Marriott Frenchman's Reef & Morning Star Hotel

, Charlotte Amalie, Virgin Islands U.S.
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Marriott Frenchman's Reef & Morning Star Hotel

, Charlotte Amalie
5 Estate Bakkeroe - Charlotte Amalie - 00801 - Virgin Islands U.S. Hotel Website | 340-776-8500
1604 Traveller

Reviews - Marriott Frenchman's Reef & Morning Star Hotel

Historical Traveller Reviews of Marriott Frenchman's Reef & Morning Star Hotel

we enjoyed our stay

from A TripAdvisor Member
It was our first trip as a family, me and my husband and our daughter who was 6 months old at the time had a wonderful time,,,, The pool at the morning star was not in the best condition, but the pool at frenchman's reef was great... the view was spectacular. We loved watching the sunset every evening and the cruise ships leaving port... it was very relaxing,,, the rooms are fine, nothing too special but good enough we didn't spend too much time in it anyway... the cab fare into town wasn't too bad,,, the hotel has everything you need... coco Joes was just perfect to eat every night not expensive and right on the beach that was the best part.. We had only 1 incident with our room, the sink had leaked and I slipped on the floor, but i was fine, I wasn't gonna let anything spoil our vacation, I loved st. thomas and would go back there again definatly,,,

Dissapointed

from Information11
My husband and I stayed in this hotel for our honeymoon in July. We were very disappointed. Our first room smelled like smoke and was in a very bad condition. I actually had to argue with the hotel manager to get our room changed, and at least our second room did not smell, but it was still in a very bad condition. The night life in this hotel is non-existant. The food is overpriced. The pool was dirty and in a bad shape. We stayed in Marriott in Aruba and loved it in Aruba, but our stay in St Thomas was just terrible. It is expensive to go into downtown. The round trip for a cab ride is about $35. I would think that since this hotel did not have any activities onsite, they would at least have shuttle service to downtown to somehow entertain its guests.
I would not recommend this hotel to anyone.

Good deal--terrible music

from A TripAdvisor Member
We stayed at the Frenchman's Reef in August 2003. The hotel was perfectly adequate, especially given the deal we got on Continental Vacations: airfare and 7 nights for about $1500 for two people. Overall, I was very satisifed with such an inexpensive last minute get away. If you can get a deal like we got, I would take it. The hotel staff was friendly and professional; our room was clean; the facilities were quite good, including oceanside lighted tennis courts. There were two significant negatives: (1) our room had a view of the hotel roof; (2) the music was UNBEARABLE. Seriously, it was almost impossible to find a space by the pool, or even on the beach, where you couldn't hear the terrible, terrible bar music. I'm in my 20s and I live in Manhattan--I wasn't expecting an endless loop of Greensleeves. But they actually played "Who Let the Dogs Out" at least four times a day. I'm not kidding. At first it was funny, but by the fifth day it actually started to affect my ability to relax.

s Reef Is the Best Location on the Island

from A TripAdvisor Member
Just got back from a 8/16-8/23 trip to the Marriott Frenchman's Reef hotel. Our family consisted of 2 adults and 2 children under 12. (9, 11) I had originally booked the Renaissance (Marriott) hotel, however, after reading the reviews, switched to this hotel. We are so glad we did! I'll break it out by sections...for easier reading!

Hotel: Our room was a resort view. Upon arrival, we noticed the door was left ajar, so we asked a maid if this room was "taken" and she promptly answered that the air wasn't working and she had called someone to fix it. When our Bellhop arrived...we told him we'd rather have a new room and he quickly called the front desk for us and got us to an ocean front room - no additional cost! Incidentally, if you stay here..try to get the following rooms (1530, 1630, 1730 or 1830)...best rooms in the hotel - you view the ocean, bay and town (with the lights at night!)..you will also see the cruise ships from afar. Also, if you do get a resort view, the "view" is not just looking at a parking lot...(about 10 cars park there) but in the distance you see the ocean and beautifully landscaped gardens. Please note: Ask for the tower rooms...anyone that said their rooms were old or in need of repair may have been in the lower end rooms that are bay view..but...they seem to have been the original(?) hotel. Tower is the nicest part of the hotel.
The Morningstar resort (where the beach is located) closes from Aug - Nov but we were not surprised as our Travel Agent had informed us of this. The pool was down for repair on 8/17..but the pool at the Marriot is very nice and when you sit near it you see a view of all the moutains and the ocean...(since you are on a cliff)...it is very very nice.

Food: All food on the island ....average price is about $32 for an entree. Salad, sides, etc. are ala carte. This hotel may be more expensive than the downtown establishments, but typical of any hotel anywhere with dining on site. Make sure you go to the Windows on the Harbor at night..the view of the city and lights is breathtaking with their ceiling to floor windows. With our family, we purchased the breakfast plan with gives you a huge breakfast breakfast buffet. Fruit, breads, omlettes, eggs made to order, yogurt, etc etc. You cannot go hungry!

