(Great)
Just past the smoothie stand turn up Ajax Peak Road and venture up a steep but paved driveway, go through the gate, and you'll find Ixora. You'll also find wonderful breezes, a gorgeous view, and a great place to stay.
We had two familes for a group of 7: 4 adults and 3 kids, and we loved Ixora! It has 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, arranged around a large deck with a long pool, hot tub, grill and beautiful views. It has 3 separate 'pods':
- The main house is a large open space with kitchen (well equipped), dining table (seats 8), and family room area. It has a TV, iPod docking station, and controls for the speakers, DVD player, etc. There are indoor and outdoor speakers. There are tall doors and windows all around this space so you can get nice breezes.
- One pod has a master BR on the first floor with a roomy bath. Upstairs (external stairs) are two bedrooms that share a hall bath.
- The third pod is one level. It has a second master BR with large connected bathroom and large closet, and another bedroom and hall bathroom.
There is an outdoor area with a washer and dryer and a place where they store the beach chairs and coolers. The landscaping is very pretty all around the house.
The view is beautiful: Coral Harbor and beyond to Norman Island. The deck has more chairs than we ever needed, and a nice covered area with a table and chairs. We had 5 friends over one evening for happy hour and dinner and we had plenty of room for everyone.
The location is great: easy access to North Shore beaches and not far from Coral Bay restaurants, stores, and the south shore beaches. The smoothie stand is close enough that the kids walked there one day. Going into Cruz Bay was an easy drive too since the villa is so close to Centerline.
The villa is affordable for its size and amenities. In a few ways it is showing its age (cabinets a bit worn, some rust spots on sinks, for example) which keeps it out of the 'luxury' category and price range. But it was ideal for us and our friends loved it too. Outdoor lights made the deck inviting at night as well as day. We were there in February and used the hot tub often (especially after running 8 Tuff!) but only used the pool once. The pool was a bit cool for me, but I still liked having it there. The night time breezes were so nice that we never needed the ceiling fan, much less AC (but then again we were there in winter.)
I have one small warning: watch the gate! It opens with a remote, and 99% of the time was perfect. It was on the first time I drove through that it swung all the way open and then came back about 18" before stopping. Unfortunately what stopped it was the side of my Jeep. (Took off the handle and caused major scratches.) I showed my DH this once - it swung open then came back 18-24" before stopping. Then of course after that it worked perfectly for the rest of the week. It would definitely not stop me from staying there again, I just pause a bit before driving through.
The villa has free Wifi (nice for the kids to keep in touch with their friends) and a phone for free local calls. We had plenty of nice beach towels. Some of the beach chairs were a bit rickety, but there were extras so we were fine.
I would definitely stay at this villa again. There is much to like about it.
