It’s just past five o’clock in the infinity pool, where the view stretches endlessly toward the towering hills of St John. 

And then you turn around for a moment and the view is a different kind of beautiful, up the ridge toward the pastel-green lobby, surrounded by another green: palm trees and peaks. 

It’s another way of saying that you can look at this property at angle and you’ll find something stunning. 

This is the Ritz-Carlton, St Thomas, long the leading place to stay in the US Virgin Islands and now, still celebrating its $100 million renovation, back and better than ever. 

Indeed, at the end of 2019, just a few months before the pandemic, the resort relaunched following a dramatic $100 million transformation, one that saw the complete redesign and updating of the property, an update that was enjoyed for only a few months before the world changed. 

And then in June, the Ritz-Carlton, St Thomas was one of the first luxury resorts in the Caribbean to reopen, quickly showing the region (and the world) that luxury, even amid the current challenges, was possible. 

And that means luxury in every form: the luxury of breezy meals at the Sicilian-accented Alloro; the luxury of great design; the luxury of quiet serenity; and of course, of service, the kind that manages to be impeccable but never overbearing. 

But luxury’s also in the small details, like the wonderfully comfortable rooms, where USB and easy-to-access outlets abound, joined by a hidden-away Nespresso bar and other touches like motion-activated lights in the bathroom. 

It’s a pervasive feeling, something you notice from the moment you walk through the enchanting indoor-outdoor lobby, to the magnificently redesigned poolscape.

And while it’s a spectacular place for the easy beach vacation, the resort is equally inviting for the active traveler, from broad watersports offerings to tennis to the Lady Lynsey II, the resort’s exclusive catamaran, which takes guests on jaunts to St John, including the option of sailing over for dinner at one of several restaurants in St John. 

Of course, St John is a major part of the experience here, even if you never make the trip — its imposing beauty just across the water yet another amenity for the guest; turning a late afternoon in the pool into free admission to a picture gallery, the kind of view you can just watch, endlessly.

It’s just a beautiful place. 

And that’s the greatest luxury of all. 

For more, visit the Ritz-Carlton, St Thomas. 

The US Virgin Islands is currently open for tourism; for more on the destination’s protocols, visit USVI Update. 

— CJ