I had 5 free nights available on Marriott so I booked us in to a room at the St Kitts Marriott Resort and Royal Beach Casino.
Last week I posted a review of the hotel, today I will post about the other facilities on the island.
A highly original weather station.
Our new and really great host:
We were met at the airport by Lynn of Lynn’s Taxi and Tours. I had read good things about her on another travel site so I contacted her to pick us up. She is wonderful, knows almost everything that is happening around the island and will make great suggestions for your trip.
For example she was the one who warned us of the day that 3 cruise ships would be in the harbor so that we could adapt our day at the hotel beach. So many of those passengers want to spend a day on the island beach and for about $60 they can spend the day at the Marriott Resort pool and beach. On a normal day you can get to the beach by 9h30 in the morning and still get a cabana but on a cruise ship day you have to be down there by 8h30 because they will all be gone quickly.
The harbor at Basseterre is deep enough to berth the largest of the cruise ships that tour the Caribbean. There are 20 ships listed that carry more than 6,000 passengers so when one or 2 ships are in the harbor there are a lot of people exploring the island.
This amount of people can affect and spoil your days on the island so you need to keep an eye on the cruise ship schedule.
The capital Basseterre:
One of the benefits of a cruise ship in the harbor is that the harbor village comes alive. There are so many shops selling trinkets, there are bars and restaurants, also duty free stores selling liquor, perfumes, cigarettes, chocolates and so many more. We went to the village one day when there was only one ship in harbor and had a lovely chocolate drink at one of the chocolate shops as well as a lovely lunch.
On the day I took the photo there were 3 ships in harbor. All the other days we were on the island there were one or 2 ships in harbor.
The business behind keeping the cruise visitors happy is immense. Say for example there are 5,000 passengers. Say half of them leave the ship and half of those want to tour the island. That is about 1250 people who want to tour. Mini vans and busses can take maybe 10 at a time. That is at least 100 vehicles needed just for island tours. Then the other 1250 want to go to a beach or something else and more minivans are needed. And then what if there are 2 or 3 ships in harbor ?
The capital city Basseterre can be walked in an afternoon. There are many different shops you can peruse, but there are also a few very interesting churches.
Shipwreck Bar:
Lynn told us that on Saturday she would fetch us at 4 to take us to ‘Shipwreck’. No explanation.
So on Saturday at 4 we were ready to go to this unknown thing or place.
Shipwreck is a beach bar that has live music from about 6 on a Saturday. The reason Lynn took us there at 4 is so that we could get a good place at the bar, mix with the locals and be set for when everyone else arrives for the music. We drank and ate and chatted and had a great afternoon and then at 6 the live band started and they were really good. It was all the better because we were right in the middle of the bar on a stool with a perfect view of the dance floor and the band.
At 7:30 we decided it was time to go and as we texted Lynn to come and pick us up we saw her in the crowd. She knew what time we would be needing her and was enjoying the music while waiting. It was a great day.
The Marriott Resort:
The Marriott hotel is on the Atlantic side of the island. Lovely beach with cabanas, ladies taking drink and food orders, with the water just a little cold. About a 15 minute walk away is the Caribbean side of the island which has warmer water. We went over that side twice to spend time in the water but also to enjoy a couple of the restaurants/beach bars. The area is called Frigate Bay. Our favorite bar is one that is a bit down the road from the entrance called ‘Sommelier’. The food was really nice and Ash the barman even made me ‘Sky Juice’ which I said I had had on the Bahamas. It was a lovely afternoon with great food and drink.
So to shopping at the Marriott Resort. There are a surprising number of shops in the hotel that sell all sorts of stuff. It starts with a marketplace store for snacks and liquids and t-shirts and the like, a fancy jewelry store that sells fancy watches too, an estate agency, a resort wear store, alcohol and perfume duty free store, another general store and a car rental desk.
There are some really good places to eat and some quite ordinary. The ‘Fire’ steak and seafood restaurant is great, the Pizza Shack out on the pool deck is wonderful, Calypso is so-so. La Cucina is supposed to be good, we didn’t eat there preferring the pizza from Pizza Shack.
Even room service is well worth it. We ordered a steak one evening and it was really good. Perhaps it is prepared in ‘Fire’ for room service.
Touring the island:
On the Monday we wanted to tour the island, Lynn had arranged previous commitment to pick up some people at the airport but seeing as she now has 3 vehicles she arranged for one of her drivers to take us on the island tour. It was a very interesting tour that included the capital Basseterre; Romney Manor which is a sugar plantation;
Brimstone Hill Fortress which the British used; Blackrock Volcanic runoff, which is a beach with massive lava boulders that were blasted there by the volcano on the island; and more.
Conclusion:
We had a lovely 5 day trip to St Kitts. It is a lovely island to visit and a great time was had by all. I would recommend St Kitts to anyone for a beach or island vacation, and of course contact Lynn to pick you up at the airport and give you advice.
