Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Flamboyant Point and the East End of St. Thomas cater mainly to a middle-age or senior
crowd. Many young people who visit St. Thomas stay in the guesthouses in and around
Charlotte Amalie. Beyond St. Thomas, the island of St. Croix attracts a large array of
young, single travelers, mainly to the inns in and around Christiansted and Frederiksted.
Taxes
For the U.S. Virgin Islands, the United States has no value-added tax (VAT) or
other indirect tax at the national level. The U.S.V.I. may levy their own local taxes on all
purchases, including hotel and restaurant checks and airline tickets. These taxes will not
appear on price tags.
In the British Virgin Islands, there is a departure tax of $5 per person for those leaving
by boat or $20 if by airplane. Most hotels add a service charge in the $5 to $18 range;
some restaurants will also tack on a 10% surcharge if you pay by credit card. There's also
a 7% government tax on hotel rooms, but no sales tax.
Telephones
In the Virgin Islands, hotel surcharges on long-distance and local calls are
usually astronomical, so you're better off using your
cellphone
or a
public pay tele-
phone.
Many convenience stores, groceries, and packaging services sell
prepaid calling
cards
in denominations up to $50; for international visitors these can be the least expen-
sive way to call home. Many public pay phones at airports now accept American Express,
MasterCard, and Visa credit cards.
Local calls
made from pay phones in most locales cost
either 25¢ or 35¢ (no pennies, please). Many of the most rural or expressly private resorts
and hotels in the Virgin Islands do not provide phones in the rooms, but have phones in
their lobbies or common areas.
To make calls within the United States, including the U.S. Virgins, and to Canada,
dial
1 followed by the area code and the seven-digit number.
For other international calls,
dial
011 followed by the country code, city code, and the number you are calling.
You can
call the British Virgins
from the United States by just dialing
1,
the area code
284,
and the number; from the U.K. dial
011-44,
then the number.
To call the U.S. from
the B.V.I.,
just dial 1 plus the area code and the number;
to call the U.K. from the B.V.I.
,
dial 011-44-, then the number.
Calls to area codes
800, 888, 877,
and
866
are toll-free. However, calls to area codes
700
and
900
(chat lines, bulletin boards, “dating” services, and so on) can be very
expensive—usually a charge of 95¢ to $3 or more per minute, and they sometimes have
minimum charges that can run as high as $15 or more.
For
reversed-charge or collect calls,
and for person-to-person calls, dial the number
0, then the area code and number; an operator will come on the line, and you should
specify whether you are calling collect, person-to-person, or both. If your operator-
assisted call is international, ask for the overseas operator.
For
local directory assistance
(“information”), dial 411; for long-distance information,
dial 1, then the appropriate area code and 555-1212.
Time
The Virgin Islands are on Atlantic Standard Time, which is 1 hour ahead of East-
ern Standard Time. However, the islands do not observe daylight saving time: so in the
summer, the Virgin Islands and the East Coast of the U.S. are on the same time. In winter,
when it's 6am in Charlotte Amalie, it's 5am in Miami; during daylight saving time it's 6am
in both places.
Tipping
In hotels, tip
bellhops
at least $1 per bag ($2-$3 if you have a lot of luggage)
and tip the
chamber staff
$1 to $2 per day (more if you've left a disaster area for him or
her to clean up). Tip the
doorman
or
concierge
only if he or she has provided you with
some specific service (for example, calling a cab for you or obtaining difficult-to-get
theater tickets). Tip the
valet-parking attendant
$1 every time you get your car.
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