Scrub Island Resort, Spa & Marina

Let me start by saying I am a Platinum Premier Marriott Member. I live over half my life in a Marriott hotel somewhere in the world. So when we cancelled our reservation at the Ritz to stay at Scrub, we were VERY excited. Remember - this is a Category 9 hotel. The top of the line for Marriott. My family and I just returned from our family vacation to the Caribbean with high expectations of Scrub Island - we were VERY disappointed. Let me start with the positive: - Staff was very friendly. From the captain of the water taxi to the waiters/waitresses. They were amazing. - Hotel room was clean, organized and well put together - Pool was great -Gym facilities were virtually new - View was incredible Now for the not soo good: - Outdoor furniture falling apart: chairs with holes, umbrellas that didn't work and broken corn hole. My husband sat down on one chair and fell right through. - Paint chipping from the building in several places. I know it sounds picky BUT Autograph is a category 9 SAME as Ritz which means I spent 180K in points + another $1,000 for room accommodations alone. - Beaches were not clean. Trash lying around and not racked. - Sea Urchins in main beach swim area with NO signage (Marriott Fishermans Cove not only has signs but racks a path each morning) - Food was fair at best with limited options - Cabanas at North Beach were no more than rundown thatch huts. The cost was $250/day to rent - Trash from guest drinks and food remained on tables & bars overnight and throughout the day My recommendation is to only stay at this hotel is if you are sailing through the Caribbean and need a place for a night to stay. Do not waste your money or time trying to find your way to this hotel.

This is our 3rd time staying at the Marina.Amazing view and can see the improvement in the landscape very nice. The one that really excels in our experience is the improvement in the restaurant food selection we enjoyed our lunch in Tierra the chicken Schnitzel is really worth to try for The aioli in the sandwich is the best before when we staying here we are trying to look restaurant near by but me and my friends tried for a night the Caravela dinner no fresh lobster available the server said maybe the following night they will have but since it is our last night we cannot try it My wife order the special Scallops linguini in pesto and I tried the Filet Mignon with blue cheese demi succulent!!! We all enjoyed our dinner so much only our server doesn't look as delighted as we are. The facilities are cleaner than the last time we were here. The lady in the concierge is not to approachable and made us feel unwelcome. She is talking to one of the staff and we ask her for direction one thing just answered right away and back to the conversation to the other staff member made us feel that we are interrupting their conversation.

