Meet Jamey V. The Comanche Hotel’s New Head Honcho

M.A. Dworkin

St. Croix - How do you go from being a college homecoming Queen, to a top-level Midwest Business Exec, to a leader in Dallas’ custom hitch industry, to the new General Manager at the historic Comanche Hotel & Pavilion Bar in downtown Christiansted? It’s really not much of a stretch when your name is Jamey Vanderwege, and you’re loaded with talent, screaming with ambition, and have a genuine heartfelt love for people from every walk of life.      

Jack Pickel, owner of the Comanche Hotel, which sits on an historic plot of land that draws back elegantly from the Christiansted Harbor Boardwalk to its historic ‘1756 Townhouse’ on Strand Street, certainly made the deal of a lifetime when he coaxed Jamey off her lofty Dallas perch and induced her into running the 270-year old Comanche Hotel. 

Little did Jamey know how quickly she would fall in love with the Big Island and its people, and the pleasure of waking up everyday and being able to work and play  surrounded by the beauty of the Caribbean Sea.

But the beauty of the Caribbean and the great people of St. Croix alone was not enough to satisfy this Wonder Woman/Go-Getter who believes the Comanche must be held to the highest  standards of the classiest hotels on St. Croix. She decided to bring out the big revitalization guns and load the Comanche with the best and latest of modern conveniences and amenities, like Starlink internet, Tourism Preferred Partner, and the hosting of some oh-so ‘Kool-Kool’ events in that oh-so comfortable refurbished open-air Pavilion Bar, one of the few places in town  that catches the cool breezes and looks out over the Caribbean Sea. 

And Jamey V. has just started shakin’ the place up. Her multi-decades of experience as a top-notch Interior Design Diva with her firm “A Life Well Decorated”  has aided her ability to bring to the Comanche a warm and cozy touch, in newly renovated Caribbean-style rooms, Diaspora artwork on the walls and in the halls, fancy new linens, a new guest laundry service that compliments an on the ball housekeeping crew, and plenty of plants and lush greenery that has spiffed up the landscaping and revitalized the common areas, all-in-all putting a new shine on the grand old Hotel. 

This Island Hospitality Maven and Director of St. Croix Coastal Charm has  indeed become the woman behind the welcome: 

“MEET ME AT THE COMANCHE!” 

But, check this out, because this is just a little dab of what this rapid-fire visionary has in store for the Comanche Hotel. She is working on a comprehensive revitalization strategy for the Comanche Hotel & Pavilion Bar that includes redesigning the historic guest rooms around a Seven Flags concept, honoring the seven nations that have governed St. Croix, by giving each room a distinctive identity rooted in the island’s layered history. 

The Pavilion Pool and Day Club is being developed for a ‘soon to come’ reopening, with day passes, local memberships, yoga classes, along with a full food and beverage experience. Upstairs in the Pavilion Bar a Speakeasy-style cigar bar is in the works. Local partnerships are being formed - with dive shops, local artists, food vendors, and event producers - that will turn the Comanche into a year-round hub for both visitors and the Christiansted Town community. And more Bar programming is coming around the bend: Live music, illusionists, dance classes, and guest bartenders that will make the Pavilion Bar a wild new scene and a place to be seen! 

“Join me at the Pavilion Bar for a toast to a grand old historic hotel and a toast to a grand new future!” Says Jamey V. - “MEET ME AT THE COMANCHE!”