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While searching for a place to stay in Saint Thomas, The Pink Palm Hotel’s bright and vivid colors caught our eye! A fun and funky colored hotel set in the hillside of downtown Saint Thomas, The Pink Palm Hotel offers huge patios, impeccable ocean views, and free breakfast! We enjoyed a three-night stay at The Pink Palm Hotel in Saint Thomas for $1,042.89 (including the $40 per night resort fee) in a large king room. The hotel is close to the heart of downtown Saint Thomas and is walkable to restaurants and shopping.
Getting To The Pink Palm Hotel Saint Thomas
The Pink Palm Hotel is about 2.8 miles from the Cyril E. King Airport (STT) and is roughly a 10-minute drive. You can get there two ways. First, by driving yourself with a rental car or scooter, or second, you can take a local taxi.
We opted to rent a car and would never do so again while visiting the island! The streets are narrow and hilly, driving is done on the opposite side of the road compared to the continental U.S, and the rental car almost tripled in price when we picked it up! We rented through Hertz, and although we booked using our AAA benefits online we were told at the counter that they were a franchise Hertz location and would not honor it. They would not honor any of the perks we had with AAA and stacked on multiple fees.
We went through with the rental car since we had already paid a portion of the bill ahead of time, and we did not want to lose the money for a last-minute cancellation, but the experience with the “Hertz” at the airport was awful. You are better off taking taxis as they will take you almost anywhere on the island. The island is small and taxis are readily available at almost all locations including some of the more secluded beaches.
We had decided to rent a car to avoid haggling and getting overcharged by taxi drivers but it backfired big time! In total we paid close to $800 for a rental car for three days, when we were quoted close to $300 at the time of booking!!
Taxis in Saint Thomas are a little different than in the continental U.S., they are often shared safari-style buses or trucks with bench seating. In the US Virgin Islands, taxis do not run on meters and instead have set rates for various destinations. Taxis are easy to find and can be seen waiting at the most popular destinations on the island.
You can find a full list of pricing for locations around the island of Saint Thomas here. Luggage, waiting charges, Radio/Phone Calls, and after-hours/odd-hours charges may also be applied when applicable.
Since The Pink Palm Hotel is so small it is not on the set destination list for the safari-style taxis, and a price will be determined by using the nearest tariffed place crossed to the next tariffed place ahead, based on the one nearest to the passenger’s destination. One of the closest destinations to the hotel is Blackbeard's Castle, which is about $12 per person ($11 if you are a group of two or more) from the airport.
Private transfers are also available but cost significantly more. A one-way transportation from the airport to your hotel can cost anywhere from $80 to $130 one way. For anyone interested, a company that offers private transfers is Virgin Island Top Taxi And Tours.
Booking:
We stayed at The Pink Palm Hotel relatively close to their opening and with that came a few minor problems. One was that we could not book our room on the website. Our reservation would not go through in their booking system, and we had to email the hotel directly to book our stay. The staff responded quickly and were able to get a room booked for us the same day.
Check-in:
The check-in time for the Pink Palm Hotel is 4:00 PM. The check-in process was one of the weirdest and most memorable we have ever had (not in a bad way). We were unsure where to park since there was no obvious lot, and parked downhill from the hotel entrance. The hotel is in an active neighborhood and most of the street parking was full. The street leading to the hotel goes through the neighborhood and is only one lane with dueling traffic. There were blind turns on the narrow one-lane road, and made the drive up stressful!
Once we made our way to the hotel there was one discrete door to the hotel and we almost missed it! When you open the door you are immediately greeted by a few flights of stairs. We did not see anyone around and hoped we were in the right place until we found the check-in desk.
The woman who checked us in was sweet, but there was a bit of a process to check-in. We had to fill out some paperwork and sign some forms, and then she went over the details of the hotel and the area we were staying in. We did arrive earlier than the 4:00pm check-in time, and our room was not ready. We would receive a text when our room was ready and they offered to hold our bags for us.
Before we left to go explore, we asked about parking since we were unsure if they had a lot or anything closer than where we parked. She told us she would come with us to move the car and show us where we could park during our stay. At first, we thought we heard her wrong, but she walked with us to our car, rode with us, and gave us directions up the hill to the backside of the hotel.
There is no designated parking lot, but there are three to four street spots open near the hotel that the neighbors do not park in. The spots are on the edge of a small cliff but are close to the back entrance of the hotel.
Once we made it back to the hotel the woman who rode with us showed us how to get in from the back entrance and let us know where we could hang out while we waited for our room to be ready.
We were able to sit on the hotel's patio and enjoy the ocean views and our free welcome drinks while we waited. The patio area is right near the pool and restaurant and is a great spot to relax and watch the cruise ships roll in. Our room was ready not long after we sat down, and we were able to check in a little early.
Room Details:
For our three-night stay at The Pink Palm Hotel, we booked a large king room and paid $1,042.89. The room lived up to the name and was huge and vibrantly furnished! We enjoyed a large furnished patio, a wet/coffee bar, multiple seating areas, and a smart TV.
The room was vibrant with bright colors and a lot of natural light. We enjoyed the funkiness of the design, it was different from a standard hotel room and brought some life into the space. Even the bathroom of our hotel room was interesting, with pink cabinets and gold accents everywhere.