My wife and I were very fortunate to recently stay at the property for one week in a one-bedroom suite. Bottom line up front, the resort was incredible, and an easy way to home base for exploring all of the BVIs. The details: -The resort asked for our flight information and expected ferry schedules very early, and gave very specific instructions on how to get to the resort. My wife and I flew into STT, vice EIS based on direct flights from Washington, D.C., and cost. I will say in hindsight, it would be MUCH easier to fly into EIS, but that WILL likely buy you a flight from San Juan, which is difficult (if not impossible) to do on miles. -The ferry to/from Trellis Bay (next to EIS) leaves from Trellis bay at :45 past the hour and leaves the resort at :30 past the hour, and makes a quick pit stop on each run at Marina Cay, which is the location of the nearby Pussers. The resort ferry personnel are very helpful with bags and directions to local places, and I even saw them circle back when a passenger lost a hat into the drink on one of the runs. -Check-in was very smooth (to include a refreshing run drink!), and one of the hosts gave us a quick tour of the property to include giving us the hours and locations of the eating establishments, location of the concierge, boutique and dive shop hours, and market hours. She then took us to our room to make sure everything was alright. It was a very nice touch. Bags were delivered by the bellhop about 10 minutes after we checked into the room. -Our room was very nice, and the kitchen was nicely equipped with a Wolf range and a SubZero fridge. The pans were pretty well worn, and some of our handles were quite loose. The knives and cutting board were quite adequate. Everything you would need to prepare meals was provided to include a microwave, toaster, pots and pans, colander, spatulas, et al. The only thing not included was a blender, which the Concierge told me was NOT in the room due to previous guests waking up neighbors by mixing drinks in the wee hours of the morning. -The walls were somewhat thin, and I could often hear the television, or bathroom fans from the room next door. The furnishings inside were very nice, and the wifi signal was quite strong, considering we were the furthest room from the main lobby (1718.) The patio was quite large and the furnishings there were also quite nice. I will say; however, we requested an upper level room to maximize views, but we were given a first floor room. I would have preferred to have been on a room on either the second or first floor, per my request, which was placed about 8-9 months before our reservation. One reason for this is that some of the vehicles of the resort would be flying by in the “road� right in front of our balcony starting at 0630 every morning. It was pretty annoying to have vehicles waking us up every morning with their gas engines. Also, I was amazed at how many people were smoking on their balconies early every morning. It really takes away from your morning coffee on the balcony smelling someone’s Marlboros. I called the Concierge and asked if balconies were designated smoking areas, and they said “yes� – I would recommend not allowing smoking on balconies since it wafts around others in the resort and takes away from their experience. The bathroom was very nice with a HUGE shower and separate tub. The laundry facilities in the room are wonderful as well to afford the opportunity to pack light and not fly home with dirty clothes. As strange as it sounds, the toilets are incredible and were much nicer then I would expect in a resort like this. One point I would like to make which differentiates a very good resort, from a high end resort are small touches like clean vents, and ours were quite dirty and probably have not been cleaned in some time. One positive was that an army could have charged all their devices with all of the available outlets, which was very convenient. -The grounds as a whole were very well maintained, but there are some points of emphasis I would like to make to take the resort from very good to great: there was an abundance of seaweed on the beach nearest the pool and in the marina when were first arrived on 1 August, and this was not addressed with a clean-up until two days later. Who knows how long it had been collecting before then. The quantity made the beach effectively unusable for our first two days. There was also a lot of “little rubbish� in nooks and crannies around the resort. For instance, there was a water bottle and multiple cigarette butts in the plants around my balcony and 8-10 dead cockroaches after they sprayed for bugs while we were there – which I would say are better then live cockroaches. Around the landscaping in the marina, more of the same, and in the fountains in the mid-level of the pool (which were oddly turned off) there was a golf ball and a shriveled up lemon for our first four days. Additionally, I saw drink stir straws, and chicken wing bones in the planters around the upper level of the pool. Outwardly, walking around, you would not see a speck of trash, but I would encourage the resort staff to take a deeper look into the landscaping and do daily walk-throughs for the attention to detail a resort like this deserves. -We had some wonderful meals at Tierra! Tierra!, Caravela, and even the sandwiches at the Market. I was frankly unimpressed with the Market pizza and felt it was dry and needed more sauce. Drinks at the pool bar and restaurants were great, and the service was always wonderful. With the exception of the pizza – great job! -We had a great couples massage at Ixora Spa! The service was great, the facility was fantastic, and the plunge pool was an incredible place to watch the world and sailboats go by. The only negative I saw at the Spa was that the outdoor show head was so corroded that the water came out more like slowly flowing garden hose, vice a shower. Since it is outside in a marine environment, I would suggest a more frequent changing of the shower head. -The paths around Scrub Island are a great place to go for a run, or a nice walk. It is an easy walk to North Beach, although a shuttle is offered. We walked to the beach, but with our schedule, did not spend a great deal of time there, although I wish we had. Honeymoon Beach is quite peaceful, and is short kayak, or SUP ride away from the main resort beach. We did both. I would have LOVED to have taken out a Hobie Cat for a quick spin (since we are in the cradle of sailing) but I was floored the rental fee was $85/hr. Most resorts of this caliber (like the Ritz Carlton in St. Thomas) would include use of the Hobie Cat. The kayak and SUP free use was nice, though. -The marina seemed very clean and was a great place to see all the Tarpon hanging around the boat lights at night. -Other than the bits of trash in the bushes and a couple of the fountains, the pools/hot tub/waterslide are fantastic. Incredible views. A really cool set-up with the infinity edge pool looking out at the lower pool, marina, and bar. -Overall, I was pleased with the Concierge. They