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4.0
#1 of 1 all-inclusive in South Coast
Location
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Value
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Since 1974, Bolongo Bay Beach Resort has welcomed guests from around the world curious to discover life in the Caribbean. Bolongo Bay is a small, authentic Caribbean beach resort on the southern coast of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. Located in a beautiful bay touching the Caribbean Sea, Bolongo Bay offers a perfect harmony of relaxation, solitude & adventure.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
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Bolongo Bay Beach Resort is lauded for its serene porch views and engaging live music, providing a restful atmosphere and a range of activities that guests enjoy. While the service receives mixed reviews for occasional slowness and lapses in attention, many visitors appreciate the friendly staff. Accommodations are deemed basic yet comfortable, with commendable cleanliness, although there's a consensus on the need for room updates and more reliable air conditioning.
The resort's amenities, including the popular Heavenly Days Catamaran, are highlights, even as some guests suggest enhancements. However, the overall value is questioned due to meal reservation policies and additional costs.
Atmosphere
Lively
Rooms
Basic
Value
Expensive
Cleanliness
Mixed
Service
Inconsistent
Amenities
Satisfactory
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We had such a fantastic time at Bolongo Bay! We stayed for four nights and only left the property one time to see Coral World. The resort is more like a hotel, but everyone is so warm and inviting. We brought our four month old daughter and by day two all of the staff knew her name and came to greet her whenever we’d head over to Iggy’s for meals. The food and drinks were spectacular. There wasn’t a single item on the food menu that we didn’t love. We went all-inclusive so it was nice not to have to worry about prices. They let you take a bottle of wine to your room every night if you choose! The bay is small, which I liked, and really beautiful! We snorkeled every single day and the coral and wildlife are so healthy! The beach was really clean and there were enough chairs and umbrellas to go around. The rooms are a little outdated as other reviewers mention, BUT the bed was very comfortable and the room was clean, and when you’re on vacation, you really aren’t spending much time in your room anyway. Our room was on the ground level and walked out directly to the beach, which was fantastic with the baby! If she got fussy, I could just bring her in easily for a nap. The pool is small, but it never got crowded and we stuck to the beach mostly. The entire place never felt crowded no matter where we were. We didn’t have to wait to be seated ever, the beach wasn’t overtaken with too many people, etc. We would absolutely stay here again!
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Date of stay: January 2020Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
So the rooms are dated. Just get that out of the way. If you are looking for a luxurious bed and up to date bathroom this is not the place for you. However the rooms were clean and the views from the balcony were amazing. Now if you are looking for fun, great service with a smile and good food and drinks, then this is the spot for you. I traveled with a large work group and everyone had a great time. Breakfast was satisfying, we were not there for lunch, but dinners were good and great portions. I had the burger and the Mahi and both were excellent. Salads were good too! We did not take advantage of all the amenities because we took day trips but there was plenty to do on the resort as well. At night the bar was lively with music and drinks flowing! I would go back again!
Few suggestions: I would ask for extra blankets when you get there though. Only 1 sheet on the bed and it got chilly. Also, confirm tipping and how the all inclusive works when you check in. Some people had questions about charges when we checked out. Bring a reusable bottle or buy bottled water off site. They charge $2 for a small bottle of water but have a large container of cold water you can use to fill water bottles. Have fun!
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Date of stay: March 2020
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Trip type: Travelled on business
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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I just came back from a 5 night stay here and it was great. There are plenty of bad reviews on here, so I’ll address some of that first. 1. This isn’t a Sandals, so if that’s what you want, I suggest you go to Sandals. 2. If you want a beach that is constantly raked by the staff and is perfect(ly) devoid of all wildlife, this isn’t the place for you. The beach was clean of trash, but there are rocks, sea grass, etc. 3. Like other reviewers have mentioned, the bathrooms are not updated, HOWEVER, they were clean. They don’t look gorgeous, but I didn’t find anything gross in there either. A little rust, some chipped paint, but that didn’t bother me.
Overall, I had a great stay here. I got the all inclusive package and stayed in RM 116. The view was gorgeous! The staff were great. A manager spoke to us at least once a day while we were out and about just to say hello and ask if we needed anything.
