Where have you stayed?

[Pickle]

Villas:

Villa Rendezvous - Large pool right outside the kitchen/living room. There weren't really shady spots to hang out on the pool deck other than under the umbrella. The house has been renovated since and the price has nearly doubled.

Orchid Villa- Cozy house with a small pool. It seems to have been renovated and looks nicer now.

Le Lapin II - Stayed twice. My husband really liked the pool. I think the house is good for families with kids. It receives a lot of breezes blowing from the east.

Le Virage - It has a nice deck and pool area. The view is nice, too, but we’ve been spoiled by other locations, to be honest.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/80473236@ ... 139647886/

Blue Palm Villa - It was newly built when we stayed and was spotless and very comfortable.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/80473236@ ... 151779700/

Sea Stone - Right on the cliff with an in-your-face water view. We shared the pool deck with several iguanas. I didn't care for the narrow pool but my husband enjoyed his laps.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/80473236@ ... 150826368/

Cinnamon Tarn - Airy house with a great view of the North Shore. Stayed in late May and had no issue with not having an a/c. May not be for light sleepers due to the dense serenade of the night creatures.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/80473236@ ... 148113988/

Reef Madness - Stayed 4 times, that tells you how much we admire this villa. The house has a lot of character, which we appreciate. The pool is very inviting.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/80473236@ ... 139100106/

Bordeaux Breeze - The layout of the main room/kitchen didn't flow well and felt rather choppy to us. Didn't use the pool much due to a lot of rain - the hot tub was nice on the gray wet days.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/80473236@ ... 149984170/

Casa Bueno - It has sweeping views of Coral Bay and beyond (essentially the same views from Bordeaux Breeze). The location is very quiet.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/80473236@ ... 152391586/

Casa Tua - Fabulous location and views. Gets great breezes. We were looking forward to staying there again last May but that reservation ended up being cancelled (left us scrambling to find a replacement). It was sold and has been taken off the rental market, sadly.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/80473236@ ... 236456333/

Sunnyledge - Understatement to say it was a replacement for Casa Tua. Bright and airy home with a view of Francis Bay. Enjoyed the sunset every evening from the breezy deck. The location, which we loved, is not for folks who want the convenience of being close to shops and restaurants.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/80473236@ ... 481582954/


Condos:

Lavender Hill - Can't remember the unit number but we could see a part of St. Thomas. Although it was showing a bit of wear, it still was a nice and affordable place to stay.

Grande Bay - Stayed at a few different units from a one-bedroom to a penthouse. We like the one called "Egret's Rest".
https://www.flickr.com/photos/80473236@ ... 138264216/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/80473236@ ... 474232071/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/80473236@ ... 621776719/


We enjoyed our stay at all the places mentioned above (even if I've written something rather negative). With that said, Casa Tua, Reef Madness and Sunnyledge stand out very fondly in our memory.

[KAY]

Discovered St John while on a cruise and vowed to return so I surprised my husband for his birthday and we were hooked!
1) 1 room cottage on Gift Hill. Cant remember the name. I was a nervous wreck booking everything without a second opinion and wondered what I was getting us into but we had a great time! Cottage had a great view, rocky driveway and served us well on our first visit.
2) Sunset Serenade Gift Hill with our kids. Beautiful view and a great deck.
3) Isla Tesoro Calabash Bloom with 1 kid. Beautiful home and view but did miss the sunsets. Rentals stopped shortly after our stay for a pool to be installed and never saw it back open for rent.
4) Sunset Serenade again 1 week without kids and 1 with for our 25th. Same beautiful view but house was in need of tlc. Sadly, one owner had passed away.
5) Christy Ann Fish Bay. Nice home and outdoor shower. Again missed the sunsets.
6) Sundance Hart Bay. Easy short drive from Cruz Bay and walk to Hart Bay. Nice decks with sunset view.
7) Moonsong Hart Bay....returned a week ago Next to Sundance and great for 2.

[NJsurfsup]

1st trip SOL Cottage, Fish Bay cute west indies venacular architecture inspired cottage with great stone outdoor shower located on Marc Millers property great price.
2nd trip Cottage 9 at Cinnamon Bay camp ground , we had a fun week with our teenage son and met/spent time with really great people.
3rd trip Honeymoon cottage Francis Bay the most amazing week my husband and I did not want to leave and if we ever build on St John this would be my muse. Such a sweet little slice of heaven.
upcoming 4th trip bringing my parents and staying for the first time in a pool villa Longview in Chocolate Hole, can't wait.

