My daughter and I went to the US Virgin Islands for Spring Break and I managed to find this nice resort at the last minute. It’s about a half hour away from the airport on a quiet side of the island and right near the ferry.

When we got to the Crystal Cove Resort we missed the entrance at first and had to drive back. There’s a little building in the front of a gate where you pick up the keys. The lady was very nice and gave us our keys and some beach towels and explained how the gate worked. Make sure you keep the gate number. I just put it on my phone and that’s all I needed.

Our Unit

Our unit was clean but I have a feeling this was probably the last one available because of the decor. They are privately owned units that the resort handles renting out. They are condos and you can either get a studio style place or a larger one with a master bedroom. The studio though is actually a Murphy bed with two single beds that come down. Not as comfortable as a full bed. The condo was dated and while it was great to have a kitchen, the utensils were a little cheap and the stove was old and the whole thing would get super hot.

view from kitchen crystal cove — The Twin Murphy Beds We Slept on For a Week. View from the Kitchen

I joked to my daughter that the Ropers must have left this to us for the weekend, but she didn’t get it. I had to explain Three’s Company to her but she didn’t get it. Anyway, totally Mr’s Roper’s kitchen. The porch was also not usable and clearly where they stored some things. But the price was reasonable and the place was clean and everything worked. The resort itself was very nice and right on the beach. I think we’d be happy to go back, but just be a little more discerning about which unit I’d get. I spoke with some other guests who talked about how beautiful their units were.

Mrs Ropers couch, Crystal Cove Resort St Thomas Virgin Islands — Hey, Mrs. Roper called and she wants her couch back!

The Caribbean Vibe

When we arrived it was Sunday and there was a great party vibe going on down by the bar and restaurant. We went and got something to eat and I had my first Pina Colada in awhile. It was great. The beach was beautiful and it has some great views. The only downside was that the bar closes at sundown, so I had thought I’d go home, take a nap and come back out. However, when I got there it was all closed down and each day it closed early. I had envisioned making dinner for my daughter, and then walking down the walkway and grabbing a Mai Tai in the evening with the adults but it was completely quiet by 7pm. Oh well. It was still relaxing.

The Wildlife

One of the first things we noticed was the free range chickens. It’s a thing in the Virgin Islands. It’s not like pigeons but these chickens just roam around freely and the chicks are so cute. Also, iguanas are fairly common so my daughter was in her glory. My daughter told me on the plane she’d love to see an iguana close up so mission ACCOMPLISHED!

free range chickens, St Thomas, Virgin Islands — Talk about free-range, cage-free chickens. If I were a chicken this is where I would want to be.

The Beach

Each morning I got up early and went out to the beach to watch the sun rise. It was so relaxing and of course, I would have brought my daughter along but you just try to get a teenager up at dawn to sit on a beach on their week off. So one of our days there I just got to the beach in the morning, took a swim and when I came out of the water there was a woman hanging dresses in a tree. So for $20 I got the loveliest tie-dyed beach coverup/dress. I wish I had bought a few more.

You can tell that the resort got hit hard during the Hurricane but they have done a lot of work to restore everything and focused on the areas where people would use most. There’s also another resort next store that shared Sapphire Beach with us that has a nice pool and also looks really nice. So when booking I’d take a look at both of them.

Crystal Cove Unit kitchen, St Thomas Virgin Islands — The Kitchen in Our Unit at Crystal Cove Resorts

Either way if you are looking for a clean, chill, quiet beachfront condo, this is the place for you. But make sure you know the specific unit you are getting and what it looks like so you can avoid the dated rooms with the ancient VCRs and resin utensils.

However, no matter what condo you get you absolutely can’t beat the sun rises. Check out my pics and also go here for more info about Crystal Cove Resort

Skiing in Lake Tahoe

So after the CES show I made a quick jump up to Lake Tahoe to check out the skiing up there. I’d noticed that Heavenly Resort was one of the most searched on ski resorts this winter so I had to see what it was about. I flew up after the show and met some ex-ski instructor friends who live in the area vbefore heading home. Here’s my take on everything:

Heavenly Resort Ski Resort

It’s an interesting mountain with beautiful views. Most of the trails are intermediate so it’s great for families with children. Everywhere you look there are decent, long, wide trails with slopes that are challenging but not super aggressive. There are a few blacks but you have to work to get to them and then my friends who used to teach there, told me there’s a big jump between blue and black in these areas. So be careful if you have young children. You might find yourself going from a nice easy blue to a monster black. Even so, the trails were covered in powder so even if you had to pick your way down with a little one it might not be so dire.

Since I didn’t have my daughter with me this time, I was able to go full throttle, which was nice, except that I found myself bored with the mountain. For the $125 lift ticket price, I would have liked a few tougher trails besides the scary blacks tucked away in the corner. So I would say if you have a mixed bag of skier levels with you, and kids, this is the place to be. If you are on your own or with very experienced skiers, I’d opt for another mountain. My ski instructor friends said Squaw is better for expert level.

It’s a little odd how you can’t buy your tickets from anywhere on the mountain. I find that obnoxious. I would have liked to have been able to order my tickets and have them waiting in my room the way I can in Tremblant. And there are no discounts, so if I am going to pay $125 a person, I don’t want to have to wait on line to do it. Order them on the mountain’s website and give yourself time because the site is a little clunky. Desktop is a lot easier than mobile. Also parking is tough but there’s free parking behind Harrah’s. From South Lake you actually take a Gondola up to the mountain so it’s a little disconcerting not being able to walk to the main lodge from the parking lot. I drove around and around trying to find a big entrance to the mountain until I realized the bottom of the Gondola was it. There are also a few other access points to get on the hill from the Gondola is the main one.

Overall, definitely a mountain I would go back to when in the area but wouldn’t make a big trip out to go there if I have to make a big trip out of it.

The Ridge Resort

I got an upgrade because I’m an Expedia gold member and while I booked a hotel room I ended up in a beautiful apartment with views of the village. Large master bed, a living room, with fireplace and a full size kitchen and dining table. The bed pulls out as well, plenty of room for a large family.

One thing that wasn’t made clear to me was that you can’t just rent any car from the airport to get up the hill. The Ridges is located at the very tippy top of exactly that, a ridge. The road goes straight up. I rented an Elantra and on the way up were signs all over about chains and 4 wheel drive when signs are flashing. With the sun melting the snow and the run off continually soaking the road, I knew if I went down into town I better get myself back up that mountain before the sun went down and it began to freeze. So I would recommend not booking this place unless your car can handle steep drives up and down in inclement weather, unless you feel like being stuck up there after sundown.

The Ridges is more of a compound with several buildings, scattered around the main lodge. There’s no housing inside the lodge itself but it’s where you go for the fitness room and spa. I didn’t love that you had to trek out in the cold to get to the spa or fitness center, or grocery store, especially since it was a pretty steep walk. They do have buses but it seemed kooky to me to wait for a bus to take you only a short distance, so I just hoofed it.

There’s a nice bar and restaurant in the lodge, except sadly the weekend I was there it was completely booked for a wedding. So I only got to hear the party going on from downstairs. One of the reasons I booked this place was because I knew they had a nice bar and restaurant on the premises, so that combined with the fact that I didn’t want to risk the drive down the mountain, really kind of stunk.

The best part of the Ridges is it has it’s own private gondola that will take you right down to the ski area. It’s about a ten minute ride and remember to bring your key with you to call the gondola. It’s a great feature, the only downside to it is you don’t get to go to all the cool restaurants down in town by the main gondola.

Information on Heavenly Ski Resort

The Ridge Resort