End of the Year Update on the Westin

It’s been a bit since we’ve updated you on the Westin, and with its reopening date quickly approaching, we figured now would be a good time to fill you in on what’s going on with the property.

For starters, the resort is on schedule to reopen on January 4, 2019. I stopped by the beach Thursday morning and workers were buzzing throughout the property. I could see them feverishly working to rebuild Snorkels Bar & Grill (the pool bar), as well as doing some finishing touches on the landscaping and many of the buildings. Crews were even moving sand around the beach to fill in some of the bare spots.

Now here’s the official scoop from the Westin…

Snorkels Bar & Grill will be the only restaurant to reopen in January. It will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. Lemongrass and Knox & Ollies will not be reopening. A new restaurant is slated to go into the former Lemongrass space later in 2019. The building that housed Knox & Ollie’s has been torn down, and there aren’t any plans to replace it. Instead, a building that looks somewhat like a pergola is currently being built in that space. Mango Deli will reopen in the former Marketplace spot in January. It will sell breakfast sandwiches, light fare and sundries.

At least two of the property’s buildings will not reopen in January – buildings 33 and 34. The tennis courts will not reopen until May. The playground area looks to be in fine shape. I haven’t seen it up close as the property remains closed to non-workers, but I have a pretty good vantage point from my deck. 🙂

The pool area is currently being worked on and the official word from the Westin is that it will reopen in January.

The dock repairs were completed earlier this month. Daydreamer and Island Time were at the dock early this morning. The new ferry is not currently in the bay.

And speaking of the new ferry, here are the details straight from the Westin:

“If you choose the private Westin ferry service, you will check in at the Westin reception desk at the airport and leave your luggage with the airport staff for direct transport to your villa. You will enjoy the 45-minute ride across the island of St. Thomas to the Red Hook ferry dock in an enclosed, air-conditioned van that is equipped with Wi-Fi. Upon arrival at the Red Hook dock, you will be met by Westin staff who will escort you to the private Westin ferry for a 15-minute ride directly to the resort dock, where you will be welcomed by the resort staff and offered transportation directly to your villa.”

The cost for the ferry is $120 roundtrip for adults and $90 roundtrip for children between the ages of four and 17. Children three and under are free. For those of you who pay for the Westin ferry, you are able to go back and forth between the Westin and St. Thomas as often as you’d like during your stay. The ferry will be running on a set schedule as seen below:

Here are a few pics and video that we took Thursday morning:

And there you have it… “News” you can use today, folks! If you’d like to see the Westin rebuild in real time, be sure to check out my webcam at www.newsofstjohn.com/webcam. Have a great one everyone!