[Midas]

We took our first trip to St John May 2000 and stayed in Great Cruz Bay (not sure about the name of the villa). After that we were hooked! We spent a lot of time in Coral Bay on that first trip so all of our return trips have been on the "quiet side" with the exception of a couple of short stays in Cruz Bay at the end of our trips.

2004 - Our first trip back to the island was for our sunset wedding on the beach at Cinnamon Bay. We were looking for something unique for our wedding/honeymoon so we decided to stay at The Castle....and loved it! It's just a cool place. http://www.castlestjohn.com/

2009 - We returned for our 5 year anniversary and once again stayed at the castle. Our love affair with St John was taking root and we had already started leafing through real estate listings wondering what it would be like to have an island home. We contacted a realtor (Lynn Giovanna - Wonderful!) to give us a property tour while we were on island just to start kicking the tires. Everyone thought we were crazy, including us! Oh well, no harm in dreaming...

2010 - Monkey No Climb - very nice villa with great views. http://www.vrbo.com/219688
They had just resumed construction on the villa in front of the Monkey so that was a bit of a bummer, but otherwise a great place. We spent a day or two with our Realtor running the island roads and we just weren't finding THE place. That was of course until we found it...

2010 - Sun, Moon & Stars - http://www.vrbo.com/116923
Lynn brought us to this gem on our last trip. The moment we stepped out on the porch we new we found THE place! Unobstructed down island views, excellent privacy, cooling tradewinds - we found heaven...now the fun begins!

2011 - 3 trips Winter, Summer and late Fall as time was available - Lots to do at SMS (or any island home for that matter) to keep it perfect for Guests! Painting, repairs, replacing worn amenities, etc. The upkeep is constant! There are far worse places to work though...

2012 - Back to SMS including our first carnival parade. We had a blast!

2013 - More SMS, but we did something a little different. We didn't have as much time as we wanted at SMS, so we spent the last few days of our trip in Cruz Bay and Grande Bay and found it was the perfect mix! The majority of our trip was spent in Coral Bay and a few nights experiencing Cruz Bay all within walking distance.

2014 - More SMS and a few nights at Grande Bay. I am pretty certain that we would adopt SMS as our St John home even if we didn't buy it!

2015 - Leaving this weekend for our first 2015 trip, can't wait!

[sabalpom]

1. St. John Inn
2 & 3. Cruz Bay Boutique Hotel
4 & 5. Grande Bay
6. Garden by The Sea
7. Star Villas (upcoming trip in May/2015)

[Irish34nd]

1st trip (honeymoon in 1999) - Villa Maria, on Maria Bluff. Great location with great sunsets

2nd trip (with extended family) - Le Lapin - near Chocolate Hole. Great views to SE all the way to W.

3rd trip with 2 other families - Ambiance - upper Chocolate Hole - favorite villa thus far, great private lay out, great pool and amazing sunsets

4th trip with 1 other family - Altagracia - Contant Point. Older villa, needed some updates inside (pool deck and furniture recently redone and was nice). Great views, not much breeze so had a bug issue.

5th trip with 1 other family (same family as Altagracia) - Southern Cross - Chocolate Hole. Very nice villa but did not have sunset view, pool was cold due to shade.

6th trip in 11 days with same family - La Papaya

[mindehankins]

We're the type who prefer budget accomodations:
Cinnamon Bay cottage - our first trip. We're campers and didn't mind it at all, though I had no idea what we were missing with the lack of view. The proximity of the beach made up for it, though!
Cruz Views #1, 2, 3 and 8. We do like meeting other visitors at the pool area, and the caretakers Sunny and Jane are wonderful. We don't like the 5% upcharge, and wouldn't stay in unit 8 again, unless we had no other option.
Lavender Hill - really loved being walking distance to town, free laundry, and the view of the harbor.
Sun, Moon and Stars - more costly than our usual trips, but absolutely positively LOVED this place. OMG the view...
St. John Guest Suites - also more costly than our usual budget accommodations, but we loved it there as well.
Cinnamon Bay baresite. Exactly what I expected - can't beat the price!
Inn at Tamarind Court. Again, very basic, but served us perfectly well. The thing I missed the most was a refrigerator.
East End - soon come

[jan]

Caneel Bay-My first visit and when I fell in love with St John
Splash
Gull Cottage
Gibney Beach Cottage
Ambiance
Gallows Point
Villa Adagio
Grande Bay
Palm Terrace Villas
Crow's Nest
Bombalassy
Casa Coram Deo

[Teresa_Rae]

Our first trip was for our honeymoon...one trip and we were hooked; we've gone every year since, unless we had a newborn.

