Our flight arrived into STT on time and we collected our baggage in a timely manner. It is like "40 miles" to the Inter-carrib ticket counter from the baggage claim area, so we snagged a porter (we were carrying scuba gear). We were advised earlier by inter-carrib to send someone on to the counter (which we did) while the rest of us collected the bags. In reality, it was a five minute walk, but a long way with heavy baggage. Be aware that you are now outside of the security area. At the ticket counter, they informed us the security line at the "Jet-Blue" end of the airport is essentially non-existent (well kept secret). Since, we didn't get to move our flight up, (we arrived at 2:30 and were hoping to catch the 3:30 flight instead of our scheduled 6:30) we went to the Ritz for a couple of hours.
The taxi ride was around $10-15 each way (5-10 minutes each direction). The Ritz let us bring in our "carry ons". The rooms usually go for ~ $500 and I can see why. A couple of us went to the casino and were informed we couldn't bring our backpacks in. We could either check them with the Bell hop or leave with the others in our group (we chose the latter). We walked out by the pool and some of the group walked down the street to get a bite to eat. Remember, don't go through the back security gate beyond the pool and onto the beach. The security lets you walk through the gate (exit) with no questions. But then, the security won't let you back through the gate without a room key, even though they just saw you exit. (you know they have fun with this) Now, you have to walk a "long ways" down the beach to circle around.
All in all, it sure beat staying at the airport. Remember: Inter-carrib has a check in time at the main gate of ~ 45-60 minutes prior to the flight. I would allow for time to clear security at the airport. And, it can be a long way back through the terminal to the actual gate.