--- title: "Margaritaville St. Thomas or a Villa: Suites, Kitchens, Fees · Virgin Islands Villas" url: https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/margaritaville-vs-villa description: "Margaritaville St. Thomas against a villa: the suites and their kitchens, what is on site, the 12.5% room tax on each, how booking works, and who each suits." updated: 2026-10-10 source: https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/margaritaville-vs-villa --- [St. Thomas](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas) · Resort or villa · Smith Bay # Margaritaville St. Thomas or a villa? Margaritaville St. Thomas is the Margaritaville Vacation Club St. Thomas, a Wyndham vacation-ownership resort on Water Bay at the East End, with suites, a pool, a restaurant and a beach. It is not all-inclusive. A villa trades the restaurant for a whole house and its kitchen. Below, the two side by side, with the taxes and each side's stated charges. Written by Virgin Islands Villas · Facts checked Oct 2026 ## What Margaritaville St. Thomas is, and where It is a vacation-ownership resort, the Margaritaville Vacation Club St. Thomas, sold through Wyndham. The address is 6080 Estate Smith Bay, and the resort sits on Water Bay, per Wyndham's booking page, at the eastern end of the island, per the Margaritaville brand page, both as of October 2026. That is the East End, not Frenchman's Bay on the south side. The resort closed after the hurricanes of September 2017 and reopened in June 2018, per the release from its operator's parent, now Travel + Leisure Co. The release writes to Margaritaville Vacation Club owners; anyone else can book a night through Wyndham, whose calendar shows the rate for each date and takes Wyndham Rewards points as well as cash. From the Smith Bay area we measure 12 minutes to the Red Hook ferry for St. John, 18 to Charlotte Amalie and 33 to Cyril E. King Airport. Those are the area's times, taken from its center, and they hold for a villa nearby as much as for the resort. ## Margaritaville St. Thomas and a villa, side by side The resort sells a suite in a building of suites; a villa here is a whole house let by its owner. Every resort cell below comes from the operator's own pages as of October 2026; every villa cell is how a listing on this site works, and the numbers on any one house are on its page. | | Margaritaville St. Thomas | A villa listed here | | --- | --- | --- | | What you rent | A Studio Suite or a Presidential Suite | The whole house | | Sleeps | 2 in the studio, 6 in the Presidential Suite | The number on the listing | | Kitchen | Kitchenette in the studio; full kitchen in the Presidential Suite | The house's own kitchen | | Pool | One shared pool and hot tub | Private, where the listing says so | | Food on site | Restaurant and tiki bar, 8 am to 10 pm daily | None; you cook or drive out | | The rate | Per date in Wyndham's calendar | The owner's nightly rate for your dates | | Added charges | Parking, rollaway beds and similar may apply | A cleaning fee or deposit, where the owner sets one | | Hotel room tax | 12.5% | 12.5% on a stay under 90 days | | Timeshare fee | Set on a timeshare's owner or user; ask the resort whether a Wyndham booking pays it | None; a house is not a timeshare | | You pay | Wyndham | The owner, with no service fee here | Resort rows from Wyndham's page; tax and fee rows from the Virgin Islands Bureau of Internal Revenue, both checked October 2026. ## What the suites have, and what a house adds The Studio Suite is 324 to 438 sq ft with one king bed and a kitchenette, per Wyndham as of October 2026. Wyndham lists the kitchenette's contents: a refrigerator, a microwave, a dishwasher, a toaster, a coffee maker and the Frozen Concoction Maker. There is no stove in that list. The Presidential Suite is 706 to 1,437 sq ft with two king beds, a sleeper sofa and a full kitchen, for six; Wyndham sells an upgrade with a washer and dryer and an oven and stove. The resort's own channels count the suites differently. The Margaritaville brand page lists studio, one- and two-bedroom suites for two to six guests in 324 to 1,070 sq ft; the 2018 reopening release named three-bedroom suites too. Ask the resort which suite your dates will put you in. A villa's difference is the plan of the house: bedrooms with their own doors, a kitchen with a stove, and outdoor space nobody else uses. The tradeoff: there is nobody downstairs to cook breakfast, and the Smith Bay area measures car required, so a villa week means a rental car and a grocery run. ## What is on site at the resort Wyndham's page lists a palm-lined pool and hot tub, the 5 O'Clock Somewhere tiki bar, the Margaritaville Restaurant & Bar, the Soleil Spa, free WiFi in the suites and the resort's beach on Water Bay. The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and the tiki bar serves burgers and sandwiches, both 8 am to 10 pm daily as of October 2026. That is the case for the resort in one list: you can spend a day without the car. A villa has none of it on the property, and the beach is a walk or a drive depending on the house. The East End beach pages on this site give the measured drive to each from Red Hook. ## Which fees and taxes apply to each stay The territory's hotel room tax is 12.5% of the room rate, per the Virgin Islands Bureau of Internal Revenue as of October 2026, and it applies to a hotel or guest house and to an apartment, condominium or house let for under 90 days. The same rate falls on a resort suite and on a villa week. On a villa page here, the estimate for your dates shows that tax line with the owner's cleaning fee. The Bureau also charges a $25 a night Environmental/Infrastructure Impact Fee on the occupancy of a timeshare by its owner or user, collected by the timeshare plan manager, in force since May 1, 2017. Whether it reaches a guest who booked a night through Wyndham rather than through ownership is the resort's to answer; ask before you book. Wyndham's page states no resort fee as of October 2026. It says charges may apply for parking, rollaway beds and similar, and that its