La Collina Villa

[PatrickMcc]

We are looking at this villa for next February. We want to know how long a walk to the Westin it is.
We will have a 1 and one half year old grandson with us and my daughter might want to walk to the Westin beach. We have stayed in this area on Maria Bluff in the 1990's in a house called Maria Breeze. Is it near that house which was at the very top of the hill overlooking Great Cruz Bay?- you turned onto Great Cruz Bay road to get there. I have read reviews on trip advisor and the La Collina seems fine except for the small pool. Thanks.

[Barb Y]

Hi! We stayed at La Collina about 4-5 years ago. The house was fine, furniture was a bit dated but worked just fine for us. The master bedrooms are on the main floor and the other two rooms are accessed by two separate exterior entrances downstairs off of the driveway. The lower rooms were a bit dark. There were gorgeous flowers all over the property. The deck was awesome as were the views. You look down almost directly over the Westin Dock. Just an FYI the stairs between the house and pool, which take you to the driveway are very slippery when wet so be extra careful with your grandchild. You actually take Roman Road to La Collina which is the right on the top of the hill past the dumpsters. The walk up from the Westin with a stroller might be slightly challenging. Good luck with whatever you decide and have a wonderful trip.

[Teresa_Rae]

We stayed there in 2003 on our honeymoon and thought it was dated then. Don't get me wrong, we loved it, however, that was our first trip to STJ and we've stayed at so many nicer places since then that our standards have changed. I remember opening the kitchen pantry and it having a damp, cabin-in-the-woods smell to it. And the no-see-ums were horrible. I had over 200 bites that I got while indoors there, mostly while I was sleeping. An exterminator came and then we kept the windows shut and it was fine, they had been getting in through the holes in the screens. LaCollina could really use a re-vamp.

I would definitely not try to walk to the Westin from LaCollina.

What is the bedroom set up that you're looking for? LaCollina's upper level has two masters, the living/dining area, and the kitchen. To get to the lower bedrooms you have to exit the main part of the house and walk down a little hill.

[Barb Y]

I had forgotten about the "cabin in the woods" smell until Teresa_Rae mentioned it. It was definately still there when we visited too!

[Teresa_Rae]

That's funny Barb

It was a damp, musty kind of smell and I thought "I'm not eating anything stored in there!"...since it was our first trip to STJ we just figured it was the weather and that all places would be like that...but fortunately we've never had that experience again.

[Barb Y]

It really is pretty funny! I had completely forgotten about that but now that you mentioned it I remember having the same reaction. I know I would choose some of the other places I have stayed at over La Collina, but if I had the chance to stay there over not being on STJ I would take musty in a minute .