Food, Home and Style

Traveling Tight: St. John on the (Relatively) Cheap

In the recession, extreme spending has all but been replaced by radical frugality, but even on a budget, you still need to take care of yourself.

Whether you’re laid-off and living on severance or savings, job hunting, or imagining the “disruptive innovation” (my new favorite business phrase) that will lead to a better business, some downtime to think and rejuvenate is vital. And it is possible to chill out luxuriously—if you re-define luxury, like I did.

I had just finished a book, In Her Own Sweet Time: Unexpected Adventures in Finding Love, Commitment and Motherhood, and felt tapped out. So I decided to take a recession vacation to US Virgin Islands—but challenged myself to live as well as possible for as little as possible. I picked St. John because three-quarters of the island belongs to the National Park Service and it’s known for its eco-friendly campgrounds on gorgeous beaches, free of the tourist crowds of neighboring St. Thomas, and the bling culture of St. Bart. A bare-bones natural setting away from the concrete of my native New York was luxurious even if I was staying in a tent.

So I booked a flight on American Airlines using frequent flyer miles; 35,000 got me a round trip ticket to St Thomas. The public ferry to St. John costs $11.10 each way. I checked into Maho Bay Camps, a 114-unit tent camp, where prices range from $135 a night for tent-cottages with a porch and ocean view to $224 for studio apartments. I booked a cottage with a porch that looked out over the blue waters of Little Maho Bay and had a great view of the sunset. It’s wasn’t fancy, but the only sounds I could hear were the waves, the Mangrove Cuckoos and my fingers tapping on the keys.

Maho serves a liberal bohemian crowd—I met a lot of people from Madison, Wisconsin; Vermont and northern California—and offers yoga, glass blowing and ceramics classes. Dinners are communal unless you cook in your tent on a propane stove; you have to fetch your own water and wash your own dishes.

I chose to catch my meals at the restaurant. (Entrees ranged from $15 to $25. Not as low cost as I had expected.) But if you’re a gourmet, there’s a well-stocked market. I bought a nice bottle of Italian white wine for $13, and some gourmet coffee for $15.

The real trick too saving money, I quickly found, was to stay away from tourist traps—like the expensive restaurants in Cruz Bay where the ferry lands. I got around St. John by bus ($1) and hitched a couple of rides in the backs of pick-up trucks. (I was assured that it was safe to hitchhike on the island.) I mostly ate at road-side stands and luncheonettes, like Joe’s BBQ in Cruz Bay, which offered a delicious BBQ chicken dinner for less than $10 and a steak meal for less than $20. At Maho Bay, I read and hung out on the beach (free) and one morning I took a water yoga class ($10).

Still, I was a disappointed at the comforts at the camp. The tents were moldy and a lot of the screens had holes. The bathrooms could have been a lot cleaner, and one day I heard a woman complain that she had stepped on a nail on one of the boardwalks that connects the tent city to the general store and the beach. Maho is a wonderful idea: it’s a sustainable community; they recycle all their glass at a glass blowing studio run by visiting artists, the clientele is educated, and it sits on one of the most beautiful beaches in the Virgin Islands National Park. Why was the place falling apart?

Talking to Adrian David, the general manager, I learned that the reason for the disarray is that Maho’s lease ends in 2012. The land, which is owned by a private family, is for sale for a little over $28 million. The resort’s owners don’t think it’s worth fixing things up—especially since the camp’s lease will likely not be renewed.

By contrast, I spent a few nights at The Westin on St. John because they were offering half price rooms, and free food and an extra night if you stay a minimum of five nights. The heavenly beds, which they are known for, were very comfortable, but the sheets were itchy and there was no way to turn off the air conditioners or open the windows. With the lights off, I could have been in a hotel room on 42nd Street. I’ll take a tent over that any day, so let’s hope that Maho Bay ends up in good hands and gets the face-lift that it deserves.

For more ideas on  frugal yet semi-luxurious getaways, read about these relatively cheap destinations.

Tags: Caribbean, travel