Shopping: From this hotel, there is a water ferry ($5 a person) which is a 10 min ride to town. It is fun! However, if you have more than 2 people, I suggest you rent a car. (left side driving!) Anywhere you go on the island the min fare is $5 a person (children too) so we rented.

Places to see: Take a trip to St. John for the day! With your rental car you can take a car ferry. Visit Trunk Bay...this is a much quieter island...but worth the trip. On St. Thomas, visit Magen's bay...and Coki Beach is located next to Coral World, you can do both in the same day.

One minor glitch at the hotel was that we experienced a daily total of our breakfast (which was supposed to be free since we had the plan).
They do correct it at the end, it was mostly my fault that I didn't inform them (remind them) at the beginning of the plan since I had a travel voucher and it was on there. But, upon departure, it was not a problem.

Very nice hotel...location is very easy to everything!

Hotel gives false advertisement on accommondations

from A TripAdvisor Member
I wanted to make a comment on a recent trip that I made with 2 friends to Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas during the week of July 4th, 2003 and the false advertisement that the hotel made about thier accommondations. We stayed at the Marriott Frenchman's Reef and Morning Star Beach Resort and our accommondations were not as advertised. We were suppose to get a room with 2 beds and each bed could accommondate 2 people comfortably. On the 2 nights, we only got on king bed for all three of us and I had to sleep on a cott which hurt my back. The management at the resort was not accommondating and made very rude statements to us stating that "this was an inconveniance to them". In addition, they tried to talk us into getting a second room for $200 dollars more a night. On the 3rd night after complaining repeatedly, we got the room with 2 beds but they did not accommondate 2 people as advertised. The beds were on 3-1/2 feer wide which would not even accommondate children. We paid $1000 for our trip each!

The good, the bad, and the ugly

from A TripAdvisor Member
Just got back from a 7 day stay (Aug 17-23, 2003) at Marriott's Frenchman's Reef resort. Marriott is offering a discount package called Sand Dollar Escape. I spent a couple hours on the internet printing out things to do and see in St Thomas, and information on the Sand Dollar Package. Marriott and marriottfrenchmansreef had pages on the Sand Dollar Escape package that were slightly different. The package included a $100 credit to be used anywhere on property. Free breakfast for 2, Kids under 12 stay and eat free, 50% off a second room, and a coupon book worth $300. Since the two pages were slightly different, I printed both out and headed for the airport. My wife and I checked in Sunday with our 11 and 9 year olds in tow. Because it was off-season, our room was upgraded to an ocean view for free. We were told about our $100 credit to be used anywhere on site. So far so good. When we asked about the kids, things changed. We were told kids under 4 eat free. We told them the web site said under 12. We then had to bring them the paperwork to PROVE their promotion. We showed them the paperwork, she noted it on the computer and off we went to eat. Coco Joe's is a nice little restaurant and bar right on the beach. $7 drinks and $10 burgers. There is an arcade center with pool tables there, where my kids could spend hours if it was open (which it wasn't). The pool by the beach was closed the day after we arrived, as were several restaurants. I guess that's the price you pay for going off-season. When our bill came, we asked how the Sand Dollar deal went with the kids meals. Nobody down at Coco Joe's knew a thing. So we paid full price and visited the check-in girl for round 2. We were told to charge everything to our room and they would deduct the kids at the end. While we were there, we asked about the coupon book and we were told that reservations has them locked up. We could pick them up the next day. On Tuesday we spared with another check-in girl about the coupon book. The info about the coupon book came from marriottfrenchmansreef.com and the info about the $100 credit came from Marriott. The check-in girl insisted the 2 papers represented 2 different packages. Both papers said the package was "Sand Dollar Escape" and to book the package with Marriott we had to use promotion code S29. Identical names and package codes, but to her they were different. When asked to speak to her supervisor, she told us that her manager broke her leg and couldn't come to the counter. No coupon book for us. On Thursday, we were talking to someone from the Adventure desk in the lobby. The Adventure desk sells trips, scuba, water sports. Etc. The girl at the adventure desk said we should use the coupon book, so we told her the story about code S29. Our young lady got on the phone and called the front desk and we had the books in less than 2 minutes. The books are mostly buy one get one free deals. Spa treatment, free golf club rental, rent a jet ski, get 2 kayaks and buy one get 1 drinks after 5pm, at the bar that closes at 5:00. Marriott should be throwing these books at people to encourage their guests to spend some money with them instead of arguing with its guests. And Marriott workers should all know the promotions they are offering, and not leave it up to the customers to inform them. There were a lot of kids at the hotel, and if I told them all about how my kids were eating free and theirs werent, Im sure there would have been a riot. The hotel was beautiful and the room was nice. They could have had a few more things open, and some activities for the kids. If you decide to book a room this fall, use code S29, and bring along PROOF.

