First let me say a couple of things. One, I work for a Major US Airline and have traveled extensively throughout the world and almost every island/nation in the Caribbean. Due to this extensive travel, I have a realistic expectation when it comes to traveling outside the US/Europe/other developed nations. Our expectations are not to be pampered like I am someone we are not. We don't mind simple accommodations and rarely stay in ultra highend properties. So with that said you are now prepared to understand this reveiw from my perspective.

We traveled to St Thomas in July 2011. We stayed at BBC due to the fact that we were traveling with my wife's sister and family. They have a Wyndham timeshare and they picked this place. We were meerly along for the ride.

I did a little research before we went so I would know what to expect. As usual I checked out the reviews here on TA. As usual I found reviews ranging from "Awesome" to "Avoid at All Costs". I am of the opinion that most people expect everything to be perfect when your on vacation. But I have traveled enough to understand things go wrong in all facets of life including vacations.

We arrived in St Thomas one day before we were scheduled to start our stay at BBC and we stayed at Best Western Emerald Beach for one night. I have reviewed it here also.

We rented a car for our stay and would recommend to anyone visiting St Thomas to do the same. Taxi costs would be astronomical compared to the $300 we payed for our corolla from AVIS. Particularly if your staying a this property, you will need a rental car unless you do not plan on leaving the property.

Driving from BWEB to BBC was effortless as we have been to St Thomas many times and remembered seeing the sign to the property on previous visits. We had a total of 13 family members in our group. 8 of us (two families of 4) stayed at BBC and the remainder staying at Bluebeards Castle. We arrived early and our rooms were not ready yet so we changed into our beach garb and headed down to the beach for some relaxation.

The beach is a splendid cresent shaped beach with very soft coral white sand. There was virtually nobody on the beach when we arrived so we had our pick of beach chairs which lined the beach from end to end. Not one time during our week long stay was this beach crowded, infact, there were many occasions where we were the only people on the beach. We had no problems from management with the members of our family that were staying at Bluebeards Castle entering the property. After the first couple times the security personnel recognized them and allowed them to enter without any hassel. I have found this is not the case in many properties, so it is good for people to know.

Back to the beach. There are two pretty good snorkeling spots on this beach. On each end of the beach there are reefs established among the rocks which makes for decent snorkeling. The coral is rather sparse in some sections with sandy bottoms between. On our first snorkel on that first day we snorkeled what I will call the "right side" as you look out to sea. Once we go away from the beach area the visibility cleared to about 50ft. Plenty of typical caribbean fish. Parot fish, tangs, angles, needles, sargent majors etc. Didn't see any eels on either reef here, but within the first few mins of our first snorkel we ran accross a very large (5-6 ft) stingray resting in the sandy bottoms between corals. As I was taking pics and video of it, my nephew got my attention to point out a very large spotted eagle ray (6-8ft) gliding by to our left. What a treat, I've been diving for a number of years throughout the world and have only seen a few of these awesome creatures. He continued to glide past us and I got some great video of him as he disappeared out of site. What a great first snorkel. We wouldn't see any other eagle rays even though we dove several time and snorkeled more times than I can count on St Thomas, St John, and the BVI.

Ok so awesome snorkel done now back to shore and see if our room is ready. We checked back at the office and they gave us two keys to two rooms adjacent to each other in bldg 2 which is the second bldg from the end on the beach end of the property. While my wifes sister's family's room was ready, ours was still being cleaned. This wasn't a big deal since all we had planned to do that day was hang out on the beach. An hour or so later the room was turned over to us.

The room was a loft room with a queen bed in the loft area that overlooked the small kitchen/living area. The living area had a pullout couch with a queen bed in it. The bathroom was pretty small with the sink area seperated from the tub/shower/toilet. This turned out to be a good thing as there were four of us staying in this room. Me, my wife, and her two college aged kids. We took the loft with the queen bed, they shared the pullout couch.

The kitchen was a bit crampt as it had a small table between it and the entertainment center for the tv. We expected a small fridge but ended up with a very small college dorm style fridge. Initially we thought this was going to be a problem since we intended on buying groceries to cut down on the food bill, but we sorted out a solution and made do with what we had. There is no denying that with four adults, this room was crowded, but the loft setup did help it seem like the wife and I had some privacy. All in all we were satisfied with the room. The best part was that the room was only about 100ft from the beach and the view from the balcony was awesome. I read many reviews in which folks were disappointed in the rooms, but we found ours to meet our expectations.

Now for the rest of the property. We found the property to be very tranquil. Occupancy must have been low as we didn't see that many people our entire stay. The grounds are well attended to and was very clean. The bldg's appeared to be undergoing exterior renewal and some were not done yet. The pool was nice and big but abit cloudy due to all the rain the previous week to our arrival. It cleared up after a day or two and was crystal clear the rest of the week. There is a small store on property should you need some of the basics but it is a bit pricey.

