We recently went on an amazing family vacation and I’m so glad we chose The Ritz Carlton St. Thomas. We arrived at the hotel at 11pm after a full 12 hours of traveling with an almost 3 year old. From the moment we pulled up, we were in awe. We were so grateful for our welcome at the taxi with a yummy rum punch and escorted to the front desk for our check in. Given it was late and we had not had dinner, our lovely front desk associate offered to call room service so that when we got to our room, our food would arrive. What a wonderful way to end our day of travel and start an amazing vacation. Our room was gorgeous, spacious and had amazing ocean views. Housekeeping also graciously brought us a rollaway promptly for our daughter to sleep on.
Over the next 9 days, our experience of the hotel and the island was fantastic. From the beauty of the surroundings to the hospitality of the staff, everything was perfect. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a hotel where the staff was as warm and friendly as The Ritz Carlton St. Thomas.
Here are a few of my favorite features:
Stairs: One of the features of the hotel, which is built right in, is a lot of stairs. They also have walkways but I loved the stairs because it was an instant workout whenever I went anywhere on the property. Who needs a fitness center when you are carrying a 27 pound child up and down 50 stairs 5 or so times a day? If stairs aren’t your thing, don’t worry there are plenty of ways to get around this property without using them.
Fun for family:
Pool: This resort not only has a cute little kiddie pool for the real little ones but I loved the infinity pool as well. It goes from 1 foot to 5 feet deep with a large portion of it being around 1.5 feet or less which is perfect for infants and toddlers to play in and meet new friends. We spent a lot of time at the infinity edge with our arms draped over the side floating and counting boats. It was gorgeous, relaxing and the perfect temperature.
Sailing on Lady Lynsey: This Ritz Carlton favorite is not to be missed. This gorgeous catamaran and its friendly staff picks you up right on the beach outside the resort. We did a gorgeous sunset cruise with our 3 year old and it was a lot of fun! The captain even let Stella steer the boat which was an amazing highlight for her! The open bar and generous gourmet hors d’oeuvres was a perfect end to our day.
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Beach: The Ritz Carlton St. Thomas beach is relaxing and fun to accommodate your every mood. They have plenty of water sports to keep you entertained and plenty of lounge chairs if that’s more your speed. I loved paddle boarding but they also have kayaks, windsurfers, paddle boats, Hobie cats and snorkel gear.
Magic Milk Sand Art: We loved this unique experience where you can pick a shape like a fish, starfish or many others and design your own original work of art adding shells and sea glass. This was a big hit for Stella!
Family Movie Night: Every night at 7 pm they host a family movie night at Zest, the frozen yogurt store. Kids have happy hour with 1/2 off their frozen yogurt and you can relax with a movie the whole family will love.
Restaurants: All of the amazing restaurants have a kids menu but will also create something special for any picky eaters. Needless to say, that was our situation. I’ve never met someone who loves to eat avocado every day! They all have crayons to keep the kiddos engaged and meals are free for kids 2 and under. Impressive.
One afternoon I was relaxing by myself on the beach reading InStyle magazine and this man in a boat pulls up. I watched him and suddenly the chef comes out to greet him and the man hands the chef some lobsters. He was there to sell the restaurant fresh lobsters that he had caught that day. Everyone came over to hold the lobsters, watch and take selfies. It was a lot of fun and the restaurant had lobsters on special that night! What a fun experience to be apart of.
St. John
St. John was one of our favorite destinations of this trip. It’s just a 5 minute taxi ride and a 20 minute ferry ride to get to this magical place. When we first arrived at this charming island I was struck by how quaint and colorful it is. Upon leaving the ferry you are treated to free rum samples to kick off your day. My favorite part of St. John was the beaches. Before coming here, we were told that Trunk Bay is the most amazing beach and I agree. This is the kind of white sand beach that feels like you are walking on powdered sugar. The water is the most gorgeous shade of blue and you can see straight to the bottom. I love that it’s shallow enough 10 feet out that your toddler can have a little independence while still being supervised. We loved this beach so much we never wanted to leave the water and a plus is that we met amazing people from all over the world. Stella and I went on a few swimming adventures and found a few Sting Rays, schools of fish and even a Barracuda swam by. It was truly amazing and we loved it so much we went twice while in St. Thomas.
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Luckily, we stumbled upon a fabulous restaurant on the cliff overlooking the bay of St. John. Asolare. Wow, from the moment we walked up, we knew we found the gem of the island. With no reservation (we got very lucky) and our swim wear still on, they treated us great and helped us experience one of the best restaurants in St. John while enjoying a fabulous sunset and fantastic flight of rums. This restaurant is not to be missed!
As our vacation came to a close, we reflected on our amazing trip while enjoying the view from our room of the ocean. How wonderful it was every second of every day. On our final night we were surprised and delighted that the hotel brought a gift for Stella to our room. Ritzy the Lion. She was over the moon excited and brought Ritzy to dinner with us and hasn’t left his side yet. This is the kind of 5 star detail The Ritz Carlton St. Thomas offers their guests that have them keep coming back for more. I can’t wait to go back!
What an amazingly beautiful vacation. Ritz Carlton St Thomas is definitely on my list of places to check out. Gorgeous photos too!
wonderful!
TheVogueWord
TheVogueWord
Beautiful pictures!
xx
Mademoiselle Coconath
http://mllecoconath.com
Gorgeous pictures! I am so jealous!!
Dora
http://www.BangsBang.com
What a great post! I’ve always wanted to go to St. Thomas and St. John. We love vacationing in the Caribbean and honeymooned in the BVI. You can never go wrong staying at a Ritz Carlton – such an amazing experience! xx
Audrey Adair | http://www.happilyaudrey.com