Reviewers Rating: Excellent

Visit Dates: 1/16/03-1/21/03

we arrived on St. Croix late in the evening from the ferry where Chuck Ulrich picked us up and drove us to our rental jeeps and then on to the villa. it was dark, so we had only a sense of the view that waiting for us when we awoke the following morning.

What we DID see that evening was a very cool villa. enter the gates to the open loggia/covered terrace that wraps around the living & dining space. huge glass expanses and walls that fold open to give you the sense that you are outside - even when you are inside. bathrooms have been updated nicely with granite countertops and large showers. All three couples had great views from the bedrooms - which all had A/C though it was never needed and hence never used. The six of us fit very comfortably in this villa and had plenty of privacy - and we had a bedroom to spare!

While the kitchen won't win any design awards, we had no problems making a fabulous meal. Still the primary function of the kitchen was to chill our beer and make our coffee. I didn't go on vacation to cook a meal - especially with all the incredible restaurants we visited!

Back to the view. We spent hours sitting and staring out from our perfectly situated hillside vantage point at some of the most gorgeous shades of blue any of us had ever seen. Perfect panoramic views of Buck Island and up the north coast of St. Croix. On most days, we could also see St. Thomas, St. John, Tortola, and Virgin Gorda off on the horizon.

Absolutely captivating views. No disappointments.

What was negative? Virtually nothing. The living area furnishings (couch) could probably stand to be replaced or have the upholstry cleaned, but again, we weren't in St. Croix to sit on the couch. We agreed that the pool terrace was too small to be functional for sunbathing, but as another reviewer wrote, we got to sample the beaches at 5 different locations all over the island. We came back with plenty of color and plenty of beach/water time.

Villa Flamboyant provided an excellent homebase for our 3 couples. We had two Jeeps to get us wherever we wanted to go, and we all felt we got a great taste of all that St. Croix had to offer.

It is absolutely essential that people looking at these reviews (especially the less than favorable ones) understand the price point for this villa and all that you get therein. Privacy, quiet, unbelieveable views, and a really cool 4 bedroom/3 bath house.

I was the one person out of our group that was going to be the most concerned and critical (I am a snob)about the accommodations and I was very satisfied with what we got for the money we spent.

Chuck Ulrich took very good care of us, made terrific recommendations for dining, took us out to Buck Island on his boat for some of the best snorkling in the world, made sure the villa functioned the way we needed it to, and even drove us to the ferry at 6:00am on our departure day! A big thanks to Chuck and his wife Scooter Girl - our very own concierge couple right next door.

We will see them again, hopefully sooner than later!

Reluctantly back in cold Indy,

Jonathan Eriksen

Indianapolis, Indiana

(though encouraged not to, we also jumped off the terrace into the pool which made it all worth it!)