helped us get a really great rate on a day excursion to Anegada via VI Airlink for $100 pp roundtrip. They also helped us with cab arrangement in Trellis Bay as well as car rentals in Virgin Gorda and Anegada for a day each. They did let us down a bit when the Concierge told us they would have a written itinerary, car rental location, and things to see/do in Anegada in a letter under our door upon return from Virgin Gorda for the day. The itinerary was not there when we returned at 21:00 and since the Concierge was closed for the evening, we needed to call the front desk to track down the Concierge to get the itinerary to us in time for our excursion the next day. -We had a difficult experience the day we left (8 August), most of it attributed to the weather issues the previous day (7 August) knocking out cellular networks on Tortola and land transportation from Trellis Bay to Road Town. The resort verified multiple times out return flight information out of STT and advised certain ferries to take to Trellis Bay and arranged taxi transport from Trellis Bay to Road Town to catch the Charlotte Amalie ferry. The weather, which is an act of God impacted all road traffic. We were advised to take the 0930 Trellis Bay ferry. There was no one to help with bags out of our room and to the dock and we took the ferry as scheduled to Trellis Bay. Our taxi driver was not there upon arrival and we were unable to hail the driver on her cell phone or the resort since cell networks were down. I advised attempting to hail the resort on the marine radio to arrange for a water taxi, but there was no one at Scrub Island returning the VHF calls. We then put our bags back on the ferry and went back to the resort since land lines were working, losing precious time to make our 11:35 ferry, which is the ferry we needed for our return flight. The front desk was finally able to arrange a water taxi which got us to Road Town at 11:25, with some undue stress. I think a good “fix� to the problem would be for the front desk to have a VHF radio at their desk for instances when communication networks are compromised. We lost nearly 30-40 critical minutes being able to communicate to the front desk our need to arrange for a water taxi to make our ferry due to road closures. Ultimately, it all worked out, but it was a stressful situation leaving. I can’t imagine this is the first time this ever happened, and you would hope the resort which asks for departure information could be a tad more proactive with arranging alternate transportation with their keen knowledge or the area and watermen. -The gym was very well equipped for a resort with ample space and equipment, and plenty of trails and hills on the island to work on fitness. -The boutique and Dive BVI shops had good collections of clothes, sun glasses and other items for sale. Pretty good for a resort out on their own! -We did a couple of great side trips on our trip: 1. Tuesday: arrived late PM and had a wonderful early dinner at Tierra! Tierra! 2. Wednesday: originally planned for the North Beach pig roast. AM gym time. We then took a late AM ferry to Trellis to grab some lunch in the East End (Red Rock – FANTASTIC!) and buy some provisions at the East End Rite Way market. Since we ate so much at lunch, we cancelled the pig roast. Came back to hang out at the pool and had some great Market sandwiches for dinner. 3. Thursday: Ran around the island and had a great massage at Ixora. Hung out at the plunge pool. Then we went to Pussers for a nice lunch and back to the pool for PM drinks. Spoke to Concierge about arranging transport for Friday and a trip to Anegada on Sunday. Below average pizza for dinner. 4. Friday: Concierge helped arrange a can ride to West End, and ferry to JVD. Got to JVD around 10:30 and did a bar crawl from Foxys (walked from ferry terminal), cab to White Bay, where we had an incredible lunch at Hendo’s Hideout, and bar crawl more at Ivan’s Stress Free Bar and the Soggy Dollar. Cab ride back to the dock, ferry to West End and cab back to Trellis Bay. We had an incredible take out dinner at Trellis Bay Market and ate on the balcony. Fantastic day! 5. Saturday: Early AM ferry to Virgin Gorda where we rented a car. Bought some souveniers around the marine and drove to Gun Creek to take a ferry to the Fat Virgin for lunch. The short ferry ride and lunch were incredible. Well worth it. Arranged for a boat ride back to Gun Creek and drove to Hog Heaven for drinks with a view. Amazing view! We then drove to The Baths and hung out at the beach for a few hours, then up to Top of The Rock for drinks and a little bite to eat and to hang out in their pool. We then drove to Copper Mine Point for more views and then had a great dinner at Chez Bamboo. Returned the car to the ferry cashier at the dock. 20:00 ferry back. 6. Sunday: 0800 flight from EIS to Anegada. Took a 0730 ferry. Incredible trip. Rented a car and went to Cow Wreck Beach and hung out, snorkeled, and enjoyed some time with the owners. We then drove to Loblolly Bay and had a great lobster lunch at Big Bamboo and enjoyed some time on an empty beach. Flight back at 17:00 and had sandwiches at the Market for dinner. 7. Monday: took the kayaks out to Governor’s Point, Great Camano and back. We then took the SUPs to Honeymoon Beach. Back to the pool beach and hung out until it started raining, which didn’t stop until the next day. We had a wonderful dinner at Caravela. 8. Tuesday: return home. See above. To note, many places in August close for the “slow� season. An example of this would be the Bitter End which is a place I would have liked to see, but they closed on 1 August. Overall, we had an INCREDIBLE time. The resort is really top notch, but I think they could go the extra mile in a few small areas to take it to another level. The little trash in the bushes could have been dealt with better. There were also small areas to clean around the rooms which should be addressed with a better attention to detail. Less car traffic in front of our balcony every morning – so annoying to hear this every morning starting before 7 only 10 feet from our bedroom window. Addressing the smoking policy on balconies, and finally having some alternative transport plans in place for adverse weather would take it over the top. We look forward to coming back and hopefully seeing some of these implementations in place!

Absolutely beautiful, clean and seems like it's well run. Many small islands to explore once you arrive. Some Restaurants in other smaller islands are closing for the season August 15.. locals said will open again in October, once the season start up again.

I took a group of 35 Entrepreneur's here and took out all the Villa's on the Island. Beautiful Island, 2 restaurant's, the Villa's are luxury through and through. I have been here a number of times and we did have a lot of complaints about the staff on this trip.. we hope to be back, so hope this issue will be dealt with. As the management are great. Little hard to get around unless you like walking up hills so you will need to wait for the transport.