Carambola Beach Resort St. Croix, US Virgin Islands

The location is great for a relaxing retreat. Car rental is a must as food options are limited. The bar food was good. The Saman restaurant menu was limited for dinner. The breakfast was a little pricey for the selection.

This property is lovely and has a lot of potential. The rooms are set up really nice; we had 2 tv’s in our room, a lovely shower, double sinks in the bathroom and a nice balcony to sit on and look at the ocean. Really a BEAUTIFUL place. There are some weak points: There is NOTHING to do at this hotel - no water sports except off shore SCUBA diving and snorkeling. There are no boogie boards, no kayaks, or other water toys. There is no gift shop! No way to buy small food items, like an apple or a small salad. (They do have candy bars and chips for sale…) The beach is pretty but doesn’t get any attention from the staff. It’s not raked (ever) and there are only a few lounge chairs. There were not any umbrellas either. It’s more of a rocky beach (about 5 feet in) so be sure to bring your water shoes if you want to go in. The pool is well maintained and big and amazing. The hot tub was not working the week we were there. There is no staff around. The breakfast buffet is $32 per person but when we showed up most of the food containers were empty. People would charge the food tables when they were replenished. I never did get scrambled eggs or sausage. There is only one restaurant for breakfast and dinner and I don’t think it’s even open for dinner every night. We ate there one night. Our meal was really good and our waiter, Kameel was one of the best waiters I have ever had in any restaurant anywhere! Every single staff member we encountered was wonderful! I cannot compliment them enough. Every one was kind, respectful and willing to handle whatever issue was presented. Housekeeping was okay, but not great. I think you had to request housekeeping services for someone to actually clean/replace towels, etc. Any and all activities on the rest of the island required about $50 round trip per person. The taxi drivers only take cash (American dollars) and there is no Uber or LIFT options available. It would have been nice if the hotel had a free shuttle to these other places and the airport! I think Marriott needs to put some money into amenities at this hotel. We would have stayed at the hotel (and spent more money there) if there were things to do and more restaurant/food choices. From what I saw, most of the guests at this hotel leave every day and spend the day at one of the other cities on the island. I expected more from a Marriott property.

My husband and I were celebrating our 36th wedding anniversary and decided to return to where we honeymooned 36 years ago. We booked a stay for 6 nights but left after only 1. Very unhappy with every aspect of our visit. Property is not in good condition, restaurants are closed and the entire facility is poorly laid out. What was once a premier destination, is now a DON’T GO THERE!

Arrived at 1400 hr., was told rooms not ready, they would contact housekeeping to be sure to clean the rooms, told us to come back at 1600 hrs. when normal check -in. Came back at 1620 hrs. told rooms were still not ready. Had to make dinner reservation for that night even though the restaurant was less than half full. Several dishes of the limited menu not available. Service was slow, and almost nonattentive. Had to flag the wait staff down when we wanted anything. One of my friends wanted some bottled water and went to the desk and asked how much it was. Told that with my status with Marriott each room got 4 free bottles per day, AND the breakfast buffet was at no charge. The breakfast buffet is akin to one at Residence Inn but with an omelet station, not worth the $32 per person they were charging regular guests. The property is ill kept, no one rakes the beach or the leaves on the compound. The rooms are average at best. I can’t open the shutters in my room because the outside glass windows do not lock! The shower drips, my friends room still had hot dogs and shrimp in the refrigerator from prior guest. My bathroom was not cleaned my entire stay. The shower to rinse off from the beach does not work. The housekeeping staff wear normal street clothes, not a uniform. Very unprofessional, especially when they have their pants halfway off their bottom. They leave the cleaning cart in the breezeway. My room towels were not replaced, nor was my coffee one morning. They leave bags of trash and dirty dishes under the stairwell. The bench seat on my porch, the supports slates were broken. There is only one chair per patio. Fresh beach towels are supposed to be delivered each day; they are not. Had to go to reception to get fresh towels. Gutters are more like a flower tray than something to divert rain. Several are pulled away from the eaves. Parts of the roof are rusted out. Walkways are cracked, broken, and pushed up in spots. Several of the lights are broken making for a risky walk back to your room at night. My friends left a note for housekeeping to leave 4 regular coffees with a $5 bill. When they returned, no coffee and the $5 was gone. Another time they called for coffee, but no one answered the phone, call went to voicemail but the mailbox was full so they could not leave a message. Most of the staff are very friendly, and helpful. However, there are some who seem put out they have to do their job. Bar staff is overworked and understaffed but keep their good-natured demeanor, especially Tiffiny.

