After financial shenanigans it looks like Marriott’s ‘regret resort’ – likely the worst property in the chain, by a lot – will see government-subsidized redevelopment. Until then, stay away from Carambola Beach Resort on St. Croix.
Carambola Beach Resort
Carambola Beach Resort in St. Croix wound up as an “unbranded Marriott” after deteriorating so badly that the Renaissance flag was pulled. This all started back when U.S. Virgin Islands government employee pension fund put $15 million into the resort during the Great Recession. (The Virgin Islands Inspector General concluded the arrangement was illegal, by the way.) $6.8 million was supposed to go to renovations to meet Renaissance standards.
The hotel defaulted. The pension fund cut the interest rate, later took over the property, then absorbed additional liabilities (including $12 million in “extra disbursements”). The Inspector General audit found transactions that were most generously described as gross incompetence, but probably weren’t – payments for non-existent work and missing documentation for 23 wire transfers totaling $7.6 million.
Four years ago Marriott claimed renovations were “underway,” the hotel would be Renaissance again once complete, and Bonvoy elite members would still receive Renaissance benefits in the interim.
In fact, Carambola may be the worst Marriott in North America. The property has collected large insurance proceeds while not reinvesting in the property itself. Guests reported a lime-green, neglected pool, pests, dirty common areas, broken and closed amenities, limited food, and maintenance issues in rooms.
Fortunately, the property is expected to close by summer to enable an “expedited” $50 million redevelopment. This is funded in part by Bill 36-0259, an amendment to the Hotel Development Act that lets developers keep hotel taxes to recoup investments of at least $25 million that expand room capacity by at least 25%. This has advanced out of committee but hasn’t yet passed.
The hotel, though, is still bookable at Marriott.com throughout the period. They’re still selling rooms, and the ink on the deal doesn’t actually appear final, so the status of the refresh while appearing more likely than when Marriott promised it four years ago is not yet confirmed.
The money for redevelopment comes from “a major international hotel chain with operations in Europe and Canada” though – Accor? – so it may not ever get reflagged as a Renaissance after all.
Still better than Little Saint James… *cough* (He’s all over The Files)
Who in there right mind would want to stay there ….
I’ve stayed at this property a few times – and the 1st one was by far the BEST and it was amazing. Granted, that was almost 20 years ago. Last time we stayed, it was semi-functional. Pool was usable, one of the restaurants was open – but it took some hurricane damage the season prior, so a handful of the duplexes had missing or torn screened porches, you could see mold on about 1/2 of the outdoor furnishings, and you could tell that about 1/2 of the duplexes were closed or not available for bookings; I think they were canabalizing them to keep the others in shape.
Our room was in good condition, though! Loved the outdoor lanai and huge bathroom. Bed was comfortable. No real complaints, but you could tell the resort needed some TLC.
Fast forward to just before Covid, and more hurricanes, and friends and I stopped by the resort to see how bad it was, and yeah – the pool looked aweful, restaurant wasn’t open. hot tub was closed (drained). Dive shop there had closed. lots of broken plastic beach chairs. More duplexes were closed off, missing furniture, etc. Looked like they maybe had only 7 or 8 functional duplexes.
(each duplex is a 2 floor unit with rooms on both levels, typically 4 per duplex)
St Croix has always been “off”. Even The Fred took a big dive in quality & service.
For tourism, St. Croix is one of the weakest destinations in the Caribbean. There are no true four-star or five-star hotels. Even the family-owned Buccaneer, often cited as the island’s best resort, feels tired and past its prime. Many of the people who move there to live do so because they can’t afford other Caribbean islands. There isn’t much of a local economy, poverty is widespread and crime is relatively high. The government as we saw with Epstein is at best incompetent and at worst corrupt.
Considering what airfare and hotels cost, travelers can find far better vacations elsewhere in the Caribbean.
St. Thomas is also overrated and noticeably rundown in many areas. St. John, by contrast, is wonderful. But overall, the U.S. Virgin Islands simply don’t compare with many other Caribbean destinations.
@Nick Thomas – The Buccaneer was tired and past its prime 15 years ago!