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St. Kitts & Nevis Hotel, Resort & Villa Reviews Reviews
Angelus Resort 12/09/2004
Reviewers Rating:  Fair
I chose the Angelus resort since this vacation to St. Kitts was booked only a few weeks back based on an incredible airfare from U.S. Air. I made the reservation after reviewing the Angelus’ web site and several reviews of this resort. Since it was much less than the Marriott and right next door, it seemed like a good choice. We could always eat at the Marriott. We arrived at the resort on Nov. 27 and were provided with a 3rd floor ocean view studio although I reserved an ocean view suite. I assumed the studio was their suite. The room was adequate and had a very comfortable king bed. As one reviewer mentioned, you have to be flexible. Due to all of the rain from previous weeks and that they turn off the AC, the bathroom door had swollen so that you could not move it, the light over the small kitchenette area did not work along with the safe (we did not need to use the safe anyway) and the TV remote did not work until about Thursday when someone came up with a new one that worked. You also have to be aware that there are no elevators in this resort. A small problem for my wife although she managed. I will say the room service is very good, since they came up and fixed the bathroom door, sprayed for mosquitoes and got us fresh towels when we asked for them and Scott gave us a ride back from the beach the first day. I should also add that all of the people that work at this resort were very friendly and helpful to any requests.
Now for the real issues with this resort. There are no waterfalls at the pool or any swim up beach bar as described on their website. I went out and checked the pool and found no circulating water pumps operating and noticed each morning someone from the resort would go out and dump the chemicals directly in each pool. The first day, there was a party at the pool for what looked like the children of the employees and after that there was no one out there until the following Saturday. The supposed pool bar area was severely corroded. I know I would never use the pool. Due to all of the previous rain there is a large standing pool of water just beyond the pool complex and there was another pool of water right next to the open-air restaurant which are great breeding grounds for mosquitoes. When walking out to the beach along the sand and dirt road, you need to wear a closed toe shoe since there are so many branches sticking out of the sand. If someone was thinking of taking their car out to the beach, I saw a pickup truck that got stuck out there one afternoon. Now about that beach; the Angelus along with the Marriott are on the same Atlantic side which can be considerably windy (15-20 mph winds off the Atlantic). There are numerous rocks just off shore although the Marriott does have a protected area for swimming. This may be great for snorkeling but not for swimming or wading out into the ocean. The underwater currents can also be quite strong in this area. One couple that was snorkeling by the Angelus told me the current took them down to the Mariott in about 20 minutes. If I had children with me, I would never allow them to go in the ocean by the Angelus. This is why we spent most of the time at the Caribbean side beaches. One morning I walked up past the deserted villa units to Half-moon Bay near the golf course. This beach is very nice and less rough than by the Angelus. I wouldn’t be surprised if a resort tried to build on this beach.
The only meal that we had at the Angelus was breakfast on Monday morning since the welcoming packet contained a sheet for a complimentary breakfast and discussion of the tours that could be arranged. When we got there, no one knew anything about a complimentary breakfast, although they relented and provided it. There was also no one to discuss the tours. The reason it was our only meal at the resort was mainly due to the menu mentioning fresh fruit with my eggs. What they provided was the old fashioned canned fruit cocktail. What a turn-off. We were interested in taking the island train tour but they did not know anything but where the station was. We then walked over to the Marriott and they suggested taking a taxi tour. The lady at the Flamboyant tour desk set us up with a taxi tour from Vincent which was wonderful. At the end of our stay, a woman from the Angelus asked us to discuss our week and then tried to let us know their intention to try to connect the Angelus with the Interval time-share business. Probably to try to raise the cash needed to complete this resort. I would have thought after spending over an hour talking to this woman, she would have at least offered a ride over to the beach we were going to.
As for my personal opinion, this resort needs an immediate inflow of about 15-20 million US dollars to complete this resort. About the only hope for this place is to try to find a resort company such as Holiday Inn or Radisson to take this place over. There is no work being done (at least while we were there) and the standing water by the pool and restaurant are great breeding grounds for flies and mosquitoes. The area between the resort and the pool and ocean needs to be cleaned up (its no scenic view). And while they’re waiting to complete this resort, a greater amount of maintenance will be needed (the AC units outside the rooms are rusting away). Even then you still have the terrible beach. Did I mention, I did go down to the beach late in the day a few times and there was no one there except the first Saturday when the Ross U. kids were having a great beach volley ball tourney. There were numerous beach walkers from the Marriott though. The beach bar would close every day at 4:30 (why stay open, no one's there) and there was no beach party on any night. If someone stays here, the rooms are comfortable and inexpensive compared to the Marriott, they should do as we did. If you walk over to the Mariott, The calypso café provides a nice breakfast or you can just get coffee with danish or bagle by the coffee bar. We ate most of our meals at the beach bars (Monkey bar, Sunset Café, Shipwreck and Shiggedy Shack) with the occasional meal at the Marriott. The bar at the Marriott was also a great place to get an evening drink (try the rum runner). Since we paid less than $1400 for airfare (from PHL) and the week at the Angelus and the weather was great, the issues with the resort didn’t really bother me although I would probably not stay there again.
Steve
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