4 Time on the Island starting in 2002

CAR RENTAL
Unity – usual quality service (they did forget to change their own arrival schedule by an hour because of the time change elsewhere the week before). Only waited 5 minutes. The staff is always courteous.

HOTEL
1st time stay @ Royal Islander la Plage having just purchased a re-sale last summer for wk 14 (Stayed @ the Atrium & Flamingo previously).
The Good
Arrived @ the resort just after noon and our room was ready!
The staff was excellent all the way around. The pool, grounds and unit are excellent as well. Many people used the pool area, which is nice (we like having people around – too quiet during the day doesn’t work with us).
Beach Bar (Tortuga) – friendly staff and happy hr 3-5 (a little early but what the heck).
The beach – it did slowly erode during the week, but many made use of it.
The planes – loved it all week.
The guests – almost everyone was friendly and it made you feel very comfortable
Grocery Store – only yards from the lobby and they open @ 7am. They have almost everything at reasonable prices. They offered a buffet/salad bar for breakfast, lunch and dinner (pay by the weight). The salads were inexpensive and good (comes in handy with the left over dinners of fish, lobster, and steak.
The Bad
1) Absolutely the worst week of sleep in my life (thank god for the afternoon zzzz in the chairs by the pool). One half the resort runs along the street in Maho (literally feet from the sidewalk). Being street level and having the BR closest to the street didn’t help matters. You can hear the partiers coming back from SSBB, Bliss etc EVERY night and very often. Now I know what people sound like 3 sheets past at 2am. We enjoyed the guy in the same car (we peaked out the window), that had his stereo blaring and decided to drive up and down the street 10 times in 30 minutes (we could feel the vibration of the stereo sound bouncing off the buildings).
Mornings were almost as good. Dump trucks going by and of course, the speed bumps, made for an excellent wake up call.
2) A call telling us we had an “owners update”, Of course, we had to schedule and reconfirm etc…We only put up with it because we thought it would be informative (1st time owners here). I asked my wife not to come (this pleased her greatly not to move from the pool area). My thinking was if this is some sort of pitch, I couldn’t make any decisions w/out my wife. Of course it was RCI talking about the points program. I am a RCI member but not w/points. How could the hotel let this BS happen under false pretense (owners update my $%#). While you’re there, let’s talk about an upgrade to a 2 BR for more points etc…at any rate, I came back to the pool with a cold one all was magically forgotten.
3) Pullout couch – don’t plan to have a couple sleep there (even 1 person wouldn’t work). Hard to explain, but I’ve never seen a pullout quite like it. Bottom line, it would be too small and uncomfortable – maybe kids would be OK.

RESTAURANTS - DINNER
Skip Jacks (8.5/10): 1st time - They did a great job inside (lots of wood – simple but someone had a good eye on what they wanted). It steps down to the dining area (up top is ½ bar ½ restaurant tables). The bar area is nice and you can eat “down” below. Staff was great (enjoyed the company of the bartender in our pre-dinner drinks – she’s the girlfriend of the chef). We ordered the lobster (fairly decent). Many others there stated they enjoyed the other dishes. We really enjoyed the look and atmosphere here. This is a now a must on our list until the food proves differently.

Pizza Galley (9/10): 1st time - Went there after the TTOL Party @ Los Gauchos (our first). Great little spot (they were very busy). Crust is thin and almost flaky. Ordered 2 pizzas (need leftovers in the room of course) House wine was good.

Peg Leg (9/10): 4th time – Our favorite place. Always have the filet. Jack came over and introduced himself while having cocktails at the bar (1st time meeting him). Staff /service/food was great (actually the filet was the best we had there).

Lees (8.5/10): 3rd time – We always enjoyed it here but noticed other places charging the same or slightly more than Lee’s. We almost skipped it – glad we didn’t. Over all, a little better than before. We always have the tuna – best since we’ve been there. The plates look new. It just seemed better than before (kicked up a notch or something – mind you it is Lee’s).

Boathouse (7.5/10): 2nd time – The place seems to have character. The ceasar salads were excellent. My wife’s “seafood” kabob was very good. My “can’t decide” fish platter was OK – small shrimp and dry conch?. I think I was fished out after Lee’s (I had the left over tuna for lunch today).

Buccaneer Beach Bar (9/10): 1st time – Had drinks at the bar before dinner (was there way to long). Ended up sitting/standing with Neil Rooney for quite a while (1st time meeting him). Met his new dog (Buck of course) and sort of kept him entertained (Buck I mean – in return, Neil kept us entertained). Had the burger for dinner – it was excellent. Staff was friendly – good time.

Pineapple Petes (9/10): 2nd time – The waiter was excellent and helped make our dinner. Being Friday, I ordered the 24oz prime rib and my wife had the lobster thermadore (recommendations as seen here). It did not disappoint. The lobster was excellent. The prime rib was more like a steak than the prime rib you would normally think of. Nonetheless, it was very good – no left overs on this one. Next time, I have to have the lobster thermadore.


RESTARUANTS – LUNCH/BREAKFAST
Baywatch (10/10): 4th time – Finally had the beer battered scallops (excellent size/taste and just enough batter to cover). On Tues, Andy does a roast, so Cheryl? recommended the roast beef on a baguette w/juice – excellent again. Good thing my wife couldn’t eat all the beef (I needed to help her). Nothing else to say that hasn’t been said.

Sunset Beach Bar (4/10): 1st time eating here) – Had the fish on a bun (fish was OK, the bun was lousy and the fires were soggy).
Actually tried the $5/breakfast. The fried eggs were extremely runny (specifically the whites). The bacon was crunchy (it sat it a metal tub cooked in advance). The plus was the scrambled eggs looked good (they can add onions etc… to it and you did your own toast). A few said the pancakes were good – for $5 get your eggs scrambled or try the pancakes)

INERESTING NOTES
USS Washington - saw the USS Washington at 6am go by on its way to dock in Philipsburg that morning (quite a sight at over 330m long). The island seemed to be putting on a good show in welcoming the troops (even the strip clubs offered deals – how about that). We wanted to go to Philipsburg that day to see the ship, but figured it would be too busy. It was also interesting to see many helicopters landing at the airport the one and two days prior to the ships arrival – they looked like military.

Beating near SSBB – we arrived 2 days after it happened. Many opinions as usual. The fact it happened close to where we stayed did make us a little nervous. As I reminded my wife, we should use our usual common sense approach which would have included not walking in that area late at night). It’s a shame it happened. Hopefully they’ll be caught/tarred and feathered.

SUMMARY
The usual great week. Next year, 2 weeks for sure. Just have to figure out how to get some sleep because of the noise. We are seriously thinking of ear plugs (maybe fitted ones). Any suggestions would be grateful - and no, drinking more doesn’t count. I tried doing that and my wife said the experiment is over - but it was fun trying.