager, her response was aggressive and dismissive. She refused to transfer me, demanded to know why I wanted to speak to a manager, and even called me a liar when I told her I’d filed a complaint with corporate the day before and mentioned her name (she’d hung up on me when I asked what her name was for when I called corporate). It was clear she had no sense of urgency or professionalism. Her constant rudeness and inability to provide even basic customer service made my stay incredibly frustrating. The front desk staff was rude, argumentative, and dismissive, constantly talking over us and refusing to take responsibility. Their aggressive behavior and lack of customer service were unacceptable. If you're even considering staying here, do yourself a favor and book anywhere else. The Ritz-Carlton in St. Thomas is an embarrassment to the brand, and honestly, I wish I had read reviews before throwing away $5k on this nightmare of a 5-day stay. The fact that I spent that much money here makes me sick, especially after the abysmal experience I’ve had. I will never stay at another Ritz again, and I’m seriously questioning whether I’ll stay at any Marriott property in the future unless they do something extraordinary to make up for this disaster. So far, I’ve heard absolutely nothing from them, and frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if I never hear back at all. This was an utter failure on every level.

I almost didn’t book bc of some of the reviews and I’m so glad I ignored the haters! We had the warmest welcome, property was gorgeous and they upgraded us to an ocean view king which I loved. The room felt new & fresh and the property was spotless. We loved the spa and sunset cruise. Only one restaurant was open for dinner which I knew from our booking. They sent us to the Easterly in Red Hook another night which we loved. The breakfast place made a killer latte and egg sandwiches. So much to do in this area, it’s not a place where you just hang around the resort all day like an all inclusive so maybe that’s the issue with the other reviewers. We went to St John and did a BVI boat trip which I highly recommend. Didn’t love the food at Alloro but service and atmosphere were still good. I would definitely go back- it’s an easy long weekend destination from the east coast