Sailing to the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean 1500
Visiting Road Town: Hotel Castle Maria
Once Night Heron was securely tied up at Village Cay Marina, I wanted to move ashore to switch from "crew" mode to "tourist" mode. I had picked out a few possible hotels based on information in guidebooks and online searches, going mostly by price and accessibility (walking distance from the marina and Road Town tourist areas). There was a hotel at the marina but it was pricey, so my top two choices were Hotel Castle Maria and Sea View Hotel. Both hotels were located on MacNamara Road off Waterfront Drive at the south end of town. Sea View Hotel was very close to Waterfront Drive, so I thought it might be noisy from the traffic. Hotel Castle Maria was in a quieter location but it was up a steep hill.
I first visited Hotel Castle Maria and the friendly clerk showed me several available rooms. I selected one with a balcony that had a view of the harbor, rooms on the other side of the hall had a view of the garden. The room had two beds, a desk, a closet and set of drawers, bathroom with shower, kitchenette with sink, refrigerator, microwave oven, plus a few basic utensils/dishes, air conditioning, and cable TV. The hotel had a pool, bar, Thai restaurant, and internet access.
The room was satisfactory and the clerk gave me a discounted price, so I moved in. For six nights I paid a total of $570 ($95 a night) which included the 7% BVI room tax. I was quite satisfied with the room and service. A potential problem for some people might be the steep hill and steep set of stairs to enter the hotel—this part of Tortola is very hilly and the hotel is on the side of a hill. It's also a bit of a walk to the marina and the heart of Road Town, but I didn't consider that to be a problem.
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| My room is by the arrow. |
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The balcony overlooks the harbor. |
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| The view from my balcony. The balcony to the right is part of the restaurant. |
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| There were two beds. |
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The convenient kitchenette. |
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| One oddity was a cannonball lodged in a tree next to the parking lot. I don't know if it was real. |
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