The food: All of our food (and drinks) were included, and we ate almost every meal at the resort. There were only a couple of drinks that weren’t included, and they gave us a description of what those were when we checked in. Bottled water is also not included, but the tap water was great, and you can get water from the bar anytime.
The room: like I said before, the room is not updated, however, it was very clean. The bed was very comfortable (and I’m one of those people who gets back pain easily from a bad bed). It was quiet. The view was awesome.
The beach: I loved the beach here. That being said, I go to the islands to admire the wildlife, so I didn’t mind the rocky beach. There are iguanas and small lizards, birds, beautiful plants. It was awesome. Snorkeling is awesome. If you snorkel out past the sea grass there are rocks and corals. It was great. All just a few steps outside the door.
I would definitely stay again.
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Date of stay: December 2020Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed at the Bolongo for our trip to St. Thomas and ended up doing the all-inclusive option which was completely worth it especially when it rained. We were able to still enjoy the resort even though some of the other things we had planned were canceled that day. We also really enjoyed the resort because they had generators ready to go when the power briefly went out during the storm.
The room had double beds with a kitchenette, closet, and a balcony with the beach view which was great. Housekeeping came daily even in the pandemic so that was super helpful. The only downfall to the room itself would be the fact that the shower is super small.
The staff was friendly and accommodating at every touchpoint. Whether it was getting food and drinks to getting a taxi, everyone was able to help and chip in to make sure we enjoyed our stay. A friend of mine even had a later flight and they allowed her to hang around the resort after check out until it was time for her to head to the airport.
All in all, I would recommend the Bolongo to someone else with the all-inclusive option. They had tons to do on the resort itself and are located on a great side of the island that makes it easy to get to other places across St. Thomas.
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Date of stay: May 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This small resort actually has most of the amenities of the big places all on sight with a friendly staff that goes out of the way to make your stay special. We hosted teams there for The Paradise Jam and the teams and their guests could not have been treated better, from a welcome night tented beach buffet to a late night dockside cocktail party. Owners' son, Michael joined us on the catamaran with his drone and thrilled us with stories of growing up on the island. Private chef Ryan Burke and assistant Jenae covered our food, meeting special needs of athletes above and beyond. While there were always sufficient vegan choices on the team's buffet, Ryan would come out with something special for each guest with a specific diet. Hosts Laurie and Keith were one step ahead of us at every step anticipating needs and fulfilling desires. Owners Richard and Paul and their wives were a delight as always. There was security team on duty at all times. they are upgrading rooms after hurricane damage and they will probably never have the sterile look of a big hotel. Nightly entertainment at poolside bar always welcomed us back from the day's adventure. One of our favorite stories from this trip was when one of our team's VIPs arrived on flight before team and found his way to the resort. Panicked, we called ahead to make sure he was recognized. The response was, "No problem, Katerina is already at the outside bar introducing him to the island's famous "Bushwacker".
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Date of stay: November 2019
Value
Location
Service
Room Tip:Â First level walkout 20 feet from the Caribbean! It doesn't look great from the road,...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
PROS: Food is decent but menu is limited, staff is mostly very nice, location is wonderful but not walking distance to anything, resort is clean although very dated, great live music at dinner, private-ish beach, boating excursions right at the resort, it’s not snowing here.
CONS: Smokers paradise - which ruins sitting on your balcony and enjoying...anything. There is a designated smoking area but staff cares more about you masking up than where people smoke.
Loud drunks in the evening, nothing done to quiet things down. This is NOT a restful place.
Service during breakfast and lunch is terrible. Reservations for breakfast at an empty restaurant seems odd to me. Staff is nice, but not on top of things and little leadership keeping things moving. You’ll wait a very long time for food and then long again for your bill. Dinner is better but you need a reservation or getting a table is difficult.
If you are a heavy drinker and smoker, this is the place. If not, recommend staying elsewhere. Not a great review because it’s not an inexpensive place. For what we paid, and we had the all inclusive option, we expected better, or at least better service. Also, I want to stress how friendly 98% of the staff is.
