A 131-room family-owned resort on a 340-acre former sugar plantation two miles east of Christiansted, three private beaches, an Old Tom Morris-style 18-hole oceanfront course, and the Caribbean's longest continuously family-run hospitality operation, in the Armstrong family since 1947.
"Eighty years of one family at the same property, the Caribbean does not produce a more intact heritage resort."
The Buccaneer Beach & Golf Resort sits on 340 acres of former sugar-plantation land at Estate Shoys, two miles east of Christiansted on the north coast of St. Croix. The property was established as a hotel in 1947 by Douglas and Rachel Armstrong, and has been operated by the Armstrong family without interruption ever since, the longest continuously family-owned resort in the Caribbean. The current generation, led by Elizabeth Armstrong, runs the property as it always has: as a family resort first, a golf resort second, and a luxury hotel a deliberate third.
The 131 rooms are arranged across a series of low-rise blocks descending from the historic Great House (the centre of the resort and the original 17th-century sugar estate building) down toward the shore. The categories run from Standard rooms in the Great House and the original buildings, through Beachside Doubletree rooms (the most popular booking, on the gentle slope above the main Mermaid Beach), Beachside Cottages (one-bedroom freestanding units a few feet from the water at Mermaid Beach), to the named suites in the Great House, the Bucanero Suite, the Captain's Suite, and the Anchor Suite. None of the rooms compete with contemporary Caribbean ultra-luxury on finish; the proposition is the position, the heritage, and the consistency.
The resort's three beaches are the central physical asset: Mermaid Beach (the wide sandy main beach in front of the resort), Beauregard Bay (the smaller, quieter beach to the west, family-friendly with calmer water), and the Cutlass Cove beach in front of the Bucanero suites (the most secluded). The 18-hole oceanfront golf course, designed in the William Mitchell tradition and maintained by the Armstrong family's resident superintendent, runs along the cliff top above the beaches, there are six clear ocean-view holes, including a par-three over the bay. Beyond the beach and golf the resort runs a hardcourt tennis programme (eight courts, two of them lit), a small fitness centre, and a beachside spa pavilion.
The dining is three restaurants: the Terrace (the main breakfast and weekly Caribbean buffet venue, set in the colonnaded former Great House terrace), the Mermaid (the casual beachfront lunch room), and the Brass Parrot (the dinner room, set in the original 1653 manor house, the most architecturally interesting room on the property and the venue for the resort's evening live-music programme). The wine list is Caribbean-format, heavy on rum-based cocktails, a workmanlike list of California whites and reds, and an unexpectedly serious selection of estate-bottled rums that the bar runs as a tasting flight on request. Service is the resort's defining strength: many staff are second- or third-generation employees, and the staff-to-room ratio runs at roughly 1.4:1, the highest of any Caribbean four-star this writer has stayed at.
The Buccaneer is the most legitimately family-oriented luxury resort in the eastern Caribbean. The structure, three separate beaches, eight tennis courts, a real golf course, a properly run kids' programme (the Bucanero Kids' Camp, ages 4, 12, full-day, included on most rate plans), the connecting-room configurations across Beachside Doubletree, the Beachside Cottages that take a family of four, is purpose-built. Multi-generational reunions of three or four families regularly take over a section of the resort.
For a Caribbean anniversary the Buccaneer's proposition is rare in the contemporary market: a heritage resort, family-run by the same family for 80 years, with a real history rather than an invented brand story. Book the Captain's Suite in the Great House for the milestone version, or a Beachside Cottage at Mermaid Beach for the quieter approach. Dinner at the Brass Parrot in the original 1653 manor house is the central reservation.
For a Caribbean honeymoon the Buccaneer is a quieter, less obvious choice than the all-inclusive operators on St. Lucia or Antigua, the proposition is the unhurried family-owned heritage resort, the three private beaches, the oceanfront golf, and the Brass Parrot dinner room rather than a swim-up bar and a butler. Book a Beachside Cottage (the Mermaid Beach configuration is the honeymoon room) and ask reservations for the private dinner setup at Beauregard Bay.
The Buccaneer Beach & Golf Resort
5007 Estate Shoys
Christiansted, St. Croix 00820
U.S. Virgin Islands
Christiansted town 2 miles / 8 minutes; Henry E. Rohlsen Airport (STX) 25 minutes; the Buck Island ferry departs from Christiansted
131 rooms across Great House, Beachside Doubletree, Beachside Cottages & suites
Standard rooms from $400/night
Beachside Doubletree from $525/night
Beachside Cottage from $675/night
Bucanero Suite from $1,200/night
Check-in: 4:00 PM
Check-out: 11:00 AM
Founded 1947 by the Armstrong family
Continuously family-owned (the longest in the Caribbean)
Three private beaches (Mermaid, Beauregard, Cutlass Cove)
18-hole oceanfront golf course
8 tennis courts (2 lit)
Bucanero Kids' Camp (ages 4, 12)
Beachside spa pavilion
Three restaurants
1653 Great House dining (Brass Parrot)
Free WiFi throughout
From $400/night for the Standard. The Beachside Cottages and the Captain's Suite are the headline bookings. Peak windows are mid-December through April; book six months ahead for Christmas, Easter, and President's Day weeks.
Book This Hotel →The full editorial ranking of St. Croix hotels and resorts, from Christiansted heritage rooms to the south-coast eco-resorts.
The conventional USVI pairing, three nights of the Buccaneer's heritage on St. Croix with three nights at Caneel or Lovango on St. John.
St. Thomas hotels for the urban-Caribbean approach, Charlotte Amalie shopping, Magens Bay, the Ritz at Frenchman's Reef.