Report - 1st trip to STJ

ThirdBird · Post by **ThirdBird** » Fri Sep 06, 2013 12:22 pm

Well, here's the trip report for our first trip to St John. Overall, a great trip. Loved the beaches, the ability to go wherever you want on the island, and the overall vibe.

One of the things we looked forward to, The Beach Bar, was awful. We weren't the only ones that felt this way. The service was terrible. Saw another couple wait for service for 10 minutes, and walked out after being ignored. We didnt stay long either. Bartenders were flat out rude. I understand that tourists may seem annoying to someone who lives on the island, but at the end of the day our dollars keep you going. The other place we had an issue with was high tide- waitress, again was terribly rude. Luckily, these were both on our first day there, and the rest of the trip more than made up for these two places. LOVED the Lime Inn. Owner was really cool. Morgan's mango was cool too. The Quiet Mon was a good place as well.

So overall, I'd give STJ a 9/10 on this trip. I guess it takes some getting used to when you're used to the service at an all inclusive. Had a chance to chat with some locals, and everyone was really cool. Hopefully the beach bar gets it together - they're in a position to have the perfect bar if they were better with customers.

News of St. John · Post by **News of St. John** » Fri Sep 06, 2013 1:33 pm

Hi Thirdbird,

I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed yourself for the most part. I've heard rumblings about the Beach Bar staff lately and have experienced a bit of what you described myself. I'm curious - what were your trip dates?

Kevino · Post by **Kevino** » Fri Sep 06, 2013 1:50 pm

I'm a big Beach Bar/High Tide guy. I'm very disappointed you had this bad experience. We were last there April/May and the BB did change hands. I noticed some new faces on their web-cam and missed seeing some longtime regular bartenders who were awesome. I'm back in town Nov 2-Nov16 and will definitely be a frequent visitor to both and make a full report when I return. I did notice last trip however at High Tide, that Jimbo seemed to be falling into the bar culture and not as attentive to business as he was when he first bought and made a big difference in food/service. Stay tuned,

poidog · Post by **poidog** » Fri Sep 06, 2013 4:25 pm

Same thing happened to us at the Beach Bar about a month or so ago. I was really disappointed as it's a regular spot for us. The owner/manager saw us standing at the bar rolling our eyes after we were continually ignored and stepped in and made our drinks.

star2515 · Post by **star2515** » Fri Sep 06, 2013 5:01 pm

We were there at the end of July and had the same experience at the Beach Bar, overly rude staff and poor food quality. Spyglass was our favorite hangout this trip for both food and drinks. Glad your overall experience was still a positive one on STJ.

scotties · Post by **scotties** » Fri Sep 06, 2013 7:29 pm

We visited the beach bar in June and found it very crowded. As usual we went to Spy Glass and had great view, food, drinks, and service. Glad to hear someone found the same.

ThirdBird · Post by **ThirdBird** » Sat Sep 07, 2013 9:02 am

We were there Aug 11th-18th. We are genuinely easy to please, we've both worked in restaurants and bars before and understand that things get busy. Th issue for me is when you have 2-3 bartenders on staff, one working, one walking away from the bar to text, and one completely hammered to the point where he's serving himself more than the customers. I get it, everyone drinks and it's all fun. But there's a line there somewhere where it gets irritating to be ignored when you'be spent thousands of dollars to be able to sit there.

I was sure we weren't the only ones (as I mentioned). Thanks for the replies. As for high tide, our waitress there was our main issue. She asked if we wanted a sauce with a food item, to which my wife replied "no thanks, just ketchup is perfect". Waitress replied "it's right in front of your face". Not exactly my idea of service. Then ignored us for another table of 4 because "they were here before and they're good tippers". Not kidding. Will do spyglass next time - thanks for the tip.

loria · Post by **loria** » Sat Sep 07, 2013 6:14 pm

ThirdBird wrote:We were there Aug 11th-18th. We are genuinely easy to please, we've both worked in restaurants and bars before and understand that things get busy. Th issue for me is when you have 2-3 bartenders on staff, one working, one walking away from the bar to text, and one completely hammered to the point where he's serving himself more than the customers. I get it, everyone drinks and it's all fun. But there's a line there somewhere where it gets irritating to be ignored when you'be spent thousands of dollars to be able to sit there.

I was sure we weren't the only ones (as I mentioned). Thanks for the replies. As for high tide, our waitress there was our main issue. She asked if we wanted a sauce with a food item, to which my wife replied "no thanks, just ketchup is perfect". Waitress replied "it's right in front of your face". Not exactly my idea of service. Then ignored us for another table of 4 because "they were here before and they're good tippers". Not kidding. Will do spyglass next time - thanks for the tip.

whoa, she actually SAID that??? (both things?) Wow......... as for the BB, so sorry to hear that.... i was wondering what would happen when they changed hands. Cardinal rule of bartending is NO drinking behind the bar........hopefully the proprietors of both places will read these pages......

P-600 · Post by **P-600** » Sat Sep 07, 2013 7:24 pm

Maybe they do read the forum...
http://virgin.craigslist.org/fbh/4050755479.html

usvi-on-line