Buoy Haus Beach Resort St. Thomas, Autograph Collection®

The location was absolutely amazing. I loved the boutique hotel feel. The staff was friendly and accommodating

The staff and the restaurants

It as everything we were looking for.

Location

Food was not great, for the price point they need to do much better with service and food. I should not have to wake up at 730 am in order to to get a beach chair in an area supposedly reserved for hotel guests. There were long guest from neighboring Westin taking up pool and beach chairs that were supposed to be for this property.

The location is what makes this. It’s RIGHT on the beach. The views are stunning. It’s also fantastic that you can use the amenities at the Westin. The pool is also great—better than at the Westin. The non reception staff were all wonderful (especially the pool manager Wendy, the restaurant staff at the Sugarfin, Elgin at Isla Blu, and the valet parking staff).

Here’s the thing—for the price per night, you expect perfection. We had several issues: 1) We received an email in advance of our visit from our “personal resort assistant” who was supposed to assist us with scheduling activities. After several emails back and forth, she stopped responding. Then we got an out of office reply. Writing the alternative emails got no response. When we arrived and checked in, we were told she went on vacation. None of our activities had been scheduled, and when reception called we were told they were no longer available. 2) we booked a room with breakfast included in the price. When we asked about this, reception said it wasn’t showing up in our file but they would “fix it at the end”. When we checked out, the staff told us they would give us a 80 dollar credit per day—even though breakfast was 90 each day. After we argued with them, they finally relented and took off the breakfast. The reception staff were curt at best. Certainly not the service you expect for over 1000 dollars a night. 3) housekeeping was all over the place. Sometimes we got turndown service, sometimes not. They would change out different towels every time. Did not replace toilet paper. Did not replace shower toiletries. For 200 bucks a night, fine. But again, at the price we pay you expect perfect service. 4) warning—lots of activities are listed, and you pay 95 dollars per day in resort fees. But…you want to kayak? The resort advertises free rentals—this is true, but only for one hour per day, which you don’t find out til you get there. You can also rent free snorkeling gear, but this is not a beach ideal for snorkeling. Strong waves means lots of sediment. Also the activities did not start at the times advertised—they very much go on island time—be prepared to wait up to a half hour past advertised start times.