2003 - La Collina
2004 - Coral and Blue
2005 - Casa Blanca
2006 - Hawksbill
2007 - Blue Aweigh
2008 - Sol Inclination
2009 - It's About Time
2009 - Island Horizons
2011 - Bay Rum Breeze
2012 - Nancy's Folly
2014 - Soul Island
2015 - Surfside

[SusanNJ]

1st Trip - Caneel Bay - Premium Beach Front Room on Scotts (loved it)
2nd Trip - Peter Island Resort and the Ritz on St. Thomas (enjoyed our visit but missed St. John and felt Peter Island was too quiet)
3rd Trip - Westin and Caneel Bay - upgrade to Cottage 7 (my husband preferred the amenities at the Westin but we both preferred Caneel)
4th Trip - Westin and Caneel Bay - Returned to the Westin for a friend's wedding and also were upgraded again to Cottage 7
5th Trip - Westin (had a problem with our room from the previous year so we got 5 free nights) and Caneel Bay for 3 nights
6th Trip - Little Dix Bay and the Westin (Would have returned to Caneel but they started their seasonal closing when we normally go in October (Sept - Oct))
7th Trip - Westin and Caneel (our friends joined us at the Westin but this is when Hurricane Omar hit and we were evacuated from Caneel and were able to stay at the Westin with our friends and only had one night on Caneel). After this trip we realized that we should finally try a villa together.
8th Trip - Island Stones Villa http://www.villavacations.net/islandstones/
(what a great first villa to try - the views were jaw dropping - the road was a bit tricky but we got to and from fairly well. it was a little too far though if you wanted to go back and forth to Cruz Bay for dinner. loved the views, house was a little musty, and it was very VERY buggy with no-see-ums and mosquitos. It may have been the time of year (Oct.) but I got bitten up a lot)
9th Trip - Kaleidoscope and Caneel (for our 10 year anniversary)
http://www.vrbo.com/263075
Kaleidoscope is a beautiful villa and great location. It was new when I inquired about the villa with the owner and he gave us a GREAT introductory rate. When we went over to Caneel Bay we booked Cottage 7 but unfortunately did not get our favorite room 7E so the views were not as great and we actually missed Kaleidoscope too because the weather turned (rain) when we got to Caneel. When it rains at Caneel, not much to do.
10th Trip - Wings Over Water (its like a smaller version of Kaleidoscope) great location and beautiful views. The pool is on the small side and lots of iguanas. After staying at both Kaleidoscope and WOW - we prefer this side of the island. Less rain and more breezes which means less bug bites for me.
11th Trip - Wings Over Water (what can I say we really love this villa. we would have returned for a 3rd time but the owners were staying at the villa the following year during our usual vacation time)
11th Trip - Back to Kaleidoscope (friends joined us so we were able to go back) Just as wonderful as the first time we stayed there
12th Upcoming Trip - Wings Over Water (this October) Would have loved to return to Kaleidoscope but just with 2 people it is very $$$$$$$

Future Trips - SOMEDAY would love to try Spellbound but unfortunately they have regular guests that ALWAYS stay when we usually travel to St. John and the price seems to keep going up year after year http://www.vrbo.com/3213182ha.

Also Out of the Bleu looks like a future potential villa....
http://www.vrbo.com/597706

[betsyv]

Hi Teresa, Ive been looking at a few of these....Very interested in which one you liked the best and the worse and why. Still looking for that perfect villa.

Our first trip was for our honeymoon...one trip and we were hooked; we've gone every year since, unless we had a newborn.

2003 - La Collina
2004 - Coral and Blue
2005 - Casa Blanca
2006 - Hawksbill
2007 - Blue Aweigh
2008 - Sol Inclination
2009 - It's About Time
2009 - Island Horizons
2011 - Bay Rum Breeze
2012 - Nancy's Folly
2014 - Soul Island

[BillVT]

Our best friends dragged us down to STJ in 1997 before our daughter started college. They had purchased a timeshare at Sunset Ridge Villas above the Westin and above what is now Sirenusa. It was small, only six units and for a timeshare it was intimate with great views to the west. As with most parents paying for college, we hunkered down for awhile after our first visit. http://sunsetridgevillas.com/index.shtml

In the ensuing years we would rent a villa for a week and for a second week, move in with our friends at SRV. Either for the following or preceding week. I think some of the villas we rented might be off the rental lists but some still remain.

