usvi-on-line
I am tired of RUDE villa guests!!!
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Rentals: the nature of the beast
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Last edited by DELETED on Wed Nov 25, 2009 8:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
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wontongirl
- Posts: 518
- Joined: Wed Aug 09, 2006 1:19 pm
moving there
We have people that are drilling for oil on our family farm( starting in 2 weeks) and we are praying to GOD everyday that it hits. my husband is also in the process of getting two patents with some things he has been tinkering with for awhile. His first one he did- Bell labs in Chicago got all of the royalties because he worked for them, SUCKS! We both work for ourselves in medicine all of time and I dont think with 2 kids we can get there without the oil or patent kicking as* for us.- You still have to dream and work towards your goals-
I would love to have a Bongo Bongo, KIsmet or MangoBay but I doubt that will happen.
I am interested in the islanders stories- like what type of house Ruth is in and how she got it all going. Do you just get something and rent it out a nd then find something not as luxurious for you to live in. I need to research all of this more, so if my big break comes we know what to do. We have been out to the keeting? medical Center to see what he could do to help there. I think he would love this- I've got it- Ill become a trained brake technician- Im signing off after 2 painkillers-liquid kind. HA
I would love to have a Bongo Bongo, KIsmet or MangoBay but I doubt that will happen.
I am interested in the islanders stories- like what type of house Ruth is in and how she got it all going. Do you just get something and rent it out a nd then find something not as luxurious for you to live in. I need to research all of this more, so if my big break comes we know what to do. We have been out to the keeting? medical Center to see what he could do to help there. I think he would love this- I've got it- Ill become a trained brake technician- Im signing off after 2 painkillers-liquid kind. HA
Re: moving there
Ruth's story? LOL - get ready to laugh.taminark wrote:I am interested in the islanders stories- like what type of house Ruth is in and how she got it all going.
Bluwater
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villa_owner
- Posts: 23
- Joined: Fri Sep 08, 2006 1:23 pm
OP here
Hello again
First off, thank you to everyone who had nice things to say and yes, I was having a particularly bad day the day I posted and I'm sorry for that. But, no, I am not a troll - I meant every word I said. I posted last week and then was out of town for a few days and did not log in again until today. I registered a new name for this post because I have posted on this forum in the past under another username and did not want people tracing back my other posts and then try and figure out what villa we own. (Which has already happened with the amount I mentioned for rentals...)
Why the paranoia? Well, I don't want the good name of our villa to be sullied with bad info from the internet. It is a scary thought because we really count on the excellent rental history we have and want to keep it that way. I have had guests threaten with "bashing us" on the internet if we try and keep some deposit money for damages done, or if we disagree about some complaint they may have. (Not to us personally, but to our management company. )
Part of the problem is the fact that I do not live on St. John and must rely on our management company to be the eyes and ears (and balls) for me. But, this is hard for them to do, because they don't want their named sullied on the internet either from some crazy jerk that thinks they own the world because they paid a lot of money to rent my home for a week. Most times the management company will think it is just easier to give the deposit back than to deal with the potential consequences. It's not as easy as "just keep the deposit" because many times they same guest will bald face lie about the damage/problem in question. And, in the end, guess who pays for the damages done? The owner - so, really, what does the property management company care? They always manage to keep their FULL commission no matter what happens after the guest leaves most of the time.
As for why we are in St John in the first place... well, for the same reason the rest of you are. We fell in love with the place and made it a dream to hopefully live there some day. The first step for us was to purchase a place there, rent it out when we are not there, and get to visit when we can. Yes, we operate the villa at a loss - it's hard to do otherwise these days, but we try to minimize that as much as possible by renting as much as we can and maintaining the property the best we can. Like I mentioned before, we are not rich people and this whole "dream" has been quite a stretch at times. But, the sacrafice used to be worth it. So, you can see why I am so upset when I see guests treat our place like a frat house.
I know most people are not the people who do these things, and certainly most of the people who post here are good people. But, by posting my true feelings I was hoping that the few people that do feel "entitled" to be jerks maybe recognize that and think twice next time. Also, I wanted to dispell the notion that all villa owners are rich snobs who can afford to replace it, pay it, fix it or buy a new one. And, for those of you that feel that I should just "expect" these things to happen and deal with it, then I am guessing either you don't own a rental home, or you are rich enough to not care.
Just my two cents (again)
- The OP Villa Owner
First off, thank you to everyone who had nice things to say and yes, I was having a particularly bad day the day I posted and I'm sorry for that. But, no, I am not a troll - I meant every word I said. I posted last week and then was out of town for a few days and did not log in again until today. I registered a new name for this post because I have posted on this forum in the past under another username and did not want people tracing back my other posts and then try and figure out what villa we own. (Which has already happened with the amount I mentioned for rentals...)
