--- title: "Westin St. John: Fees, Unit Sizes, and a Villa Instead · Virgin Islands Villas" url: https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/westin-vs-villa description: "The Westin St. John beside a villa on Great Cruz Bay: parking, room tax, unit sizes and the pool redone in August 2026, and what a week from an owner changes." updated: 2026-10-10 source: https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/westin-vs-villa --- [St. John](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john) · Villa or resort # The Westin St. John or a villa nearby? The Westin St. John suits a short stay with young children: a kids club, a pool and a beach on foot, 9 minutes from Cruz Bay, with no resort fee and $25 a day parking on rentals since June 2026. A villa suits a group past ten or a longer stay. Below: the table, the rules, an owner's week. Written by Virgin Islands Villas · Facts checked Oct 2026 ## Westin or villa: the comparison in one table Rates are left out of this table on purpose. The resort quotes by date on Marriott's own site, and every villa's page shows its owner's rate for your dates, so the honest comparison is the one you run on the same week. | | The Westin St. John | A villa near Great Cruz Bay | | --- | --- | --- | | What you rent | A studio to three-bedroom unit, 433 to 2,850 sq ft | A whole house, sized on its listing | | Kitchen | Kitchenette in most units, full kitchen in some | Listed on each villa's page | | Beach and pool | 1,200 feet of beach, quarter-acre pool (refurbished in August 2026) | The house's own pool where it has one; the resort's beach only where the owner holds access | | Fees beyond the rate | No resort fee; parking $25 a day on rentals | Whatever the owner lists: cleaning, deposit | | Tax | 12.5% hotel room tax | The same 12.5% | | Who answers | The resort, 340-693-8000 | The owner, by name | | Drive to Cruz Bay | 9 minutes | 12 minutes from the area's center | ## What the Westin St. John is, and who runs it The Westin St. John is a timeshare resort that also rents. Its official name is the Westin St. John Resort Villas, and its page sits on the Marriott Vacation Clubs site, where owners log in to use their ownership and anyone else can check availability as a rental; the old Vistana page for the resort now forwards there. Units at the resort can be swapped for time elsewhere through Abound by Marriott Vacations, per the same page. The resort describes 47 acres on Great Cruz Bay, on the southwest coast of St. John, with 1,200 feet of beach, a quarter-acre pool, a kids club for ages 4 to 12, and three places to eat: two open, Lemongrass and Mango Deli, and Snorkels Bar & Grill listed as temporarily closed, as of October 2026. Check-in is 4 pm and check-out 10 am. Family pets are not allowed: the resort charges a $500 Room Recovery Fee if one is found, and service animals are welcome without a fee, as of October 2026. It is 9 minutes by car from Cruz Bay by our measurement, over the hill south of town. The Great Cruz Bay beach page covers the sand and the shoreline law; this page is about the stay. ## Westin St. John fees and unit sizes, dated The resort's page lists no resort fee. The charges it does publish are smaller and specific, all as of October 2026 per Marriott Vacation Clubs: | Charge or rule | At the Westin St. John | | --- | --- | | Resort fee | None listed | | Parking | $25 a day per vehicle on a rental reservation, from June 2026; included for owners | | Smoking in a villa or on its balcony | May bring a $250 cleaning charge | | A family pet | $500 Room Recovery Fee | | Hotel room tax | 12.5% of the room rate, per the Virgin Islands Bureau of Internal Revenue | The units run from studios to three bedrooms, and the page gives square footage for each, approximate by its own note: | Unit at the resort | Square feet | Sleeps | | --- | --- | --- | | Studio, Studio Villa, Terrace Studio | 433 to 500 | 4 | | One-Bedroom Townhouse | 750 | 4 | | Two-bedroom villas, lofts and townhouses | 781 to 1,650 | 6 to 10 | | Three-Bedroom Villa | 1,444 | 10 | | Three-Bedroom Pool Villa | 2,850 | 8 | The studios and most two-bedroom units have a kitchenette with a cooktop and microwave; the townhouses and some three-bedroom villas list a full kitchen. A three-bedroom unit sleeps 10 in 1,444 square feet. That is the number to hold against a house. ## Is the Westin St. John open this season? Yes. The resort refurbished its main pool and whirlpool spa in August 2026, per its own notice, and renovated the interiors of the Coral Vista, Sunset Bay and Virgin Grand Pool villas at the same time, so all of them come into the season newly redone; the beach and food and beverage service stayed open through the work. The tradeoff is the one every resort carries: the quarter-acre pool and the beach are shared by every unit on 47 acres, where a villa's pool belongs to the house alone. ## Renting a Westin week from its owner Westin units are also rented by the people who own them, a week at a time. On this site a timeshare week is listed exactly as a villa is: the owner's own page, their nightly rate for the dates they hold, and a calendar blocked outside them. You stay in the same resort, in a unit like the ones in the table above; what changes is who you deal with and who you pay. Two published rules turn on how the reservation is held, so ask the owner about both before you send money. The resort includes parking for owner reservations and charges $25 a day on rental ones, per Marriott Vacation Clubs as of October 2026. And the Virgin Islands