The Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas

My boyfriend and I spent our final night in St. Thomas at The Ritz-Carlton after spending three nights at The Westin, and unfortunately, our experience at the Ritz was underwhelming—especially considering the brand and price point. First, the positives: the property itself is absolutely stunning. The landscaping is lush and beautifully maintained, the pools are gorgeous, and the crystal-clear Caribbean water makes for an incredible setting. We also thought the food was quite good. Our room was comfortable and cozy, with a beautiful balcony overlooking the Caribbean. There is certainly a lot to love about the physical property. Unfortunately, the service and overall experience did not live up to what we expected from a Ritz-Carlton. We originally booked a standard resort-view king room using Marriott points. On the morning of check-in, the Marriott app showed that we had received a complimentary upgrade to an ocean-view Club Level king room. As Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite members, we were thrilled and naturally assumed that being upgraded to a Club Level room meant we would have access to the Club Lounge. We were escorted to the Club building and taken to our room without anyone explaining otherwise. After unsuccessfully trying several times to reach the concierge by phone, I eventually walked all the way back to the lobby to ask about the lounge. Only then were we told that, despite being assigned a Club Level room, Club Lounge access was not included and would cost approximately $475 additional for our one-night stay. I understand that Ritz-Carlton Club Lounge access may be sold separately from the room itself. My frustration was with how misleading and poorly communicated the situation felt. If a guest’s reservation is described in the Marriott app as an upgrade to a “Club Level” room and the guest is physically placed in the Club building, it is very easy to reasonably believe that the “Club” portion of that upgrade actually means something. A simple explanation during check-in would have prevented the disappointment entirely. Check-in itself also felt unnecessarily cumbersome for a luxury property. After arriving, we were escorted to a separate concierge area to complete check-in and then waited for a bellman to transport us to our building. The entire process took roughly 20 minutes. It wasn’t terrible, but compared with the warm, seamless service we had just experienced at The Westin, it felt surprisingly inefficient. The biggest disappointment came later that afternoon. After enjoying the beautiful pools and a couple of frozen cocktails, we returned to our room looking forward to using the large soaking tub. When I turned on the faucet, the water came out noticeably brown/yellow and dingy. I let it run for several minutes, but the discoloration did not clear. I immediately called and was told someone would be sent to the room. Forty-five minutes later, no one had arrived. We eventually decided to take a nap and asked that maintenance address the problem while we were out for our 6 p.m. dinner. When we returned later that evening, nothing had been done. I called again and was once again told someone was on the way. After waiting approximately another 30 minutes, we were tired and ultimately cancelled the request and went to bed. We never got to use the tub. The discolored water itself was concerning, but what bothered us more was the complete lack of follow-through. Maintenance issues can happen at any hotel. What distinguishes a true luxury property is how quickly and attentively those problems are handled. Having to call repeatedly about visibly discolored bathwater and still having no one address it by the end of our one-night stay simply isn’t the level of service I associate with Ritz-Carlton. Perhaps our expectations were especially high because we had just come from The Westin St. Thomas, but the difference was noticeable. We found the Westin experience warmer, easier and more attentive overall. We felt genuinely taken care of there. Ironically, despite Ritz-Carlton being positioned as the more luxurious brand, if we returned to St. Thomas tomorrow, we would choose the Westin without hesitation. The Ritz-Carlton St. Thomas is undeniably a beautiful resort, and we enjoyed the pools, scenery, food and spectacular Caribbean views. But beautiful grounds alone don’t create a five-star experience. At this price point—and particularly with the Ritz-Carlton name—we expected exceptional communication, responsiveness and attention to detail. Unfortunately, our stay felt much more “meh” than memorable.

We just returned from our second stay at The Ritz Carlton, St. Thomas, and unfortunately, it will be our last. Our first visit was in 2012 and a lot has changed since then. We stayed in an oceanfront Club Level room, and while there were some positives, the overall experience fell far short of what we expected from a Ritz Carlton. We adore their Grand Cayman and Aruba properties. The biggest disappointment was the beach. The shoreline was extremely rocky all the way from the hotel side to the residences and covered with seaweed. We came to St. Thomas for a beach vacation, yet the ocean in front of the resort was essentially unusable for us. For a Caribbean resort, that was a major disappointment. Our room also had a surprising number of maintenance issues. The bathroom outlets didn’t work, the bathroom lights were strobing, the Wi-Fi and TV were so inconsistent they were practically unusable, and the air conditioning worked intermittently. These aren’t things we would expect in an oceanfront Club Level room at a property of this caliber. Pool service was another major issue. The pool staff were frequently absent and, when we did interact with them, not particularly friendly. On multiple occasions we had to set up our own chairs. At one point, my husband actually had to go behind the towel counter himself because no one was there. We also regularly got up and went to the bar ourselves to order drinks because there was no one around taking orders. Dirty towels and linens also sat inside the elevator right outside club lounge for almost 24 hours. Again, this simply isn’t the level of service we expect from the Ritz Carlton. To be fair, service elsewhere throughout the resort was friendly, and the Club Lounge was excellent. It’s a beautiful space, the service there was very good, and we felt the Club Level experience itself was worth the additional cost. One thing outside the hotel’s control but worth mentioning for anyone planning a trip: transportation around St. Thomas was very hit or miss. We encountered some unsafe driving, and several taxis we used did not have functioning seat belts. Ironically, the two best days of our vacation were the days we left the resort. We booked a private boat charter to island-hop and had an incredible day, and another highlight was visiting Lime Out. Those experiences reminded us of what we had hoped this Caribbean vacation would feel like. We wanted to love it, but between the condition of the beach, the maintenance problems in our room, and the lack of poolside service, we can’t justify returning. At this price point and under the Ritz Carlton name, we expected considerably better.

AWFUL MEAN STAFF: During check in, I wanted to make dinner reservations which is handled by the woman working directly across the check in desk, she is also the excursion booking person. I politely smile and say hi. She immediately gets aggressive, yells in my face and goes “WHAT DO YOU WANT?” with the dirtiest look on her face. I felt extremely degraded by her immediately upon my arrival. SHE NEEDS TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE. Since I didn’t want to cause a scene, I laughed in her face when she did that and she suddenly went quiet and was embarrassed. I will never forget how rude she was. - Room had no shampoo and several mosquitoes. -BEACH WAS AWFUL AND NOT SWIMMABLE. Murky water filled with rocks -Service was rude and slow, extra slow even though the hotel was at 30% capacity. - Good food, pool was nice -Hospitality was the worst I’ve ever experienced, don’t waste your money. The staff needs serious training and to fix the incredibly bad attitudes. It’s not hard to be a kind person.

An absolute dream resort. The service was impeccable. The staff, especially Karen, Bruce, Gladys were all exceptional. We had an incredible experience. We took the sunset cruise, had dinner at each of the restaurants and the concierge coordinated some private tours for us. First class all the way!

Awesome location and property. Staff was the best I have seen anywhere. Amenities were outstanding. The beach was perfectly clear. We were in need of water shoes for all the water activities that we had planned. And when we approached the staff at the pool and towel space, one of the managers there (I think her name was Alicia) went out of her way to purchase a pair of water shoes for us to use during our stay without any additional charge. It’s the details like that that make a resort experience that much more memorable. I recommend this property to anyone staying in the Virgin Islands.