Cinnamon Bay Beach & Campground — Hotel in Saint John

Stayed for a week and had a great time, the location can't be beat. We stayed in a Terrace Cottage Oceanside unit which has a queen bed (and trundle day bed that we used as a couch). The bed was a bit firm and squeaky when moving around at night but not too bad. The bedroom has a wardrobe for hanging clothes as well as shelves for storage and there are drawers under the bed on one side and open space on the other side where we stashed our carry on suitcase. There were tons of outlets all around the unit, including beside the bedside tables which was very convenient. The combination of all of the louver windows and ceiling fans created a lovely breeze and kept things fairly cool at night. The sound of the ocean waves was amazing at night, it's your own natural white noise machine! The deck was lovely and had a view to the ocean, though the privacy plants did block some of the view. The terrace units have a full backyard style grill on the deck vs the lower units which had more of a camp stove style grill. The deck also includes a couple of Adirondack chairs and a picnic table. There were some ants on the deck so you should wear bug spray to avoid bites (we got some the first night), would also recommend bug spray for the beach to avoid sand fly bites. The kitchen has a nice table with 4 chairs, a fridge that holds a fair amount, a countertop above the fridge for prep, and includes basic pots and pans as well as a cutting board, plates/bowls/glasses/mugs/utensils for 4 people, a water jug, and a dish tub, strainer, and sponge. There is also a large igloo cooler provided and you can get bags of ice at the store. There is a sink with dish soap on either side of the bath house for washing dishes and filling the water jug. The walk to the bath house wasn't bad and only took a minute to get there and the path is pretty well lit with solar lights. The showers can be a bit brisk later at night, but is fairly warm if you do it late afternoon right after you're done on the beach for the day. You can do a linen exchange twice a week at the front desk (on Tuesday and Friday if I remember correctly) to get new linens. The restaurant is great for breakfast, we ate there multiple times for breakfast and once for dinner. Lunch is simple food at the food truck by the beach. You can also get limited groceries at the campground store and there were also great items there for souvenirs. The Cinnamon Bay Ruins trail across the road is neat, and we really enjoyed the America Hill hike that starts from there as well. It was a great morning hike and there is an excellent view. There is amazing snorkeling from the beach. In the sea grass area we saw multiple sea turtles, and in the reef area there was an amazing variety of fish. There are a variety of items you can rent from the water sports shop by the beach and they also lead group kayaking trips. Definitely check the bulletin board by the front desk for upcoming events. The national park also gives talks most nights. Other random things: The cottages lock with a normal type key and have a deadbolt on the inside as well. When you check in there are big wagons you can use to get to your cottage or tent. The wifi at the restaurant area is good, but phone service was spotty in our cottage. Would recommend bringing a clothes line and clothes pins as you can string it from one side of the railing to the other and hang your wet towels and bathing suits, etc (at campsites you couldn't do this as you can attach anything to trees). Also would recommend bringing a robe for going back and forth to the bath house when you shower, I found it very handy. There is no dedicated parking for people staying at the campground, it is all just one lot for anybody, but we never had a problem getting a spot, the only difficult time would be right in the middle of the day at peak beach times. Highly recommend a stay here if you don't mind just a little bit of...

I cannot for the life of me figure out why anyone would give this campground less than five stars. Sheer grumpiness? A bad digestive system?

This is a fabulous jewel in the National Park system. 2/3 of the island of St. John is the Virgin Islands National Park, and the campground at Cinnamon Bay (one of the best beaches on the island) is where you can stay for much less than almost anywhere else, where your "tent" might be less than 100 feet to the beach, as ours was.

The "eco-tents," in which we stayed for ten nights, are more like hotel rooms than tents---they are perhaps 14 x 14 feet, with a queen sized bed, at least 4 feet on each side, and another 5 feet at the foot of the bed. There is one overhead light, a ceiling fan, and one electrical outlet. There's shelving, a cooler, and an outside storage box (quite large, large enough for lots of luggage) that sits on the awning-covered deck with two Adirondack chairs.

Outside, there's a picnic table and a well-appointed kitchen box with a Coleman propane stove, and just about everything you need to cook--a pot, fry pan, lots of kitchen utensils--even a colander!--along with a wash basin inside your tent.

