Bolongo Bay Beach Resort

We did a fair bit of online research before selecting Bolongo Bay and, as with all things, there were conflicting reports. Certainly, this is not a fancy, upscale resort but neither do they claim to be. It was simple yet clean and well maintained. As reflected in many of the reviews, the employees were for the most part very friendly, some extremely so. I will acknowledge that one or two servers in the restaurants should probably find work they enjoy more but you'll find that about anywhere.

The resort is remote so the choices are to just hang out there, pay some pretty hefty taxi fares or rent a car. One distinct advantage of the seclusion is that it's peaceful even on days when the cruise ships disgorge their hordes. The beach isn't all that great but neither is it horrible. A woman sitting next to me on the plane said you simply could not swim there and that's just not true. You should take my comment, though, as coming from someone who grew up swimming in a lake with a rocky bottom and a bit of seaweed. There are lots of iguanas around so if they creep you out, St. Thomas may not be the place for you. However, they didn't bother us one bit and were fun to watch.

The reviews we read differed widely about food and our own experience bore that out. Dinner at the Lobster Grille was great; dinner at Iggy's was disappointing at best. The fact that the Lobster Grille is closed 3 nights a week was a major disappointment and in fact is enough to assure that we don't return. If you do eat at Iggy's and happen to have children with you, be sure to sit far from the bar; the loud, vulgar language there is more than offensive. OTOH, if you're one of the many people who like a loud, drunk crowd, this may be for you.

We took an all-inclusive package and I'm glad we did! Though neither food nor drinks were added to our bill, we did have to sign a check each time we ate or drink and the amounts were high.