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Date of stay: March 2021Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed at this resort because my husband wanted to do an all inclusive resort it was noting like the pictures on the brochure or website extremely out dated and a bit run down .The beach was an extreme disappointment due to massive amount of sea weed we could not do any water activities what so ever and yes it had a pool that was very small .The food was decent and the wait staff was great but management definitely need better training dealing with hotel guest . It was extremely disappointing for the amount of money you pay to say at an all inclusive resort it was extremely disappointing I would honestly not recommend any one to stay here because like I said it was noting like the pictures thank God we stayed busy doing other things in the island because for me it was mot what I expected that place needs to get remodeled and spruced up to say the least.Extremely disappointing
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Date of stay: September 2021Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed in 3 rooms (3 couples) and each room had small showers with mildewy shower curtains in the bathroom, rust rimmed toilets and musty sheets. The beach is pebbly so bring water shoes. This is a privately owned, operated and run place so expected limited and slow service. They will look out for their pocketbook before they look out for their customers. Sole proprietor was definitely more concerned about his own welfare before his workers or customers.
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Date of stay: March 2020Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
My husband and I stayed here for our honeymoon in October. As soon as we got to our room, I thought we were in the wrong place. All the pictures online have definitely had some editing done or are very old. The rooms are outdated and have a very strong mildew smell that is hard to get rid of (my suitcase still had the smell after being cleaned after returning home) I saw another review on here where another bride cried when she entered her room, I had the same reaction and wanted to go home after just two days. The showers are small and the water pressure sucks. We had the “all inclusive” package. The food at the restaurant is very very limited but pretty good. Make sure you make a reservation for dinner and breakfast every day!! We thankfully found this out from another couple staying there our first day. The drinks were good. The staff at the hotel and the beach were all very sweet and tried to accommodate you as much as possible. The restaurant staff however did not seem to care at all about whether or not you enjoy your stay. The beach is covered in seaweed and you ABSOLUTELY need to bring water shoes, I recommend looking into other beaches near by if you do decide to stay here because there are a lot of beautiful beaches in St Thomas. The pool is cute but very small, if you’re a couple looking for a quiet get away keep in mind this is a family friendly resort and there will almost always be kids in the pool with you. And if you’re a family looking to have family friendly fun, the resort did not really have much for kids to do. Also, this may seem like common knowledge but make sure you bring enough sunscreen and bug spray! I unfortunately did not and the store at the hotel was closed 90% of the time we were there(Again if you stay, the staff will try to accommodate you, the front desk staff were so helpful and opened the store for us to grab the things we needed!) I honestly would not recommend this place to anyone but if you are already booked or don’t have many other options, as I said the staff will try to accommodate you, just don’t get the all inclusive and go explore the island more instead!
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Date of stay: October 2021Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This was our first visit to St. Thomas and it did not disappoint! We enjoyed our stay at bolongo. The all inclusive package was well worth it- food was amazing and definitely saves you so much money by going all inclusive. Great portion sizes and I don’t think we had one disappointing meal! The only down side I can think of are yes, the rooms are very dated and in need of a major upgrade, but they are closed for the month of September so perhaps they’ll start the process of updating rooms, especially bathrooms. We LOVED going on the Heavenly Days catamaran with captain Earl and his lovely crew. They leave right off the dock at Bolongo so it’s very convenient. Captain Earl is awesome and made us feel safe but also made sure we had an amazing time and saw some cool things! Definitely book a trip with him if you can! The beach at Bolongo is nice- it is quite rocky so bring water shoes if possible (I think I saw them for sale in the gift shop also). There can be seaweed but that’s out of their hands- they can’t control the wind! If you want the most bang for your buck, this is definitely the place. I’m telling you, the cost we saved on food alone made it worth it without a doubt. We spoke with other guests staying at different resorts and they’re spending $100+ on each meal alone… crazy! We loved our stay here and definitely recommend; it gave us the reset we needed!
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Date of stay: August 2022Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I can’t give you a quote, but I highly recommend that you don’t stay there. Read all of the bad reviews, look at the pictures, and believe what you are reading. There are much nicer places to stay.
"I recommend arranging private transport from the airport if possible. The shared cabs took forever to drop me off.
Definitely take the Heavenly Days catamaran!!"
There are more places to choose from in the South Coast area.
PRICE RANGE
C$567 - C$748 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
bolongo bay beach hotel south coast, hotel bolongo bay beach, bolongo bay beach resort, bolongo bay st thomas
LOCATION
CaribbeanU.S. Virgin IslandsSt. ThomasSouth Coast
NUMBER OF ROOMS
74
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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