One of our favorite MVCI properties…read more
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June, 2025 Visit
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My wonderful wife planned a relaxing trip for us to St. John's, US Virgin Islands (just east of Puerto Rico), in June, 2025; we had a great time... such a beautiful island!
Our flights routed through Atlanta to St. Thomas, as there are no flights to St. John; you get to St. John via ferries from St. Thomas or St. Croix, USVI, or from the British Virgin Islands.
The need to route through St. Thomas, coupled with the wonderful visit we enjoyed in 2021, led us to intentionally stay one overnight at the Marriott Frenchman's Cove, and we had a great time and enjoyed one a most beautiful sunset, from the floating mat at the beach.
This trip we enjoyed:
- an afternoon in the beach, complete with mai tais!
- Dinner next door... Luna Mar at the Westin (there is a third Marriott property on the other side of the Westin; two hotels and Frenchman's cove is MVCI)
- Morning snorkeling
- Breakfast at the pool bar before checking our
- Fantastic views from the beach and from our room
- Great courtesy by the staff
For more about the property, which one of our favorite MVCI properties, the rooms, and more, please see the 2021 review, below.
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The property
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Frenchman's Cove is built on a hillside, you arrive at the main desk at a the top of the hill; there are buildings at that level; the other buildings are built lower down the hill, and the property has its own beach. Each building had four or five floors and all have wonderful views.
The buildings are colorfully painted, and look great, especially when you're in the water looking back at the shore.
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The room
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The rooms are standard MVCI / Marriott Vacation Club rooms:
- 2 bedrooms, one king and two full sized beds
- 2 bathrooms
- Laundry
- Kitchens with servings for 8 and all the utensils you need; refrigerator, dishwasher, stove, microwave and coffee machine.. with coffee available; just ask housekeeping for more
- Patio table and chairs with a view
- Note: if you leave the patio table unattended, you my return to find seagulls arrived and are some of your bacon while you were bringing out the rest of breakfast... :)
- nice!
Recommendation: bring a Bluetooth speaker for music.
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The beach & Sunset Cove Bar & Grill
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This trip we checked and quickly made our way to the beach; the day was sunny and nice and warm but not hot.
The resort has a couple large floating mars that are anchored; several adults can lazily get some sun while socializing.
We also had a snack at "the pool bar," Sunset Cove Bar & Grill... which offers a good selection of good for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacking in between.
We enjoyed:
- afternoon snack - hummus and carrots & celery; and very good mai tais
- breakfast the next morning
We enjoyed laying on the big mats floating in the water... you get a tan and stay wet while enjoying the outside.
The night we were there, we enjoyed an absolutely beautiful sunset from the floating mat... so nice!
The room has a kitchen, but since we stayed only one night, there was less of a need for groceries... so... in the morning, we had a breakfast at the Sunset Cove Bar & Grill - it was a wonderful breakfast of steak and eggs and OJ... with a wonderful view of the beach.
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MarketPlace - gift shop and mini grocery store
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The MarketPlace staff is friendly and helpful; they offer pastries, yogurt and other breakfast food, spices and other good for dinners and lunch and a variety of bottles of drinks, many from around the Caribbean. They also offer sunscreen and other items for the outside; and souvenirs - shirts, hats, more.
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The surf, the lack of on St. Thomas and St. John
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We have been blessed to visit the Caribbean a couple times and have noticed that there is not much surf, not many waves. On an early trip someone explained that the Caribbean is just at a position in the ocean where the tides are just not very noticeable; brief internet searches suggest the tide only varies from a few inches to a foot or so... such small changes don't lead to many waves.
You'll likely see and enjoy hearing waves "lapping at the shore," but you're not likely to do much body surfing... if you have a boogie board, you'll likely be better off leaving it at home.
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Thank you, Frenchman's Cove staff!
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