calendar shows rates with taxes and fees while its other rate displays show fees without taxes. The total for your dates, with taxes, shows on the calendar and at checkout. ## How booking works on each side The resort books through Wyndham, by the night on its calendar, paid in cash or Wyndham Rewards points. A villa here books with the person who owns it: you send your dates, the owner replies to you directly, and you agree the total and pay them. You pay the owner, not a platform. No service fee. A booking site would add 14.1% to 16.5% of the subtotal as its guest fee, Airbnb's published range, checked September 19, 2026. ## Who should pick the resort Two people for a few nights, who want the beach, the pool and a meal without a car, are what the studio is built for. So is anyone with Wyndham Rewards points to spend, and a group of up to six who want a full kitchen and a restaurant downstairs, in the Presidential Suite. If the trip is mostly beach and dinner on the property, the resort answers it, and the Smith Bay area measures 12 minutes to the Red Hook ferry for a day on St. John. ## Who should pick a villa instead A party of more than six, or a family that wants bedrooms with doors and a stove, has outgrown a suite. So has anyone staying a week who would rather cook most nights, and anyone who wants a pool nobody else swims in. Pick the house on the bedrooms, the pool and the measured drive to the beach you want, then ask the owner about your dates. Budget for a car either way you go on the East End. Questions people ask **Is Margaritaville St. Thomas all-inclusive?** No. Wyndham's page lists no meal plan as of October 2026. Meals are bought at the Margaritaville Restaurant & Bar or the 5 O'Clock Somewhere tiki bar, both open 8 am to 10 pm daily, or cooked in the suite: a kitchenette in the Studio Suite, a full kitchen in the Presidential Suite. A villa is the same on meals, with a full kitchen in the house. **Does Margaritaville St. Thomas have free breakfast?** Neither Wyndham's page nor the Margaritaville brand page mentions a breakfast included in the rate as of October 2026. The Margaritaville Restaurant & Bar serves breakfast, lunch and dinner from 8 am. The studio's kitchenette has a refrigerator, microwave, toaster and coffee maker, and no stove; Wyndham sells an upgrade with a full kitchen, oven and stove. **Where is Margaritaville on St. Thomas?** On Water Bay at 6080 Estate Smith Bay, per Wyndham, at the eastern end of St. Thomas, per the Margaritaville brand page, both as of October 2026. It is on the East End, not on Frenchman's Bay on the south side. From the Smith Bay area we measure 12 minutes to the Red Hook ferry, 18 to Charlotte Amalie and 33 to Cyril E. King Airport. **Is Margaritaville St. Thomas on the beach?** Yes. Wyndham describes the suites as steps from the resort's beach on the white sand of Water Bay, and the Margaritaville brand page calls the resort beachside, both as of October 2026. A villa may be on the sand or up the hill; the listing says which, and the beach pages give the measured drive to each East End beach. **Does Margaritaville St. Thomas charge a resort fee?** Wyndham's page states none as of October 2026; it says parking, rollaway beds and similar may be charged. The territory sets the 12.5% room tax; it also sets a $25 a night fee on the occupancy of a timeshare by its owner or user, per the Virgin Islands Bureau of Internal Revenue. Ask the resort which apply to your booking. At a glance · checked Oct 2026 **Name** Margaritaville Vacation Club St. Thomas Listed under Wyndham Vacations on Wyndham's booking page as Margaritaville Vacation Club - St Thomas, and as a vacation club on the Margaritaville brand page, both checked 2026-10-09. **Where** Water Bay, 6080 Estate Smith Bay, East End Address and bay per Wyndham's page and the Margaritaville brand page, checked 2026-10-09. **Suites** Studio Suite for 2, Presidential Suite for 6 324 to 438 sq ft and 706 to 1,437 sq ft per Wyndham. The Margaritaville page lists studio, one- and two-bedroom suites for two to six. Checked 2026-10-09. **Kitchen** Kitchenette in the studio, full kitchen in the Presidential Suite Wyndham's page, checked 2026-10-09. **Meals** Not all-inclusive Restaurant and tiki bar open 8 am to 10 pm daily; no meal plan listed (Wyndham, checked 2026-10-09). **Hotel room tax** 12.5%, resort or villa On any stay under 90 days, per the Virgin Islands Bureau of Internal Revenue's tax structure booklet (file dated May 20, 2026), checked 2026-10-09. **Timeshare fee** $25 a night On the occupancy of a timeshare by its owner or user, in force since May 1, 2017, per the Bureau of Internal Revenue. Ask the resort whether it applies to your booking. **From Smith Bay** 12 min to the Red Hook ferry Measured from the Smith Bay area's center on the road network (2026-09-15); 33 minutes to Cyril E. King Airport, 18 to Charlotte Amalie. More on St. Thomas - [St. Thomas airport](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/airport) - [St. Thomas all-inclusive resorts, or a villa?](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/all-inclusive-vs-villa) - [St. Thomas cruise port](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/cruise-port) - [St. Thomas map](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/map) - [St. Thomas weather by month](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/weather) - [Things to do in St. Thomas](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-thomas/things-to-do) Facts checked against [Wyndham](https://www.wyndhamhotels.com/wyndham-vacations/st-thomas-us-virgin-island/margaritaville-vacation-club-st-thomas/overview), [Margaritaville](https://www.margaritavilleresorts.com/margaritaville-vacation-club-st-thomas), [Travel + Leisure Co.](https://investor.travelandleisureco.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/229/wyndham-destinations-announces-reopening-of-margaritaville-vacation-club-by-wyndham-resort-in-st-thomas) and [Virgin Islands Bureau of Internal Revenue](https://bir.vi.gov/content/booklets/tax_structure.pdf). Checked October 2026.