Why the paranoia? Well, I don't want the good name of our villa to be sullied with bad info from the internet. It is a scary thought because we really count on the excellent rental history we have and want to keep it that way. I have had guests threaten with "bashing us" on the internet if we try and keep some deposit money for damages done, or if we disagree about some complaint they may have. (Not to us personally, but to our management company. )
Part of the problem is the fact that I do not live on St. John and must rely on our management company to be the eyes and ears (and balls) for me. But, this is hard for them to do, because they don't want their named sullied on the internet either from some crazy jerk that thinks they own the world because they paid a lot of money to rent my home for a week. Most times the management company will think it is just easier to give the deposit back than to deal with the potential consequences. It's not as easy as "just keep the deposit" because many times they same guest will bald face lie about the damage/problem in question. And, in the end, guess who pays for the damages done? The owner - so, really, what does the property management company care? They always manage to keep their FULL commission no matter what happens after the guest leaves most of the time.
As for why we are in St John in the first place... well, for the same reason the rest of you are. We fell in love with the place and made it a dream to hopefully live there some day. The first step for us was to purchase a place there, rent it out when we are not there, and get to visit when we can. Yes, we operate the villa at a loss - it's hard to do otherwise these days, but we try to minimize that as much as possible by renting as much as we can and maintaining the property the best we can. Like I mentioned before, we are not rich people and this whole "dream" has been quite a stretch at times. But, the sacrafice used to be worth it. So, you can see why I am so upset when I see guests treat our place like a frat house.
I know most people are not the people who do these things, and certainly most of the people who post here are good people. But, by posting my true feelings I was hoping that the few people that do feel "entitled" to be jerks maybe recognize that and think twice next time. Also, I wanted to dispell the notion that all villa owners are rich snobs who can afford to replace it, pay it, fix it or buy a new one. And, for those of you that feel that I should just "expect" these things to happen and deal with it, then I am guessing either you don't own a rental home, or you are rich enough to not care.
Just my two cents (again)
- The OP Villa Owner
I am truely sorry for your negative experiences, and I really hope that your villa company will not rent to the "problem" guests in the future, so you will not have to deal with the problems they bring. I also hope that in the threats to "trash" your villa and the rental company on the internet, that you, and they, take into consideration the way that many complaints on this forum are addressed.... they seem to be questioned, and are attempted to be screened for truthfulness. Also, in most cases,isn't the deposit returned several weeks following a visit to a villa? By then, in my estimation, complaints by the nightmare renters, at least to me, would have considerably less impact.
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StJohnRuth
- Posts: 1989
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 8:42 pm
- Location: St. John, VI
Since this is the time when a lot of villa owners come down to visit, I've been speaking to a lot of them.
Yesterday a nice lady who owns a nice villa was in the store. She told me that one time they came down and ALL the hangers from ALL the closets were gone. Nice hangers, not junky ones. She says that one of the things that is so frustrating is not knowing how long they were missing. How many guests thought "What a cheesy place! No hangers!"?! The other thing is, it's not that easy to replace stuff you didn't know was missing until you got here. You don't just run out to Closets Are Us on St. John or St. Thomas.
Yesterday a nice lady who owns a nice villa was in the store. She told me that one time they came down and ALL the hangers from ALL the closets were gone. Nice hangers, not junky ones. She says that one of the things that is so frustrating is not knowing how long they were missing. How many guests thought "What a cheesy place! No hangers!"?! The other thing is, it's not that easy to replace stuff you didn't know was missing until you got here. You don't just run out to Closets Are Us on St. John or St. Thomas.
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California Girl
Hey Ruth 
Shouldn't the people who clean the villas and/or the management company, when they do their inspections, notice things like all the hangers being gone? I'm certainly not defending the culprits who steal things, but I think the villa owners are getting the short end of the stick if the management company isn't checking things like this.
I'm sure that little things can be missing for a while before anyone notices (CDs, books, knick knacks), but if something like hangers, or throw rugs, or any of that sort of necessity or amenity come up missing, it should be noticed by the manangement company. If I were the next guest, you can bet your butt that I'd be complaining to someone if there weren't any hangers!
Shouldn't the people who clean the villas and/or the management company, when they do their inspections, notice things like all the hangers being gone? I'm certainly not defending the culprits who steal things, but I think the villa owners are getting the short end of the stick if the management company isn't checking things like this.
I'm sure that little things can be missing for a while before anyone notices (CDs, books, knick knacks), but if something like hangers, or throw rugs, or any of that sort of necessity or amenity come up missing, it should be noticed by the manangement company. If I were the next guest, you can bet your butt that I'd be complaining to someone if there weren't any hangers!
