I spent three months in St. Kitts in 1993. I'm sure there have been many changes since then. It was very, very clean. Spotless, in fact. Nice people, generally speaking. The island is so small that it was easy to get to know everyone, from the local bank staff to hair stylists, grocery owner, hotel managers/staff. We knew almost everyone in town.
Very safe at that time. We had an apt. about a mile from downtown Basseterre, and more than once I walked into town after dark, along the highway, and felt perfectly safe. In fact, local people would stop and offer a ride and never would ask for or accept payment.
No beaches like Negril, however. There are a couple of beaches, but they are on the windward side of the island so you can't really walk to them unless you are staying at one of the large 5-star hotels nearby. The water is choppy, with big waves so, being a non-swimmer, I spent most of my time in my hammock, not in the water.
There was a great club at the time, called the Cotton Club, a short drive out of town. A few small local bars in town, but mostly they closed down around 6 p.m. On Sundays everything shut right down. You were lucky to find a restaurant open.
There was a large middle class back then - you didn't see much poverty, and I don't recall any begging at all! A few players around, but they were mostly into it for an ego trip, I think, not for money - because almost everyone was employed.
There was not a lot to do, and we would have moved on after a couple of months, but decided to stay for the annual celebration of independence, which went on for about 10 days and was a fun time, with parades, music and dancing every night.
Having said all of this, I did get robbed while in St. Kitts. My own fault for not being more diligent at the time. It could have been avoided. The night it happened, I discovered my wallet empty when I went to get a taxi home very late in the evening after a beach party. I had to actually phone a taxi driver and get him out of bed (they don't run at night like JA) and beg him to pick me up and trust me that I had money at home to pay him. Nice older family man - he picked me up, drove me home and waited while I went inside to get $$ for him (paid him very well). Then I listened patiently while he gave me a lecture on who not to trust in St. Kitts. Took his advice to heart.
This is longer than it needed to be, guess I started reliving some times from the past. Actually, St. Kitts is an island I would return to for a short visit. But don't expect long, sandy beaches with bars and restaurants - they don't exist.