Wonderful Vacation!

from scdi
I just returned from an 8 day visit to the Frenchman's Reef Hotel. Our room was a beach view overlooking the tennis courts. This was a perfect location for us because we were right at the stairs for the beach.
(yes, there were 75 steps to the beach, good exercise to counteract all those Rum punches) Room was very nice, but hotel exterior is in need of renovations. I found the service from the hotel manager, restaurant manager, and everyone we met to be superb. We ate most of our meals at Tavern at the Beach and found Chef Kevin's cuisine to be top notch.
Meals were pricy, but not unusual, compared to the rest of the island.
At Tavern at the Beach, we ate two meals at the bar from the "Bar Bites" menu which consisted of small appetizer plates priced at 3 for $14. They were delicious and plenty to eat. We also had the pleasure of chatting with the bartender, Tennyson, who took good care of us.
Windows on the Harbor had a wonderful buffet breakfast. Also Coco Joe's was great for lunch. We loved the House salad either topped with grilled chicken or tuna. One salad was plenty for two people. Other meals were eaten at Herve's and Room with a View downtown. Both were excellent. We also ate at Gladys', but meals were just ok. We snorkeled at Coki beach and swam at Magen's Bay (snack bar has great gyro's). We also took the ferry to St. John's and snorkeled at Trunk Bay. It was beautiful. We rented a car and enjoyed having the freedom to travel around the island. However, driving is a challenge because you drive on the left and the roads are mountainous.

I can't wait to return to the islands. We had a great time!

beautiful experience

from A TripAdvisor Member
In July of '03, I, SHAY, and other entertainers from my area stayed at the Reef during the Virgin Islands Music Festival. While the festival kept me away from the hotel quite a bit...my time there was beautiful.
The staff was very friendly and helpful. I plan to make a pleasure, not business, trip and request the exact same room. It was an overall beautiful hotel that exemplified the island on which it exists. Peace and Blessings, Shay

It is not that bad ...

from A TripAdvisor Member
Just got back a week ago. We stayed at the Frenchman Reef for 5 nites ( harbor view extension ). The hall/main entrance looks great. The room is spacious although it looks old. I would say our room looks like a good 3star hotels. As far as you don't need to pay the normal rate, it is ok. Restaurants are expensive but lets face it, all restaurants in St.Thomas are expensive. Service is not bad. Would recommend renting a car if you want to go to more than 1 place in one day. Swimming pool looks really really dirt .... Web access costs 75 cents per minute...

Awesome honeymoon

from A TripAdvisor Member
We spent our honeymoon at the Morningstar and had an awesome time. Upon arrival, we were put in a first floor room next to an A/C unit and a sidewalk where everyone walked on their way to the beach...not condusive to a honeymoon at all. My husband slipped a $20 tip to our porter who got us moved to a 3rd floor, beachfornt room and we couldn't have been happier. We were given 2 bottles of champagne, too! The rooms aren't 4 or 5 star but clean and appropriately "beachy". We'd stay here again. Food was expensive but we found Casear's On the Beach to be reasonable, esp. if ordering salad or pizza. We mostly ate off the property although we had breakfast every morning at the Frenchman's Reef and it was good with a great view. Best tip: Go for a tour to one of the British Virgin Islands - if turqouise water is what you're wanting, you'll get it there!

Top Local Tips for Charlotte Amalie

st. johns If you go to St. Thomas - absolutely go to St. Johns and go to either Caneel Bay or Trunk Bay - but you must get to Trunk Bay before 11am - otherwise you can't park. We rented a car and drove all over the island (a bit dangerous but fun) and thought the views and the beaches were much nicer than St. Thomas. Absolutely worth the trip over there for the day. If possible, try to stay at Caneel Bay Resort - it looked fantastic and was quite nice (we stopped there for drinks).

Trip to St. John Leave from the harbor at Charlotte Amelie (it takes 45 minutes to get to Cruz Bay in St. John from there), but when you return, return via Red Hook and take a taxi back to the hotel. That way you get to see St. Thomas Island from both the sea, and from the ground. Entire excursions, including the taxi, just $31 per person. Note: St. John is much smaller and more laid back than St. Thomas. St. John is noted for it's beautiful natural parks and beaches. They even have snorkeling trails at Trunk Bay. You can rent the equipment there. You can rent anything you want anywhere, so leave all that stuff at home. Just rent what you need. Note: taxi's run PER PERSON, plus extra for any luggage. Taxi from Airport to this hotel is $8, plus $2 or $3 per bag, total of $14 for one person, but would be $28 for two people, get it?. And they pack you in: 11 persons per taxi (they are vans). It's the law down there; They must do this. But don't worry about it. It's a short trip.

Easy to get to Charlotte Amalie Go down to the Marriott dock to get on the short ferry to downtown Charlotte Amalie. Don't go when cruise ships are there. Very crowded.

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Other names for Marriott Frenchman's Reef & Morning Star Hotel

  • marriott frenchmans reef
  • marriott charlotte amalie
  • charlotte amalie marriott
  • Address: 5 Estate Bakkeroe - Charlotte Amalie - 00801 - Virgin Islands U.S.
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