Sapphire Beach Resort

We recently stayed at the Sea Haven Condo, Building F at Sapphire Beach Resort and Marina. The photos online were stunning and the description sounded like just what we wanted – updated and the quiet building away from the beach bar action. I’ll start with first impression of the resort. You drive down a winding road and the first thing you see is a dilapidated, overgrown, unused tennis court. Hmmmm. Not great. Then you come to the guard stand and turn right into parking for Building F. You pass the general public parking area for the public Sapphire Beach. Many dilapidated cars parked here and overgrown weeds. We parked in front of Building F. The lights on the stairs to walk up to the entrance were not working. That’s a problem at night. The brick walkway is quite wonky. As we walk up the stairs to the unit, there are trash bags of used towels congregated on the landing that you have to maneuver past. Monday changeover day? Not really. Look to the left and there are construction vehicles in a large, barren area - not a resort feel. Oh boy. Once in the unit, things improved – or so we thought. There was water on the floor as we walked in. We thought maybe the mat outside was wet from rain and we had dragged it in. No problem – wipe it up. A quick tour shows a nice unit, but I wouldn’t say so recently updated. Peeling wallpaper in upstairs bathroom, light out in downstairs bathroom along with a gaping hole in the ceiling above the washer/dryer, pitted hardware in the bathrooms, and duct tape on the bottom of the shower door. We go back out to get our bags, come back in, and the floor is wet again. We move the outside mat and find it is not wet. Hmmm. We are settling in and there is a knock at the door. A nice gentleman says he is there to change out the TV in the main area because it was not working. Check my emails and sure enough, Island Luxury (management/rental company?) did alert me, but at 2:30 pm when we were in the throes of getting to the resort and I wasn’t checking emails and coverage is spotty on the island. (I got an email the day before – could they not have alerted us to the issue then?) So we let him in (only because my husband was there) and he had a much smaller TV to replace the larger one. Not a big deal since we don’t watch much TV on vacation. Not happy that yet another person had our security code to get in and we also surmised that they don’t change the code between renters since it is listed in the info book in the unit! Unheard of to us. While the handyman is there, we notice that there is again water on the floor in the hall and both bathrooms! When you step on the floor, water comes up between the planks from under the floors. Handyman is trying to figure it out and we go back to duct-taped, non-closeable shower door. Now we think we shouldn’t use (and didn’t use) that shower (which was a main reason why we booked the unit since we like having two showers available). Handyman can’t find the source of the water, but alerts the management company. Also notices hole in the ceiling. Again, he was super nice and tried to be helpful. TV replaced and water issue reported, we now notice that there is a plexi stand with a sheet of paper on the counter signed by the owners saying “enjoy these ingredients to make our delicious rum punch!” along with the recipe. It included rum, juice, limes and something else. Such a nice touch by the owners, but you guessed it – no ingredients. Also no ice cube trays to make ice. Also no pods for the Keurig which we were assured there would be (since it said so in the description and I confirmed with our liaison.) Now I decide to call the management company. She assures me that they will send over the ingredients, pods, ice cube trays. (We received rum and juice, but nothing else to make the drink.) She says the water issue is that the cleaners use too much water when mopping! Ridiculous. No comment on the shower door being duct taped and unusable. As far as the ceiling hole, she says that there are lots of renters and just no time to make repairs in between – like that’s my concern?? As mentioned before, the grounds are not luxurious. The pool is nice, but the pool bar is shut down, abandoned and has a big KEEP OUT sign. I already mentioned the abandoned tennis court. The beach is beautiful, but narrow. Then there are the masses that invade all of the space when the cruise ships are in town – something we did not realize. The beach bar has extra loud, thumping music going all day which really ruins the zen and beauty. Now some positives. The unit is well-appointed with plentiful, nice-quality, towels. We didn’t cook, but the kitchen also looked well supplied. The view of the marina and ocean from the decks is superb. The AC worked well and was much appreciated. There were tons of drawers available in the bedroom and lots of space in the upstairs bathroom. We also appreciated the noodles for floating and the beach chairs so we could fit in smaller spots than the resort lounge chairs afforded. The ocean is wonderfully clear and warm and you can float out far enough to get away from the drunks floating and drinking near the shoreline all day long. We loved going up to Sudi’s for breakfast (super friendly people and reasonable prices), but be aware that they do NOT have decaf coffee. There are many excursions available from the Marina, but most of them needed to be booked in advance. Jet skis also available there. I guess our issue was less with the owners and more with Island Luxury Vacations and Management Property (who only wanted our review if it was five star and wouldn’t give me the link to provide a review there!). So now we know why THEY had such a high rating on their site. I think the owners are trying to provide a nice unit, but might need to check in with the management more. If you want to stay here, do your due diligence and don’t believe all the photos you see online. They are good at missing the sketchy parts. This will probably be getting worse with AI. We learned a lot from this experience that we will take forward. This review is meant to inform future renters. As my husband likes to say, “the key to happiness is low expectations.”

St Thomas was everything we had hoped it would be warm tropic weather. beautiful beaches with clear water teaming with tropical fish. I became addicted to snorkeling during the 2 weeks stay. We did not go during peak tourist season so it wasn't crowded at any of the beaches we wen to. The resort was fantastic and even had a small beach restaurant on site which was great when the power was out which happened 2 times but didn't stay out for long. We are planning to go back during the summer time for the full vacation experience.

