Our "Superior One-bedroom suite" was just alright....dingy but quaint. Although we had a back porch that was amazingly situated 10 feet from the Sir Francis Drake Channel, with a breath-taking view of St. John, the interior furnishings were bargain basement. Our living room cocktail table was literally constructed of raw 2x4's. If indeed this section of the property was built in the last 6 years as advertised, they must have intentionally bought (or sifted through the dump) re-purposed, 1950's-era materials to work with.
Another peeve was the advertised internet available on the property. (Although on vacation, I like to keep abreast of my business email so I'm not inundated when I get home). The wireless internet in my suite's area had been out for at least a month, according to "Douglas" (the owner or manager?...who knows). I found this tidbit out only after being repeatedly fibbed to about its status, and asking him daily to reboot his archaic Linksys router, or replace the damn thing entirely. The only other option was to sit on the porch by the office, poaching their wireless signal, and be drained of blood by the highly efficient mosquito's kept "on staff"!
Speaking of staff, the advertised 24/7 desk assistance were usually clueless on most of my questions. When asked to suggest a nice day charter, they were befuddled. Luckily, another guest overhearing the conversation told me to try Voyage Escapes out of Soper's Hole...the Mystique 45' catamaran was a real treat, as were Nico (captain) and Cecilia (1st mate...double-entendre entirely valid!).
Housekeeping, however, was very efficiently done on a daily basis, by a very nice lady from Guyana....thank you very much!
Another of their supposed renovations was a newly relocated Spa on the property, advertising candles and the wonderful aroma of incense in the air... which was to be part of the peaceful and relaxing ambiance....
The Spa was a dimly lit room next to the tenement-like laundry facility. It was quite evident that the girl who did my wife's pedicure/manicure obviously had never been trained properly(one can only hope her instruments were autoclaved), but charged higher prices than an upscale salon in Rice Village, Houston. The candles really weren't for atmosphere, but admittedly for chasing away the mosquito's and no-see-ums chewing up your feet and ankles.
I really cannot comment on the restaurant on-property, as I never actually ate there. I decided to forego the angst when, sitting in the twilight-lit lobby (with the miniscule, creepy, decrepit "gym" right next to it), using the only available internet, I overheard a guest order bruschetta, jambalaya, and one other item from the menu..."specially" printed for that evenings repast. After the guest left the lobby, the supposed cook walked in. The ensuing conversation between the cook and manager was hilarious, if not pitiful. Apparently, all the above-stated dinner items that were flaunted on the menu that was already distributed to the guests, could not actually be cooked by the chef. Whether this was due to lack of ingredients or recipes, or skill....I will never know.
All in all, I would not stay here again. Too much hype and hot-air, and not enough substance. Because I paid a very reduced-rate by booking months earlier, I have been rather generous with this review. If I had had to pay the $350/night they were charging others, I would have been far more critical of my stay. Or maybe it was the copious amounts of Pusser's rum and Red Stripe beer I consumed that tempered my judgement?
Room Tip: When booking, call the hotel and press the person making the reservation to verify that ALL advertis...
See more room tips
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
25 January 2012
I thank you so much for praising our Superior One Bedroom Villa’s front porch (not back porch), which is a mere 10 feet away from the beautiful Caribbean Sea. It truly is a breathtaking view. However, I am terribly sorry you had little appreciation for the furnishings. If I could find furniture of that grade in a thrift store, I would grab it. No such luck! Seriously, I am sorry that our taste doesn’t coincide with yours, but I can assure you that all of the furniture is of a very high standard. Our chairs and couches are Eames, the table mentioned by you is a Stickley (yes, it is mission style). The original Oil paintings in the rooms are either high quality local artists, or art purchased at Sotheby’s. That was at an auction. If you had only told us that you didn’t care for them we would have been glad to move you to another villa suite, since none of the villa are alike. I sincerely apologize for the Wi-Fi problem, but this issue was not a long lasting situation, and since then the installation of our professional-grade wireless system is fully in place. That was an unfortunate happening. We were a bit relieved at the time that you did get the signal either in our lobby or outside porch.
You mentioned your displeasure with front desk staff and I'd like to address that also as I feel it is a very unfair remark. The supposed incident of our "clueless" staff not providing you with day charter recommendations is not being recollected by any of the three persons who are in charge of that area. This is a family owned and operated hotel for over 40 years, there are no absentee owners or managers living abroad, everyone here is very experienced with everything relevant to the BVI having lived here most of their entire lives. Had you asked for recommendations for a day charter, you would have certainly received a quick and clear response. We do this on a daily basis, multiple times per day, and arrange tours all of the time. We would have immediately given you the information, set up the trip personally and even arranged transportation for you. We take great pride in catering to our guests' needs and try and make their stay as simplistic as possible, all one needs to do is ask...Douglas is one of our two managers (the other being Pamelah who is currently away visiting India), who have been living in the BVI for many, many years. He too, does not recall you asking about day charters and is very sorry that you didn't mention it to him.
You spoke of mosquitoes draining the blood out of you. This is one thing truly outside of our control, and well, any hotel's control as we cannot control mother nature or when it rains (which is what increases the number of mosquitoes). Once again, if you told us about it we would have offered you a repellent. You also mentioned about our Spa . Please know that all of our ladies are fully trained and absolutely certified by the the Swedish Institute in New York . If they have been remiss and your wife was displeased I willspeak with them immediately. I don’t believe you have to worry about the cleanliness either however, as we sterilize all equipment and are very aware of the importance of it. The lighting was designed to be low key for the purpose of creating a relaxing atmosphere. The Spa building, which was fully renovated not more than 2 years ago, is near to our utility room though they certainly don't share the same building. I also think your word for our utility room was a bit harsh. I think the word to describe it would be more “utilitarian” , and I do know that large washers and dryers and steel counter tops etc. does not lend itself to stark beauty. However , I too don’t find utility rooms of particular interest. I truthfully realize you didn’t have a good experience overall on Tortola, and I never like to hear that. However, your lovely wife came into the reception area to tell us that she enjoyed herself very much and thought the place was beautiful. I do thank you very much for the appreciating the cleaning lady and she was really happy about the fact that you mentioned her, and left her a dollar bill and change as a tip (not meaning to be sarcastic, but this is a fact). Please do not think I am being facetious, she really said that speaking so well of her is more important than the money. I hope you will be back again, if just to show you that we can do a great deal better than we did for you.
Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC
