I stayed at Rhymers beach hotel (website: http://www.canegardenbaybeachhotel.com/ ) for 5 nights end of January. The hotel is old and it shows: there may be tiles missing in the walls in your bathroom, windows that once closed perfectly may not do so any more. But, it's kept well clean, and everything works. The rooms have airco, which may be a bit noisy, but not more so than the ones I've seen in real expensive hotels. There is nobody at reception during the night, which was bit of a problem when the circuit breaker for my airco broke one night and nobody could fix it, but that was not a major problem (slept with the balcony door open).
This is one of the cheapest hotels I've found on Tortola - I paid about $100 a night. The location cannot be beat: right at the best beach in Tortola (all the taxi drivers I talked to told me that Cane Garden Bay has the best general purpose beach), snorkeling right in the bay. Only downside is that many people from cruiseships visit the beach each day as well. Still, it's not really crowded, and as a hotel guest you have your first choice of (free) beachchairs in the morning.
The beach contains a couple of restaurants and beach bars, which all serve wonderful food and drinks (sometimes aimed a bit too much at US taste; I'd prefer more local dishes), and there's live music and beach BBQs at least a couple of nights a week.
If you want to get out of the bay, you'll have to climb some steep roads (or get a taxi / rental car). I did like the hikes in early morning, but it's a bit more than just a leisurely walk. You can walk to Road Town in about 1.5 hours, or to Brewers Bay in about 45 minutes.
The hotel offers free Wifi, although I couldn't get a reception in my room. Also, Wifi only worked about 50% of the time.
I'll be sure to go back there again next time I'm on Tortola.
- Rhymers Beach Tortola
- Hotel Rhymers Beach
