Frenchman's Reef and Morning Star Resort: Skip the Marriott Frenchman's Reef Resort
by Alfine5
During our third trip to the Virgin Islands, we were planning to spent the first two days and last two days on St. Thomas. Since I was hoping to increase my Marriott rewards points, I thought that I would give the Marriott Frenchman's Reef Resort a try. This, unfortunately, turned out to be a not so pleasant stay.
On our arrival to the Marriott, we found that there was a conference being held and therefore, there was no parking available. I stayed in my car for over half an hour before I found some parking. This was definitely not the way I wanted to start my vacation.
At check-in, I was told that they did not have the room I had requested and for which I had received a confirmation. I was asked to wait in the lobby for the manager who came in after thirty minutes and quickly fixed the problem. For my trouble, he even upgraded me to a room overlooking the Morningstar Beach.
The room we were given was absolutely amazing. The view were gorgeous and the room was beautifully appointed. We made our way to the pool area and saw the greatest views of Charlotte Amalie. After some time at the pools, we made our way to Morningstar Beach through the beautiful trails from the hotel. The beach was absolutely perfect as well.
During the evening, we made our way to Rum Bar which is the hotel's signature bar. The views from its patio overlooking the lights of Charlotte Amalie and the crashing waves below made this the most perfect setting to end the night.
At the tail-end of our trip, we had planned to stay at the Marriott once again. We came to the hotel a bit early and were told that our room was being cleaned. We were asked to wait a few minutes. I went back to the reception desk after 30 minutes and was told the same thing. After an hour of waiting, I offered to pay a higher price to get any of the rooms they had available. At that point, I was told that one of the rooms was almost ready. Yet another half hour later, we were still waiting for our room to be ready even though we were past the check-in time of 4:00 PM. At this point, I asked them to cancel my reservation so that I could go elsewhere.
This hotel has its good and bad. The service is absolutely horrible but the rooms and amenities at the hotel are fantastic. If you do not mind waiting to find parking and getting a room, then, this may be a good mid-range hotel for your stay on St. Thomas. However, with my experience, I don't expect to ever come back.
Large pool with amazing views of Charlotte Amalie, beautifully appointed rooms
