I assume the 1.5 year old belongs to you? I ask because we have a toddler.

Which room/location are you staying? We want to plan a trip with our 2 year old. We stayed on Scott Beach a few times but need to move due to the child restrictions.

Is your room remodelled?

What other restaurants are currently open at Caneel?

Just curious - will be arriving this weekend for our second trip to Caneel. This time instead of going around the island to eat we are staying put at Caneel probably eating dinners at the Equator. We purchased the meal plan. If you also purchased a meal plan, are you leaving tips on the table or assuming that gratuities are part of what you paid for the plan? Are you leaving a gratuity at the breakfast buffet? I'm always unsure of tipping no matter where I travel.

It has been a few years since we did the meal plan but I think the grats were included. We left a few extra dollars in the check folder as we felt the servers did a great job. Ask at check in.

Lucky you! I am trying to fit a Caneel trip in between the big group trip. We haven't stayed there in a few years and I miss it! We eat breakfast at Caneel at least once during our annual STJ trip.

Just a note...we purchased the meal plan last year and ended up going over the prescribed amount every day and paying more. You might check this out first. Paying for individual meals might actually have been cheaper. We did leave tips, but I'm not sure whether they are already added in or not. You need to ask the people at Caneel this sort of question.

We've gone off and on to Caneel for more than 25 years and it remains one of our favorite places, too.

Hi folks, to answer your questions:

1) We're staying (for the second time) in Hawksnest room 113. We absolutely love Hawksnest, even requesting the same room, which is a quick trip to the tram and has its own hammock right outside on the beach. If not 113, I'd go for 117, which also has a hammock. We like this because we use a baby monitor so we can swim & sun while the little one sleeps, and if you go to far left or right on the beach, the monitor doesn't work. As for upstairs neighbors, etc, we keep asking people and *no one* has heard the baby cry ... it's about as private and sound-insulated as you can get.

2) Yes, the room is renovated from last year.

3) Technically Caneel has 4 restaurants, though effectively three: Turtle Bay (no kids), Equator (yes kids), Beach Bar (lighter fare, quicker kid escape), and the Beach Terrace (only open for breakfast buffet & saturday dinner buffet). The Beach Bar and Beach Terrace are sorta the same restaurant, never open at the same time, and using the same kitchen.

4) Tips are *not* included in the mealplan. We've been leaving 10% at the buffets and 20% everywhere else. This is probably high, but we really love everyone who works here. We talk with everyone and know most people by name. They all dote on Isabel too.

That's my #1 piece of advise. Take the time to talk to everyone. It'll transform your trip 100%.

5) As for whether the meal plan is worth it, we split our trip, half on, half off. The half-off part we rent a jeep and eat at isand restaurants. As for whether the plan is worth it ...it depends. If you go the breakfast buffet and load up each day, and go to the Equator and pig out, then it's defintely worth it. If you have a frig and take home lots of stuff for lunch, then it's worth it. If you eat at the Turtle Bay house, it's definately worth it. If you eat at the beach bar, or skip a meal or eat somewhere else, it's NOT worth it :)

Bottom line, you're not just paying for food at Caneel. We paid $20 for breakfast in town at the Tamarind Inn, and we pay $60 off-plan at the breafast buffet. Yeah, three times is three times, but it *feels* so much more convenient and extravagant. I look at the meal plan as part of the room cost, and I look at the room cost as mostly grounds & beach maintance fees ;)

btw, photos from last year, which show Hawksnest 113, etc:

http://storymill.com/mu/teefal/item/tp3053

Great pictures! We have been going to Caneel Bay for 14 years now, and I think you really captured the reason why in your photos.

Dave