The bathrooms are immaculate, but simple--2 x 4s, counters, no painted surfaces. The showers are private, but open to the air--no roof!

Contrary to some reports, the showers are NOT cold. I wished they were, and especially at night, I could sometimes get cold water before it turned warm. You don't need to bring any soap or shampoo--they have coral reef friendly products in the showers, and those were always full.

The beach is glorious. A mile long, with coral reefs to the east (right) where you can snorkel less than 100 feet from shore. The coral is no big deal, but the fish! So many fish! In so many colors!

The restaurant at the campground is open for breakfast from 7 - 9:30, and dinner from 5:30 - 8:00 pm. Breakfast: two eggs, toast, meat, and fried potatoes for $13. I've had worse breakfasts in major cities for more money. Jane had the yogurt, granola and fruit for $11. They also have muffins, coffee, etc. Dinner: a weekly rotation, with a limited menu, but well-prepared. Entrees are from $24 - $35. On Thursday (burger night) I had a red snapper sandwich that was delicous. Painkillers (the unofficial national drink, comprised of rum, cream of coconut, orange & pineapple juice, with nutmeg sprinkled on top) are $10. Beer (made on the islands! Good beer!) is $6. Friday is Prime Rib night (or grilled mahi for me), both most tasty. Monday is pasta night, but it seemed to hot for pasta, so we had salads, and the next week got a pizza in Cruz Bay.

The restaurant is shockingly good for a national park. You could save some money by going to Cruz Bay, but the roads are narrow, dark as sin at night, and there's almost no parking in Cruz Bay.

The only drawback to paradise is the heat/humidity. Daytime highs in April were around 80F, with nighttime lows of around 77F, with humidity around 75%, and a dew point of the low 70s. Hard to get dry after a shower, and not the best sleeping. But we are from Minnesota, where it gets cool at night almost every month. So we're tropical outsiders.

The "General Store" has two wonderful women working there, but not a lot of real food. Stop in Cruz Bay at either supermarket if you want to cook anything for yourself.

Meat is surprisingly affordable, but any packaged goods are quite spendy if you're from the Lower 48. Triscuits: $9. Hummus: $8. Starbucks French Roast, ground: $21. Hotdogs: $8.

Any organized "car camper" could cook as many meals as they wanted at the eco-tent, but hey--the red snapper sandwich is pretty dang good. So is the Painkiller.

And the beach? To die for. ...

Excellent for what it is. For people who would like to visit the gorgeous but often quite spendy island of St. John this campground is quite a boon. I have stayed here twice and both times have deeply enjoyed my stay. First time was by myself, second was with the wife for our honeymoon, and third will be next year with the kiddos too. I will go over some of the upside and downside of this campground.

Pros- -Picture perfect setting. Cinnamon Bay is gorgeous. Good place to swim, or soak up the rays, or snorkel. -Cost. A bare camping site will cost you $35 a night. Not bad. For a large canvas tent with cots and camping supplies provided its $60ish. Around a hundred for one of the little cottages. Pretty decent considering the major resorts on this island can cost up to eight hundred a night easily. -Good security. Theft can be a problem in the USVI's and although I accidentally, on both trips, left out things that were fairly valuable (cell phone, camera) they were still there when I returned. I regularly saw security patrolling the grounds day and night. -Good variety of activities. The beach store which sells and rents things like snorkel masks and kayaks is well stocked. -Grounds are acceptably clean. Its a campground, not a Ritz-Hilton, but for what it is I found the upkeep on the property and overall quality of services here to be acceptable. -Its nice to have a small commissary on the campground where you can purchase items you may run out of or forgot at home. Spendy though.

Cons- -The restaurant (Tree Lizard Restaurant) sells so-so food for a lot of money considering what you get. I highly recommend that people traveling on the cheap bring most of their own food and eat out only occasionally. A couple of restaurants in Cruz Bay are reasonable (Woody's for example) but dining here gets expensive quick. -The staff is bored and indifferent at best. Generally speaking if you try to be polite in return the staff will be friendly to you... but this is something that should be expected. A little more professionalism from staff...