vacationing with my phone

August 15, 2012 5:45 PM

Seeking hotel recommendations in either the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, or Hawaii.

The reason for those 3, is because those are the tropical-y places I can go without incurring roaming charges (yeah, I go where my phone goes--iknowiknow).

I will be traveling alone. My goal is to go to a hotel where people will mostly leave me be to read and listen to music by the ocean or sea. A private balcony where I can sit and look out at the water and hear the rustling palm leaves while reading a good book. And room service. A long stretch of sand where I can take meditative walks on.

Not interested in places where there will be partying or kids (though I'm looking to travel around October, so that mostly takes care of the latter)

Bonus points if the hotel allows me access to one of those straw beach umbrella stand things like this (love those things), where I can zone out to the breeze and waves crashing on the sand.

posted by raztaj to travel & transportation (5 answers total)

I've been to all of those places. I think you may have some trouble getting truly useful answers since each of those places is a chain of islands - each with varying degrees of what you're looking for. For example, you probably want nothing to do with most hotels on Oahu.
posted by blaneyphoto at 6:04 PM on August 15, 2012

If the USVI were buroughs, St. Croix would be Queens. Or Brooklyn before it got all Park Sloped.NB: I *LIKE* St. Croix.

You may not get a whole lot of wonderful room service, but I'd look at St. Croix and St. John. (St. Thomas is Right Out.)
posted by 2soxy4mypuppet at 6:25 PM on August 15, 2012 [1 favorite]

I stayed at this place in St. Croix a couple years ago and had a good time. I was also travelling alone and wanted to just relax, and I think it meets most of your requirements. Not sure if they had those straw beach umbrella stands though.
posted by pete_22 at 7:08 PM on August 15, 2012

I think the Caneel Bay resort on St. John (USVI) would suit you - it tends to be quiet and adult-oriented, and is on a lovely private beach (no crowds of tourists). Cell service varies in St. John depending on your carrier, and can be spotty, though Caneel Bay is relatively close to the town of Cruz Bay, which gets the best coverage on the island.
posted by unsub at 9:50 PM on August 15, 2012 [1 favorite]

St. John is the quietest of the VI chain, I'd focus on that when searching for places to stay. Also: I saw a sea turtle while snorkeling in Maho Bay, so maybe you'd be into that.
posted by oceanjesse at 8:50 AM on August 16, 2012