The Palms at Pelican Cove — Restaurant in Saint Croix

Stayed at the Palms for a week at the end of April/beginning of May. Lobby, restaurant and bar are open air. Front desk staff was very nice and helped us schedule excursions. They have a little "store" right next to the desk where you can get a cold bottle of soda or water, a snack, or rum. Pool towels and snorkel equipment are available to the left of the desk. There's also a sitting area, bathroom and computer in the lobby area.

Food in the restaurant is good and the view is nice, but service is slow and some of the servers give the impression that they don't care. Twice, we ordered only to find out 15 minutes later that they were out of what we ordered. Drinks and service at the bar were ok, lots of locals at the bar. Caribbean Night was pricey, but food good and entertainment fun - drinks aren't included in the price! You can reserve a specific table but they don't guarantee you'll get it --- go for the table in the corner under the pavilion for the best view.

Beach is "natural" and covered in seaweed and other debris. Makes it tough to walk in bare feet. Surf in the area was VERY rough - we're talking white caps breaking on the beach rough. Hotel advertises you can snorkel right off the beach... not if you want to live! Waves and current were too rough to even consider snorkeling. Several locals told us someone was was pulled out to sea trying to swim in the area. We asked about the snorkeling trip they offer, but the guide wasn't available during our stay. When we asked about snorkeling off the beach, the front desk clerk told us you can't snorkel there and have to go down the beach, past some old pier.

The pool is fresh water, they don't add chemicals which means you'll find crabs, bees and other critters swimming with you... including iguanas!! They dive right in and one even sat on the bottom for awhile. Condition of the pool area was extremely lacking. Multiple tiles missing around the edge of the pool. Lounge chairs and tables around the pool are coverd in grim, bird droppings, etc. We had to put towels down on them to sit. They have a few noodles and a raft you can use. Non-guests can use the pool for a fee. Every afternoon, there were local kids taking swimming lessons. There is no pool service - if you want food or drink, you'll need to go to the bar yourself. There's also a ping pong table on the pool deck --- that's the extent of the available activities on site.

The rooms are spacious, but the decor is dated and the a/c very hard to control - it's either freezing cold or hot. Would have loved to be able to just leave the door open and let the ocean air in. We could during the day, but at night the bugs pour in because there are no screens on the sliding door. Floors in the rooms are tile, good for keeping clean, really slippery with wet feet - we had to put towels down on the floors to keep from slipping and falling. The biggest problems with the room were the musty smell, noise, and cleanliness. When we first arrived and when we would return to the room after it had been closed up, there was a distinct musty smell - another reason to open the door and let fresh air in! Sound proofing in the rooms is pretty non-existent. We like to sleep in, but were woken up every morning by the shower, toilet or talking in neighboring rooms. There was a spider web on one of the bedside lamps for our entire stay and green algae growing between the rocks on shower floor. The in-room safe is an old key lock box in the wall in the closet. Room doors also still use old fashioned keys. Rooms are also quite a walk from the lobby/restaurant/pool area. If you ask, they will drive you back and forth in a golf cart. At night the walking path is a bit dark, you may want to take a flashlight, but we did feel safe walking.

Maurice, the cab driver is AWESOME! Wish we found out about him sooner, would have had him take us on an island tour instead of doing the Sweeny tour. If you go to town ($10 one way), you can pre-arrange a pick-up or call him when you're ready to return...

I just returned home from St. Croix. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy my stay.

The Downright Trifling

My room (#24) in Building B was INFESTED with roaches. From the moment I entered the room until I checked out, I was fighting and killing roaches all day and night. Listen, before you think I'm a preMadonna, I expect a lady bug, water beetle or ant here and there. I've traveled all over the world, so I know how to temper my first world expectations. No, there was an entire army of roaches.

They were everywhere - climbing on the bed, my luggage, in the shower and sink in the bathroom, they were even climbing on the ceiling, making them hard to kill. After killing about a dozen or so roaches minutes after I entered the room after checking in, I called the Front Desk to inform them of the issue and to request to be moved to another room.

I was advised that the entire resort had a roach issue, so moving me would not solve the problem. The attendant offered to send someone out the next morning to spray. I was happy and relieved with this offer. I'm thinking, with a professional treatment, I may have to deal with one or two over the next 5 days, but not an army. HA!

The next morning a Latino male shows up with a bottle of domestic Raid that you can get at any convenience store. Having dealt with roaches in my apartment in my 20s, I knew spraying Raid was like putting a bandaid on a gunshot wound. However, the man was kind enough to leave the entire bottle with me when I asked if he could come back and spray again if I saw more.

I kept the bottle on the nightstand next to the bed, as I found them climbing up the bed one night. I even took the bottle with me to the bathroom in the middle of the night when I went to pee.

It is for this reason, and this reason alone, that I did not enjoy my stay. I was so petrified of one hitchhiking in my luggage that my normal 30 minute re-packing on my final day took 2 1/2 hours.

The Bad

Safe - The safe in my room had a pre-set code. I could not change it. I have never had accommodations that offered a safe that I could not customize the security code. The Front Desk attendant gave me the code over the phone while I had her on speaker. The housekeeper was in the room, so the code that the Front Desk Attendant swore only her and the owner knew was now known by the housekeeper.

Needless to say, I kept my valuables locked up in my luggage. It was better that way given I didn't unpack, preferring to keep my luggage sealed to avoid roaches getting inside. And yes, I saw roaches climbing over my luggage, too. I did say they were everywhere!

Phone - Speaking of phones. My room did not have one. I travel all over the world. This is the FIRST time I have ever had accommodations where a phone was not made available. When I called the Front Desk, I had to use my personal cell phone.

Ridiculous.

Grounds - You can tell the owner does not care about the grounds whatsoever. The beach is riddled with seaweed and trash. There are overgrown weeds all throughout the sand. I almost tripped one day on a weed vine trying to get to the beach. Be careful if you decide to walk the beach, there's all types of trash hidden in the sand.

Bell Boy - There is NO ONE to help you carry your luggage to your room, to show you where your room is or to give you a small tour of your room. You are on your own.

Lifeguard - There aren't any. Not for the beach or the pool. Swim at your own risk.

Employee Morale - Everyone was really nice, but you can tell morale is low.

Poolside Service - There wasn't any. You want a drink? Go to the bar and get it yourself. Or better yet, be like me, buy a bottle of rum at the store and put it in your thermal bottle with ice and just sip on it all day.

The Good

Restaurant - Service was slow, but the food was decent.

Entertainment - On weekends, they have live music. I didn't realize how much I missed live music with the pandemic, until the Saturday night...

Not generally my eatery of choice, but the location is convenient to my condominium complex (