January 5, 2004 -- A Caribbean vacation is popular with Americans because it's affordable, it's a climate change easily made with a less than a day's travel and because of offers like the "USVI Ice Breaker" that gives you a free night's stay when you book a room for six nights, a $50 American Express traveler's check, plus little gimmes like a long-sleeved tee-shirt and a ski-cap. The cheapest room rates for the participating properties come in at $100 per night.
Among the hotels and resorts participating in this promotion are, on St. Croix, the Club St. Croix, the Colony Cove, the Carambola Beach Resort, the Chenay Bay Beach Resort, the Divi Carina Bay Beach Resort, the Frederiksted Hotel, and the Sugar Beach Condominiums.
On St. John, the sole participant is the Westin Resort & Villas.
On St. Thomas, participating are the Best Western Carib Beach Resort, the Best Western Emerald Beach Resort, The Holiday Inn Windward Passage, the Marriott Frenchman's Reef, the Sapphire Beach Resort & Marina, the Secret Harbour Beach Resort, and the Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort & Spa.
At one of the cheaper places to stay, the Frederiksted Hotel, rates on their website indicate double poolside rooms as little as $100 a day (or $630 per week). Oceanside rooms are $10 more each day. Kids 12 and under stay free, they say, when staying with adult in the same room. The hotel has a pool, a sundeck and a full-service restaurant, and each room has cable TV, air-conditioning, phone, microwave and refrigerator. Contact them at 800/595-9519 or online at www.frederikstedhotel.com. (No mention is made of the Ice Breaker program on the site, but a phone call confirmed the prices posted there and participation in the program.)
As with all properties mentioned above, there is an extra 7% government hotel tax and a $1 per night special tax.
The program runs from January 11 through April 18, 2004, and you must book by March 15, through a travel agent only. Blackout dates apply at select properties. For more information, contact your travel agent or one of the hotels.
For additional information about the Virgin Islands, visit our free online destination guide at www.frommers.com/destinations/virginislands. You can also get information from the offical tourist site at www.usvitourism.vi.
