Experience with Westin Dawn Beach Resort for a Day

Absolutely loved it. Booked Resort for a Day in St. Martin through the CC link (about $149 for 4). It was $7 per person by cab, and it was very easy to get a cab at the end of the pier. About 15 minutes drive. Check in at the desk was very easy and only took a few minutes (noted car rental available in the lobby too). We gave a credit card for charges. The hotel room was so comfortable that we wished we were staying for a week. We were given the code for free internet, if desired. Went out to the pool, and were given beach towels. The swim-up pool bar made great drinks (about $8-$9 for a large pina colada). The pool was lovely, and there was a huge hot tub. We rented a pavilion for another $50 and had two cushioned loungers.

Our loungers had flags that you could raise for service. An attendant brought us a paddle with the drink options if you didn't want to walk over to the pool bar yourself, and there were some food items if you wanted food delivered to your lounge chair. The resort was extremely quiet, and we practically had the pool to ourselves. We were there from about 9 to 12, and then checked out. You could take a shower in your room and change if you wished - lovely huge glass shower stall, and the bed looked so pillowy and comfortable that I was tempted to just crash for the afternoon instead of heading back to the port to do some shopping.

My kids went in the ocean, but preferred the pool and hot tub. There were loungers by the beach too, but they didn't have umbrellas due to the wind. My kids said that there was a rocky area between the beach and the water, so pool shoes would have been useful. The beach had some surf. I'd recommend the Westin for anyone looking for a lovely, quiet pool but not for the beach.

We were on Allure, and seemed to be the only people there with a day pass. Again, very peaceful and quiet. It definitely gave you an idea what it would be like to be there as a guest.

Casino didn't open until 4, so we weren't able to try that. We didn't use the restaurant, which looked like typical Westin prices (I don't think any hotel lunch is going to be cheap). The restaurant had a deck with seating overlooking the pool. We did visit the hotel gift shop, which had some gorgeous bathing suits, Guava berry products, snacks and other tempting items for shopping.

We could have gone to Orient Beach or elsewhere for less money, but this excursion gave us what we wanted - a quiet few hours in the Caribbean at a gorgeous pool. We were very happy with the day pass, and I might actually book a return trip to the Westin in the future as a result of this visit.

Just to clarify, we were there this week.

Thank you so much for posting your review! We booked the day pass directly through the resort for our November cruise.

You mentioned that you were the only Day Pass guests. How could you tell? Do they give wrist bands? Was the beach too windy even with the Cabana? Were the beach loungers with flags only in the Cabanas, or did they all have them? Sorry to read that the beach was not that good. We were hoping to enjoy both.

Thanks again for taking the time to post. :cool:

Pat

Thank you so much for posting your review! We booked the day pass directly through the resort for our November cruise.

 

You mentioned that you were the only Day Pass guests. How could you tell? Do they give wrist bands? Was the beach too windy even with the Cabana? Were the beach loungers with flags only in the Cabanas, or did they all have them? Sorry to read that the beach was not that good. We were hoping to enjoy both.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to post. :cool:

 

Pat

Dawn Beach is directly open to the Atlantic and is often wavey to rough. There is supposedly some good snorkeling by the rocks but it's always been too rough to attempt to snorkel during our visits.

I think we were the only day pass guests because the huge lobby was absolutely empty when we arrived (except for one or two staff members), and there was no one else by the pool for a long time. Eventually I think we saw two families come out to the pool, but the pool area was so big that it still felt like we were alone. I thought the families were guests based on their attire and because they appeared to already know where everything was. They didn't go and check out the beach or the hot tub, for example, and weren't taking pictures of each other :-).

The flags and cushions were only on the cabana lounge chairs. The cabanas were by the pool, not by the beach. The beach only had lounge chairs.

There were lots of lounge chairs by the pool, and some of them were partially shaded by palm trees.

No wrist bands. We just charged our drinks and the cabana to the room key, and checked out as usual. My receipt was emailed to me upon checkout.

It was definitely hot, but the pavilion and breezes helped a lot. We had one or two short showers that helped to cool things off while we were there, but the sun would return quickly. I want to go back!

Just wanted to update. I rec'd a copy of the invoice from the hotel by email, and the cost for the cabana was $68, not the $50 disclosed to me at the pool. The charges were broken out into three charges $20, $30, and an $18 Service charge. I'm not particularly happy, but it was still a very comfortable way to spend the three hours.

I would recommend avoiding cabana rental, and just enjoying a lounge chair by the pool under a palm tree unless money is not an object.

The frozen pina colada was $7.50 plus a $1.00 service charge at the pool bar + any additional tip that you might want to add.

Not flaming, but it seems that you could have had the same day by staying on the ship.

Arrow Fan: The pools on the ship aren't even close to offering the size and peacefulness of resort facilities. We stayed on board in St. Thomas, for example, and Allure's pools were still busy. (Seems like all you can do is bounce up and down in the shallow ship's pools, trying to avoid other people.) The lounge chairs are close together, and people are always passing by. We won't talk about kids in the hot tubs all week :-). We weren't on a Celebrity or NCL ship with a suite and access to cabanas.

We've been to the islands many times, and a few years ago decided that resort day passes offer a chance to get away from shipboard crowds, with a little more luxury than going to the usual beaches. (We also like checking out resorts for future visits.) We prefer resorts that aren't all-inclusive, since we've never had good food in those packages.

Day passes aren't for everyone, of course. However, they can be a really nice option to an excursion or taking a cab to a busy public beach.

We have an uneven sized group and I wish they would allow six for the room and raise the price by $75. My family did it last year and they did not even spend ten minutes in the room. Having to rent an additional room makes it much more expensive for an odd sized group.

glad you enjoyed yourselves.

We have an uneven sized group and I wish they would allow six for the room and raise the price by $75. My family did it last year and they did not even spend ten minutes in the room. Having to rent an additional room makes it much more expensive for an odd sized group.

 

glad you enjoyed yourselves.

Did you try to get another couple of people from your roll call or perhaps even another ships roll call? That way you can pay $75 for the extra 2 members of your group and all members can still just share the one room. Seems like it would be a win-win since the other 2 people would gt a room for themselves for $75. Just a thought.:)

We have an uneven sized group and I wish they would allow six for the room and raise the price by $75. My family did it last year and they did not even spend ten minutes in the room. Having to rent an additional room makes it much more expensive for an odd sized group.

 

glad you enjoyed yourselves.

This summer (2014) we have a Day Pass at the Westin Dawn Beach Resort, and with prior approval the hotel is allowing a 5th guest to our party. The cost is an additional $25 plus tax & gratuity./mdnotmd, 3/30/14

so where are these CC links to secure day passes?

so where are these CC links to secure day passes?

Not sure that this it what you are looking for but try. http://www.resortforaday.com/

On the top bar under the heading of destinations you will find the information that you are looking for.

Looks like they raised the price from $149 to $179 since we were there in May 2013.

We did enjoy our day there, our room was nice, staff was very friendly, spent most of the day at the pool.

The taxi driver even came back at an agreed time to take us back to the ship, making it stress free getting back.

I am with you Truluv, we have cruised many times and after seeing the islands, I love the resorts. We use Resort for a Day. I haven't been to this location so looking forward to it. Thanks

Not flaming, but it seems that you could have had the same day by staying on the ship.

Now a days with the unlimited beverage packages I bet many folks spend their island port days around the ships pool. If your looking for some sun, food and beverages and a pool it makes sense.