Alot of the reviews read had negative comments about the lack of a on property restuarant. We never thought this was a negative. We had already planned on getting groceries for breakfast and lunch (for the days we would be there at those times) and planned on eating at places we like for dinner. So again it wasn't a big deal. One day we left the kids for a daytrip to St John and they at both breakfast and lunch at the pool bar. A vendor sets up shop at the pool bar and makes basic meals. Eggs/omletes and sandwiches for lunch. They didn't feel like they missed anything. So I personnally don't know what all the fuss is about. I guess if you didn't have a car and didn't plan on leaving the property it could be an issue.

We utilized the very large brick oven style barbque's a number of times to cook lunch/dinner and found that to be a great ammenity. There is an area adjacent to the bbq grills with tables and chairs that is also covered that made a great place to eat. We felt this was a great ammenity and recommend bbqing to anyone staying there.

Back to snorkeling. We snorkeled both sides of the beach numerous times thoughout our stay. The "left" side is much like the "right" side. Plenty of coral and plenty of fish. One day my brother-in-law and I snorkeled the "right" side all the way over the the Marriott at Frenchmans bay. It didn't seem like that long of a snorkel and we didn't fight any current either. We found some lobster's nesting along the way and found it to be a great snorkel overall.

I can't emphasis enough how nice the beach at this property is. It is so nice to sit on the balcony in the morning as the sun is rising watching the cruise ships make their way into Charlotte Amalie Harbor.

We really enjoyed staying at this property. It is not a five star all inclusive resort, but I've never seen anything that claims it to be either. This is a very clean well kept property with a gem of a beach. I wouldn't hesitate to stay here again.

Mike In Tulsa

As many have said, the previous reviews made my husband and I nervous. We wanted a very private, non commercialized location with a relaxing laid back feel. It is all of this with a nice private beach and beautiful pool. We met a lot of nice locals that had great stories to how they came to live on the island. The room is another thing... We had a studio that wasn't bad in size. The partial kitchen has a lot to be desired and needs more cooking equipment. I'm sure the renovations will make the property much better. The grounds were kept very nice, but some of the buildings that aren't being used anymore need to be torn down or repaired. The "welcome orientation" was great and we obtained information and booked a couple of very neat adventures from this island informative get together. The pool bar is managed by a private party and the food choices are minimal. They do run a bar tab that is charged to your credit card at the end of your stay, if you choose. There was no pressure sales. Front Desk needs to be instructed more on customer service when answering phone calls and questions. Maintenance responded very quickly to concerns. Parking by units is sometimes close quarters. Very quiet location between Red Hook and St. Thomas Amelia.

We read a lot of the reviews before we left and we were concerned. I can honestly tell you we had a great week! We stayed in a studio plus, that did need updating. We had family staying in the renovated building and it was much better. All the units will be updated by the end of the year. The location makes up for any issues, both for the beautiful beach at the resort and the centralized location for driving around the island.

My fiance and I just returned from a week's stay at Bluebeards. I can honestly say it wasn't as bad as some of the reviews I read but they still have a long way to go. The resort has potential and once the renovations are complete, the appeal of the resort will definitely increase. The resort is remote which has advantages and disadvantages. I'm glad we rented a car and driving on the left wasn't bad.

First the positives:

1). The Beach- The resort is private so only guests are allowed on the beach. There are plenty of lounge chairs. The ocean was calm for most of our stay and you can snorkel(and there's plenty of fish to see).

2). The Grounds- The property grounds are very well maintained.

3). The Fitness center-Newer equipment and a variety of workout machines. No crowds.

4). The staff- Friendly. We arrived early and we were able to play on the beach as we waited for our room to be ready. We received a call as well as a text message informing us that our room was ready.

5). The Pool- Very inviting. Typically, my fiance and I rarely go to the pool when we're on vacation but we made an exception. I really enjoyed playing volleyball in the pool.

Negatives:

1). The villas- In dire need of renovation. We stayed in a 1 bedroom studio in the D building(buildings A and B appeared to be renovated). When we first arrived, our toilet was not working. My fiance immediately informed the front desk and the issue was resolved quickly. The furniture was out-dated and I found the queen bed uncomfortable.

2). Lack of entertainment- The resort is in desparate need of activities. Yes, you can rent equipmet on site(kayaks, snokeling equipment, etc.) but the place lacks excitement.

3). Lack of resturant- The resort also needs a resturant. Because the resort is not close to town, it would be nice have a full resturant onsite.

We did enjoy venturing around the island. Thanks to Crystal(a waitress at Hooters), we visited the best beach on St. Thomas. Based on her recommendation, we spent the day at Coki Beach and the snorkeling was amazing(the best on St. Thomas). We also did a day trip to St. John and we enjoyed Solomon Beach. Our best dinner was at the Manor House at the Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort. We shopped at Pueblo Market and the prices were high. We did find a smaller market but the prices were also high. We ate the Bambo Hut and found the food to be ok but not great. We also ate at the Deli Deck which was not very good. The best food was actually at Hooters. The food we prepared at the studio was actually better than the local faire. Overall, we enjoyed the beaches and exploring. We did not enjoy the accomodations at Bluebeard's and will not return. It's unfortunate Wyndham has purchased such a delapitated resort and the blame rests with the prior owners.