I am really surprised that this is a Marriott resort. The location is beautiful and peaceful but that’s the last truly positive thing I have to say. Getting our room serviced by housekeeping was like pulling teeth. Every day we asked for service, every day we were told they would come, and they never did. There’s bags of trash, dirty dishes, glassware just laying around outside the rooms…? We finally got someone the last day of our trip and we had to sit outside our room and wait while they cleaned it. The staff is either very nice but seems frustrated or completely void of emotion and don’t care at all. They ran out of rum. They ran out of beer. The pool was freezing, jacuzzi broken. There are loose tiles all around the pool that I tripped on several times which could create a serious hazard. The pool side shower was flooded and disgusting. The rooms are so nice…there’s potential for sure. But there’s no phone…and no cell service, and the QR code to scan for room service doesn’t work. Some of the rooms are a long walk from the main building. What if someone had a medical emergency? It’s unbelievable that there’s no way to contact the front desk. There’s one random marketing person responding to reviews…it all seems shady. Where is Marriott? This is why I usually just stay at Hilton. There was a darling hotel we visited called the sand castle, it was livelier and less quiet but the staff was kind and helpful and it appeared nice. Maybe try that place before here. Definitely do not recommend the Carambola.

We just spent ten days on St. Croix and chose to stay at Carambola Beach Resort. Reading the reviews online did frighten us a bit, but after our stay we realized that these reviews were opinionated as our family had an amazing time. We do not get to travel often so when we do we expect a clean room, smiling faces, and good food. Carambola delivered on all of this. It helped that I reached out to the team ahead of time letting them know I will be there for over a week and needed a relaxing vacation. My only critique is the exterior buildings could use some love from a visual stand point, but everything else was amazing. I can tell the team are really trying to turn their online image around as we felt everyone cared for us during our stay.

The resort outside rooms were lovely. The floors and shower in room were not cleaned upon check in. It took three days for them to come in to clean floor.

We just returned from a 9 day stay and I am SO GLAD we didn’t let the negative reviews dissuade us from this amazing resort! The location is unbelievable, the rooms are very large, and the staff are wonderful. Our stay was amazing and we’re planning our next return. Some thoughts: - You need a car. If you’re surprised about this, you are terrible at planning vacations - that’s on you. That said there were taxis every time we left, but arranging a return might be harder… don’t know we knew to get a car. - Get to know the staff. Special shout out to Jaheem, Latty, and Erald - they were amazing!! - Tip early, often, and well. We left a note each day for housekeeping with anything we needed, a thanks, and a tip. We had no issue with service. - We were worried about space (we had 2 adults, 1 10 y/o plus a 19 y/o who joined us for the last 3 nights), but there’s a lot of room to store suitcases and scuba gear. - Save your beach towels. Do you really need a new towel each day? - Use your car to explore the island! Highlights for restaurants are the Waves, Sunny Side Up Food Truck, Savant, Galangal, The Landing. Shop in Christiansted, snorkel or scuba with SweetBottom. If you care about the staff acknowledging your Marriott status and your “hard earned” perks, want pool and beach chair service, and don’t want to leave the resort, don’t come here, period (and frankly probably don’t go to St. Croix). This is not an all inclusive resort, but it’s a beautiful oasis where you can slow down and unwind. PS - The people who complain about the cats have literally never been anywhere. We’ve travelled extensively at international all inclusive and high end resorts, there are always cats. Cats are literally a good thing; otherwise those reviewers would complain about the rats. Just saying. The reviews make it seem like the cats are a problem - there are only three who hang around, but only come if you call them.

5 star location, 2 1/2 star staff, 1 star management. Literally ran out of food 3 of the 4 nights we stayed. ******* only refunded 100.00 for the inconvenience. Do not go....at least til they get new management. Shame on Marriott and shame on *******.