This was a beautiful beach and a beautiful location. However, the employees for this resort and the resort condo next to him were very mean and very angry. I will never come back because the workers are just so incredibly mean, especially the security guards made my children cry. There is a beach worker named Tony who works on the down the beach and the condo side and he was very mean racist remarks were made by him towards me. My vacation was not the same after the first day. We will not be coming back. Don’t waste your money go to Hawaii or Aruba instead. We were literally trying to judge the employees the whole time because we didn’t want anything to do with anyone because they were so rude. I give it one star. Go to Aruba instead.

Construction

On first sight it was picturesque; however as I walked the grounds and the resort area it was in shambles. Big smelly Garbage bins in plain view and the pool bar was all but torn down. If it’s not going to be in use then cover it up and make it aesthetic looking to the eye. This resort needs a full 100% overhaul. I will say the staff was extremely nice and helpful though.

My experience staying at this property was not a good one. There were some positives: property is right on the beach front, the cafe is good, casual bars/restaurants are fun with great drinks and vibe (although the fish tacos are terrible). For casual dining, the food is better at the smaller bar with mojitos. The pizza and caesar salad are both solid options. Also, the fine dining restaurant, Sea Salt, is excellent. Also, the small shop on the property sells quality items and souvenirs and not a bunch of cheap kitsch. I bought multiple items to bring home as gifts. But the unit I was given, D208, listed as a Standard Beachfront Condo, was awful. The air condition was too cold and there is no way to adjust the temperature. The AC vent pushes air right on to the bed, and I had to pull an extra flimsy blanket out of the closet to try to keep myself warm when sleeping. It got so bad that the last night I stayed there, I actually took the blankets to the couch and slept there. Second, my sink clogged up. Third, neither of the two security safes in the closet were functional. Both were in states of disrepair. Fourth, and this might be the worst thing about the property, is that it is not prepared for tropical storms or hurricanes. There was a flashlight in the kitchen shelf but it was a low quality one and the battery was dead. Our power went out during hurricane Erin. With no working flashlight on hand, I hadto rely on light from my mobile devices to not bump into things in the middle of the night. Very troublig was the absence of any structured property-wide communication on how to prepare for the storm and what to do or where to go if conditions got really bad. The property is after all on the beach front, and swelling waves during a hurricane should be a prime concern. The property does have its own generator, but the generator only acts as a backup for the shared spaces like the cafe and restaurants. Rolling blackouts appear to be the norm on St. Thomas when major storm systems pass through, so if the power in your unit goes out during a weather event, it is an issue with the grid and the people (government? power company? someone else?) responsible for getting that back up and running on the island. There is no backup generator on site for the condos. Nobody expected hurricane Erin to turn into the monster category 5 storm it was or for it to take the trajectory it did, but even with a lesser storm, the unit and property were not hurricane ready. In sum, my unit D208 was not well attended to (it was obvious regular maintenance was not a priority of the owner) with multiple things in disrepair, and there is a glaring lack of disaster preparedness, which is shocking for an island that is in the danger zone for tropical storm systems. This place is definitely overpriced for what it offers and was a huge disappointment.

Really great room view and lots of great little amenities that made the trip very helpful

While the resort is nice as a whole, the beach bar lacks. The drinks are terrible (in my opinion) they use cheap store bought mixers and use for EVERYTHING including what would be a hard lemonade. The grounds in the front could definately uses some work as the walkways are broken and uneven and the parking lot is a mess but the beach is pretty nice. The entire grounds are NOT fit for anyone in a wheelchair or with severe disabilitites, however. It does get crowded when cruise ships are in but not bad otherwise. The pool are is awesome and alot of iguanas which you need to remember, this IS their territory so respect that but obey the rules to not touch or feed them. We actually watched a man pick one up by the tail and sling it across the pool which highly irritated me. The seagrass was really bad when we stayed, I wish they would do what many other resorts do and put a barrier off shore to keep it from coming into the harbor. The Condos are all different, we chose one with a full kitchen and electric bbq as we wanted to cook some of the time to save money as food on the island is pretty expensive no matter where you go. Moes Market in Redhook is fantastic by the way and close by. If you need a pharmacy the family owned (I can't remember the name) in Redhook is absolutely awesome! The owner is onsite and VERY helpful. We didn't rent a car because people drive crazy there and on the opposite side of the road so we used a taxi however consider the cost as they are pretty expensive if you are coming and going alot. I definately do NOT recommend walking anywhere from the resort. You are likely to be hit. Sea Salt is absolutely amazing! The food is fantastic and the drinks by far superior than the beach bar. They actually have craft cocktails that are top notch and they have happy hour so don't miss that. No-one tells you at the resort anyone after 5 can go up there without a reservation so I am now. Only dinner reservations are highly recommended. We didn't find this out until 3 days prior to leaving when we had dinner up there. Sudi's is worth the walk up the hill. Their 10.00 breakfasts are great and the bloody Marys' and mimosas are fantastic! Super cool vibe and great people run it. The highlight for us in St. Thomas was the actual Old Town and you must try Glady's for eats. To conclude our stay at Sapphire, it is a well rounded place to stay, kid friendly and you don't need to leave if you don't want to. I would recommend but not sure we will return as it wasn't a "wow" factor.

It was close to the beach was a definite plus, only minus was having to leave.

so friendly, cats and chickens everywhere lol, so cute and comfortable