My wife and I have been vacationing in St. Croix for about 10 years and have always stayed at Hotel on The Cay (HoTC). It is on a little island in the Christiansted harbor called Protestant Cay and is the only semi-public beach that is in the downtown Christianstead area. Yup, I said semi-private. While it is just a few steps away for hotel guests, it is a short ferry ride for anyone else who wants to come over. For those not staying at the hotel, there is a small fee for the ferry ride.
HoTC is a basic hotel. If you're looking for a 5-star resort, you need to look elsewhere. That said, it is comfortable and casual, and the price is great for the proximity. They're in the process of updating the rooms, so I'll give you a review of the updated standard room. The main differences are new tile, counters, sinks, and lighting in the bathrooms, most will also have the tub removed, replaced with a spacious shower stall and a small hair dryer. The small kitchenette area also has a newer counter, mini-refrigerator, microwave, toaster oven, sink, and coffee maker; and the updated rooms also have a newer TV, ceiling fan, and mattresses. The standard room has two queen sized beds, private (not shared) bathroom, a small closet area with an iron and ironing board, a kitchenette, a six drawer dresser with a mirror, a TV mounted on the wall, and two chairs. TV is piped in from New York so you will get their local television as well as Discovery, HBO, ESPN2 and some other stations. There is no on demand channels. Rooms also have a balcony with two additional plastic chairs and a small table. The rooms all have individually controlled AC, but on a day with a breeze, we prefer to open the doors to the balcony (close the screen doors - there are mosquitoes on St. Croix) open the slats in the room door, and enjoy the fresh air. Every room has a view of the water. Most rooms have a view of the ocean and some a view of the harbor and the fort.
HoTC also has a pool that is only accessible to hotel guests - guests need to use their room key to access the pool area. There is no lifeguard on duty, but the pool isn't huge or deep (max. depth is 7'). It is a roof-top pool that is above the sole restaurant on Protestant Cay (the Harbor Master Restaurant). While it is an okay pool, and is usually fairly empty - most people are at the beach - the exhaust fan for the restaurant can be heard constantly from about 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Being a constant, it quickly becomes an unnoticeable background sound; however, it does keep you from hearing the ocean (which the pool overlooks).
HoTC boasts WiFi internet access in the hotel rooms. WiFi can be received in many rooms, but the signal is not as strong as some might need it to be. I traveled with a full sized laptop, and was able to get to the internet; however, my wife has a little netbook, and it couldn't pick up the signal until she walked out of the room and took a few steps towards the signal repeater. Some may also find it helpful to open the door to the room, but then you have to hang out with the door open the whole time. The signal is strong up on the terrace level, where there are chairs, tables, and barbeques that guests can rent, if you want to be outside while checking in on your social media site(s), replying to a few emails, or just searching the Net.
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