In ’03 after our daughter graduated from college we brought her down, with her boyfriend, her boyfriends’ mother, our son and our best friends and we all fit into Casa Luna on Upper Carolina. The youngsters stayed down stairs and the old folks occupied the upstairs bedrooms. Great views of the Sir Francis Drake Channel between the USVI and the BVI. It also had great views of Coral Bay. Being high on the ridge of Upper Carolina the pool was “refreshing.”

Memory fades about dates and villas but we stayed in a cute cottage above lower Carolina called Sweet Spice in ’04. It is apparently up for sale as a bank owned fixer upper for $260,000. It was a cute one bedroom cottage with a 15x15 plunge pool and very nice landscaping. We stayed there in ’04 and we all know what can happen to property on St. John when it is poorly maintained. Besides current conditions its’ only drawbacks are lack of water view and access to the bedroom is from outside the house. If I had some spare cash I might buy it.
Sweet Spice

In ’05 our daughter got married on island and we rented 4 bedroom Monte Bay and Villa Rendezvous next door in the Klein Bay area. Monte Bay was the perfect house for the small wedding party to gather and Villa Rendezvous had a perfect pool with views of the bay. The beds in Monte Bay I recall as being very comfortable. I think both are still on the rental market.
Monte Bay

’06 brought the whole family again to STJ this time out past Salt Pond to La Sirena just above Kiddle Bay. La Sirena had two bedrooms with a sleeping loft above the kitchen. It is another multileveled villa with living space on the top floor, bedrooms and pool on the bottom floor. The pool has a wonderful cabana beside it and it is a great gathering spot near the pool. It has a sister villa Lil’ Paradise just below it. Though it has A/C and La Sirena did not, I much preferred La Sirena. Lil’ Paradise was on three levels and did not seem as well finished as La Sirena.

I think we stayed at SRV both weeks in ’07 and in ’08 we brought the family down again. Our son was just short of his 25th birthday so we thought it might be fun to stay within walking distance of Cruz Bay. We found Tamarind Villa. This is another place that may have understandably fallen off the rental market. Here is my review here on VI On-Line. http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/h ... SRROZTF_3o

Tamarind

By ’09 a unit opened up for purchase at SRV that coincided with our friends’ weeks and in ’13 a second week, a week earlier, became available. We are now lucky enough to spend 3 weeks on island, two in our own unit and the third with friends. We have never regretted our timeshare purchase. We think SRV is unique, small with a great amount of square footage with two buildings and a courtyard to each unit. The views are what you would expect, given its’ name. We haven’t looked back. Well we just did, but we have no regrets. It was fun sleeping around, sort of, but it is nice just checking the calendar and making plane reservations.

[DonnaM]

After ferrying over for a day trip on our honeymoon in 1989, we finally made it back with our boys in 2008.
2008 - Balance Villa in Fish Bay. Small but very nice. Great patio and pool!
2009 - Abrigado in VGE. Full AC which was nice in July. Nicely decorated mid sized villa with interior access bedrooms
March 2011 - Reef Bay villa on potential villa buying trip
July 2011 - Coco de Mer in Peter Bay. The big splurge for the last big vacation before younger son went off to college. Booked before we thought about buying.
August 2012 - Westin to check on the remodeling of purchased villa!
November 2012 - Westin for 3 days until we could unpack enough furniture then home!
February 2013 until now..... Working on paying down debt so we can semi-retire and spend more time at Beneath the Mango Tree!

[Teresa_Rae]

Hi Teresa, Ive been looking at a few of these....Very interested in which one you liked the best and the worse and why. Still looking for that perfect villa.

Our first trip was for our honeymoon...one trip and we were hooked; we've gone every year since, unless we had a newborn.

2003 - La Collina
2004 - Coral and Blue
2005 - Casa Blanca
2006 - Hawksbill
2007 - Blue Aweigh
2008 - Sol Inclination
2009 - It's About Time
2009 - Island Horizons
2011 - Bay Rum Breeze
2012 - Nancy's Folly
2014 - Soul Island

Which ones in particular do you have questions about? There is a lot of variety there in location, size, and price.

[fmzip]

Trip 1

Bayrum Breeze on Mamney Peak. Loved the house and the views, no skeeto's either!

http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/v ... Sbh2fnF-FU

Trip 2

Villa Andara. Two week stay, Nuptials & honeymoon just the wife & I. Spectacular place, out of the way, HUGE views. Breathtaking! Skeeto's were tough at times, was slapping the wife's arms during the nuptials

http://www.vrbo.com/344010

Planning on returning next year for my big 50...so many villas to choose from