Bureau of Internal Revenue levies an environmental and infrastructure impact fee of $25 a night on the occupancy of a timeshare by its owner or user, collected by the plan manager, law since May 1, 2017. Whether either lands on your bill, or sits inside the owner's price, is the owner's to say in writing. ## What a villa near Great Cruz Bay gives you instead A villa here is a whole house, not a unit in a building you share with a resort. The houses on the slopes behind the bay, under addresses like Virgin Grand Estates and Contant, sit a 12-minute drive from the middle of the area into Cruz Bay town, and 14 to the ferry dock, as we measured them, on rolling roads rather than steep ones. Chocolate Hole, between the bay and town, measures 7 minutes from Cruz Bay. Each listing shows its owner's nightly rate for your dates before you ask, and the owner's own terms beside it: any cleaning fee, the deposit, a damage deposit, the cancellation terms. The territory's 12.5% hotel room tax applies to a house rented for under 90 days just as it does to the resort, per the Virgin Islands Bureau of Internal Revenue, and the estimate on each villa's page adds it. You pay the owner, not a platform. No service fee. The tradeoff: the beach and pool at the head of Great Cruz Bay are the resort's, and a house on the hill gets them only if its owner holds that access, and each villa's page states whether it does. Ask before you assume the sand comes with the house. ## Who should pick the Westin St. John Pick the Westin for a short stay with young children. The kids club for ages 4 to 12, the pool and a beach you reach on foot are on the property, and a studio sleeping 4 in 433 to 500 square feet suits a couple who will be out all day. It also suits Marriott Vacation Club owners, with Club Points or an Abound exchange. Pick a villa for two families or more, for a stay longer than a week, or if you want a private pool and a person who knows the house. A group of eight in a two-bedroom unit shares 781 to 1,650 square feet; a house lists its bedrooms and space on its own page, so the sum is easy to run. Questions people ask **Is the Westin St. John a Marriott?** Partly. The resort's page sits on the Marriott Vacation Clubs site, and Marriott Vacation Club International, which runs that site, uses the Marriott marks under license from Marriott International. The same page says the Westin Vacation Club products are not owned, developed or sold by Marriott International. In practice it is a vacation-ownership resort that rents to anyone, checked October 2026. **Is the Westin St. John all-inclusive?** No. The Westin St. John Resort Villas sells studios and villas with kitchenettes or full kitchens, and it names two restaurants open, Lemongrass and Mango Deli, with Snorkels Bar & Grill listed as temporarily closed and no meal plan, as of October 2026. Cruz Bay's shops and restaurants are 9 minutes away by car. The page lists no resort fee either. **Is the Westin St. John open?** Yes, as of October 2026. The resort refurbished its main pool and whirlpool spa in August 2026, and renovated three groups of villas at the same time, with the beach and food service open throughout. At a glance · checked Oct 2026 **Name** The Westin St. John Resort Villas As the resort's own page on Marriott Vacation Clubs prints it, checked 2026-10-09. Address 300A Chocolate Hole, St. John. **Units** Studios to three-bedroom villas, 433 to 2,850 sq ft, sleeping 4 to 10 Fourteen unit entries on the resort's page, square footage approximate per the resort (Marriott Vacation Clubs, checked 2026-10-09). **Resort fee** None listed "No Resort Fees" in the resort's policies block (Marriott Vacation Clubs, checked 2026-10-09). **Parking** $25 a day per vehicle on rental reservations From June 2026; included for owner reservations (Marriott Vacation Clubs, checked 2026-10-09). **Check-in** 4 pm in, 10 am out The resort's essentials block (Marriott Vacation Clubs, checked 2026-10-09). **Pool** Main pool and whirlpool spa refurbished in August 2026 The beach and food and beverage service stayed open through the work (Marriott Vacation Clubs, checked 2026-10-09). **Room tax** 12.5% on a stay under 90 days, resort or villa The Virgin Islands Bureau of Internal Revenue's tax structure booklet, checked 2026-10-09: it covers hotels, guest houses, apartments, condominiums and residences. **From Cruz Bay** 9 minutes by car Measured from Cruz Bay town to the beach in front of the resort, Mapbox 2026-10-05. The Red Hook ferry is $8.15 an adult one way (Transportation Services of St. John, checked 2026-10-08). More on St. John - [Things to do in St. John](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do) - [Airfare to St. John means a flight to St. Thomas](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/getting-there) - [Car ferry from St. Thomas to St. John](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/car-barge) - [How to get around St. John](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/getting-around) - [St. John map](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/map) - [St. John resorts or a villa?](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/villa-vs-resort) Facts checked against [Marriott Vacation Clubs](https://www.marriottvacationclubs.com/experiences/resorts/the-westin-st-john-resort-villas.html), [the Virgin Islands Bureau of Internal Revenue](https://bir.vi.gov/content/booklets/tax_structure.pdf) and [Transportation Services of St. John](https://transportationservicesusvi.com/fares). Checked October 2026.