A 394-room two-tower resort on a 24-acre clifftop above Charlotte Amalie Harbor, rebuilt to the studs in 2022 after five years closed by Hurricane Irma, the largest resort in the U.S. Virgin Islands and the one with the working harbor view.
"The 1973 Frenchman's Reef, returned to scale in 2022 after Hurricane Irma, the largest resort on St. Thomas and the only one with this kind of harbor view."
Frenchman's Reef opened in 1973 as the largest resort in the U.S. Virgin Islands, a Hilton-flagged twin-tower complex carved into the 24-acre cliff that frames the eastern entrance to Charlotte Amalie Harbor. The property passed to Marriott in 2003 (operating as the Frenchman's Reef & Morning Star Marriott Beach Resort) and was closed by Category 5 Hurricane Irma in September 2017. Five years and $425 million of reconstruction later, the resort reopened in February 2022, split into two adjacent properties under the same operator: the all-ages Westin Beach Resort & Spa (formerly Frenchman's Reef) and the adults-only Morning Star Buoy Haus (formerly Morning Star). Together they comprise 394 rooms across two towers and the beachfront villas.
The standard Westin category is the Traditional Room (around 38 square metres with the 65-inch flat-screen, a king bed or two doubles, and a balcony, the Resort View versions face the gardens and pools, the Ocean View and Harbor View categories face Charlotte Amalie). The working category for an honest stay is the Premium Harbor View with the direct line of sight across the harbor to the cruise terminal, a uniquely St. Thomas tableau. Suites with separate living rooms are available in the Junior Suite and One-Bedroom Suite categories; the four-bedroom Presidential Villas at the beach level are the headline category. Interiors are 2022-current Westin standard, neutral palette, wellness-brand bedding, large bathrooms, plenty of charging.
There are six pools across the property (the cliff-edge main pool, the family pool, the lazy river, two adult quiet pools, and the Morning Star beachfront pool), four restaurants and three bars, the Spa at Frenchman's Reef (13 treatment rooms), and a 24-hour fitness centre. Lemongrass is the all-day buffet; Sails on the Bay is the seafood/grill on the harbor terrace; Marketplace handles quick-service; Off the Hook is the open-air beachfront seafood operation at Morning Star. The Mahogany Run golf course (the only 18-hole course on St. Thomas, designed by George and Tom Fazio) is a fifteen-minute drive.
The position is the great variable. The cliff site means the Westin's main beach is the small Morning Star Bay (reached by the resort's funicular down the cliff face) rather than a long Caribbean crescent, short by St. Thomas standards but a private resort beach that the cruise day-trippers cannot reach. The compensating asset is the harbor view, which is the most consistently photographed in the U.S. Virgin Islands: the resort sits directly above the harbor mouth, with Charlotte Amalie, Bluebeard's Castle, and the cruise terminal arrayed across the water at eye level. For families needing scale, for groups needing room capacity, and for the working business traveller who needs the harbor view and the airport in twenty minutes, this is the practical answer.
Families work well here for the scale and the variety, six pools, the lazy river, the funicular ride down the cliff to Morning Star Beach, the Kids' Club, the multiple casual restaurants, and the room categories with two double beds and proper balconies. The all-ages Westin tower is the family side (the adults-only Morning Star Buoy Haus tower is for couples without children) and the family suites take connecting-room and extra-cot configurations reflexively.
For a working-couple anniversary that wants the U.S. Virgin Islands without the Ritz-Carlton price point, the Westin's Premium Harbor View rooms are the answer, the view across to Charlotte Amalie is genuinely one of the Caribbean's most distinctive, Sails on the Bay handles the anniversary dinner, the spa runs to thirteen treatment rooms, and the rates run roughly 30, 40% below the Ritz for comparable categories. The funicular ride down to Morning Star Beach is the small ritual that the anniversary trip remembers.
Bachelor and bachelorette groups work here for the practical reasons that single-property villas do not, the six pools and three bars give a group of ten reasons not to leave, the Morning Star Buoy Haus side (adults-only) takes the louder fraction of the party, the resort runs day-charter boats from its own marina to the British Virgin Islands, and the room block on a single corridor of one tower is the kind of logistics that small villas cannot replicate.
5 Estate Bakkeroe
00802 Charlotte Amalie
U.S. Virgin Islands
394 rooms across two towers
Traditional Room from $450/night
Premium Harbor View from $625/night
Junior Suite from $950/night
Presidential Villa from $4,500/night
Check-in: 3:00 PM
Check-out: 12:00 PM
WiFi: complimentary, high-speed throughout
Six pools incl. lazy river
Funicular to Morning Star Beach
Four restaurants and three bars
Spa at Frenchman's Reef (13 rooms)
Westin Heavenly Bed brand standard
Kids' Club + adults-only tower
Reopened 2022 after $425M rebuild
From USD 450/night. Peak rates apply during high season; book three to four months ahead for the headline suite categories.
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