We did have a small issue with the shower, the water pressure was not very strong and made it hard to rinse shampoo out of our hair. The water also did not get very cold. This was unfortunate with the heat and humidity! Instead of taking a cooling shower, we would exit a hot steamy shower into a hot and humid environment. During the evening the shower was not as much of a problem since the room had cooled.
A bright red bench at the end of the bed was eye-catching as we walked into the room, surrounded by the blues greens, and pinks of the room. One wall was wallpapered with white and green palm tree prints which added some brightness. The room gave off great Caribbean and island vibes, setting a nice tone for the trip.
There was a large wet/coffee bar in the room attached to a cabinet. Inside the cabinet, there were a few cups and an ice bucket. The cabinet had a built-in sink and it came with hand soap which was appreciated so we could wash our hands when we walked into the room. On the counter was a small Nespresso machine and electric kettle along with two cups, of coffee pods, cream, and sugar.
Next to the coffee bar was a small seating area with two bright pink chairs and a coffee table. It was a nice spot to eat breakfast and enjoy a cup of fresh espresso in the mornings. The room had a good amount of storage with a dresser with multiple drawers and a standing wardrobe to hang bigger items. In the wardrobe was a safe and the iron and ironing board.
The patio was massive and had a large circular day bed and two large pink “egg” style chairs. We had an amazing view from our patio and could see up the hill into the neighborhood, and ocean. We had a great spot to see the cruise ships roll in and at one point we could even hear them! There were a bunch of mosquitos outside on the patio, and they did get into the room easily even if the door was only open for a few seconds.
However, the hotel did think ahead and had an electric bug zapper in the room. We had a fun time chasing the bugs around and trying to zap them at night! It was super convenient to have in the room!
Property:
The Pink Palm Hotel property like our room was very fun and vibrant! The pool and hot tub are made with bright green tiles, and a lot of the poolside furniture is pink. The pool is on the smaller side, but that was not a problem during our stay since there are only 28 rooms in the entire hotel. Near the pool is a restaurant and bar. A nice touch for guests was a pool/beach towel stand near the check-in counter, it was self-serve and came in handy when we went to the beaches.
While we visited The Pink Palm Hotel they did not have a chef for their restaurant yet since they were freshly opened so it was closed and we did not get to try it. They did have a bartender, and when he was gone one of the other employees was manning the bar. Each guest got a free welcome as well as part of the resort fee.
We did have a small issue with the free drinks. During our stay, Elijah visited the bar twice to get one welcome drink each time. One drink was given free and the other was charged to the room which we noticed on our final receipt. We assume this was an accident and the bartender assumed Elijah had already used his free drink and was unaware there were two of us staying in the room. So be careful if only one person is going to get the drinks!
A “free” breakfast basket was included each morning of our stay and was a part of the $40 per night resort fee, along with the pool/hot tub, and beach towels. The breakfast came in a small picnic basket and was delivered outside our door early in the morning. Inside we got a variety of cut fruit, two coffees, two yogurts, and two muffins. Although the idea was super cute, our food was never very great! Our fruit was always mushy or browning and the muffins were terrible! The only thing edible in the basket was the yogurts they provided. However, the yogurts were warm by the time we received them, due to being stored right next to the hot coffee. Hopefully, with a chef onsite some improvements will be made!
They offer indoor and outdoor massages every Tuesday through Sunday at the hotel, but we did not get to experience it during our visit to the hotel.
For those who enjoy traveling with their fur babies, the hotel is dog-friendly, and has select rooms where you and your best friend can stay! An additional $110 non-refundable fee will be added to your reservation if your furry friend tags along.
The front desk will hold your bags for up to eight hours for free! We were able to drop our bags off before check-in since we were early and relaxed by the pool without having to worry about lugging around all of our luggage.
Important Note:
Since the hotel does not have a designated parking lot, parking was first come first served on the street. There were only about three to four parking spots available and they are in the neighborhood next to the hotel. The parking is tight, and up against a bare cliffside. At night we got heckled by locals who were outside their houses next to the hotel. And in the morning we woke up to a call from the front desk asking us to move our car for the garbage truck. We had to back down the one-way hill trying to make room for them to get to the dumpster. (We do not recommend a car if you are planning a stay here!!!! See Getting Here!)
Checkout:
The check-out time for The Pink Palm Hotel Saint Thomas USVI is 10:30 PM. The checkout process was pretty standard, we decided to stop by the front desk instead of leaving the keys in the room because we were unsure if we needed to sign anything. At the front desk, we handed over our keys, got a final printed receipt of our stay, and signed our final bill. It took less than five minutes to get everything taken care of!
Summary:
We enjoyed a three-night stay at The Pink Palm Hotel for $1,042.89 in a large king room. In our room, we enjoyed a huge furnished patio with ocean views and an abundance of colorful funky decor. We wished our shower got better water pressure and that the water would get cold, but otherwise had very few issues with our room. Our breakfast was not very good but there was no chef on site. We are planning to stay again when the hotel has been open longer to see if that changes! Overall we enjoyed the uniqueness of the hotel and thought that its fun, vibrant design was a welcomed change from standard resorts.
Do you think a stay at The Pink Palm Hotel in Saint Thomas is worth your wallet? Let us know below!
P.S. Bring lots of bug spray!! There are so many mosquitoes on the island!
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