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Bob & Anita
- Posts: 611
- Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 11:20 pm
- Location: Charlotte, NC
Makes you wonder if the cleaning person now has a set of nice hangers? Find it hard to believe that a villa renter would be bothered to pack and then fly hangers back home.California Girl wrote:Hey Ruth
Shouldn't the people who clean the villas and/or the management company, when they do their inspections, notice things like all the hangers being gone?
Bob & Anita
The hanger thing brings up an interesting situation..... how many "good" villa guests, if they find something out of place or wrong will notify the management company? Had family rent this spring, a well known villa, that was on the market for in excess of $5 Million..... with uncleaned bathrooms, ( umm, well, "hair" 
) two or three leaky toilets, roofs leaking heavily in the rain, and inoperable - unopenable panoramic sliding doors, among other things. I tried to convince them to advise the agency.... they wouldn't. Nobody but close family knows. If they don't know about it... how can it be fixed???? this is a heavily rented villa.... I am sure the owner is not spending a huge chunk of time and hope it is just the owner/owners don't know....
Then there is the HUGE one night party down the hill in the empty villa, with what looked like locals... tons of noise, all night, lots of "non-rental" vehicles coming and going - then, nothing more for 9 days. How do agencies work with the cleaning people? Not that all will do this.... how much of the damage may be attributable to this situation, and not the renters? I don't mean to stir the pot, or cause problems, just an observation, and questions.
) two or three leaky toilets, roofs leaking heavily in the rain, and inoperable - unopenable panoramic sliding doors, among other things. I tried to convince them to advise the agency.... they wouldn't. Nobody but close family knows. If they don't know about it... how can it be fixed???? this is a heavily rented villa.... I am sure the owner is not spending a huge chunk of time and hope it is just the owner/owners don't know.... Then there is the HUGE one night party down the hill in the empty villa, with what looked like locals... tons of noise, all night, lots of "non-rental" vehicles coming and going - then, nothing more for 9 days. How do agencies work with the cleaning people? Not that all will do this.... how much of the damage may be attributable to this situation, and not the renters? I don't mean to stir the pot, or cause problems, just an observation, and questions.
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Xislandgirl
- Posts: 4163
- Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 4:03 pm
- Location: Slightly left of center
As a former villa manager, I can tell you that at times our houses were occupied by the VI police department (for stake outs), travel writers, and, occasionally at hurricane times, office employees but never by our staff for personal use. The keys were kept in our office and were only given to the cleaning folks when it was time for them to clean. I can not speak for other agencies policies though.
I lived in a caretaker apt at a villa and it was rare that I would use the main house if it was not rented, although I did occasionally use the hot tub when there were no guests at the house and I would raid the fridge after people left if there were no guests coming in for a few weeks. I would NEVER have taken anything from the villa.
I am sure that there are people that abuse their “power” as a rental agencies employee, but I don’t think it is the norm
I lived in a caretaker apt at a villa and it was rare that I would use the main house if it was not rented, although I did occasionally use the hot tub when there were no guests at the house and I would raid the fridge after people left if there were no guests coming in for a few weeks. I would NEVER have taken anything from the villa.
I am sure that there are people that abuse their “power” as a rental agencies employee, but I don’t think it is the norm
Xislandgirl;
I am so sorry if I made it sound like every agency and or employee was like this..... I sure did not mean for it to sound like it....I was merely exploring a possibility, that once known, could be an improvement in the system. My larger concern is actually the guests who do not notify the agency ( nicely!). If my relatives had done so, the next folks to stay there would probably not have had the problems. Not to mention that since villas are sooo expensive to operate, you want to make sure you are getting good value for what you are paying for services ( as agency or owner) and if your guests do not tell you, good or bad, how can decision makers know?
I am so sorry if I made it sound like every agency and or employee was like this..... I sure did not mean for it to sound like it....I was merely exploring a possibility, that once known, could be an improvement in the system. My larger concern is actually the guests who do not notify the agency ( nicely!). If my relatives had done so, the next folks to stay there would probably not have had the problems. Not to mention that since villas are sooo expensive to operate, you want to make sure you are getting good value for what you are paying for services ( as agency or owner) and if your guests do not tell you, good or bad, how can decision makers know?
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Joe Jackson
- Posts: 18
- Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2006 6:39 am
- Location: Shark River Hills, NJ
My two cents on this issue...
I can't feel sorry the villa owners. Sorry bout dat. If your villa's renting for 10 G's a week, you hadda pay in excess of a million bucks for the place. If that's so, you're in an income bracket that most, if not all, of us here can't relate to. And you probably overpaid for the property, so you're one of the main reasons that the majority of non-native people that live and work on St. J can't afford reasonable housing. And, that million dollar plus house isn't even your PRIMARY residence, so we must assume you've got another pricey chuck of real estate somewhere else. How many of us here can even afford ONE house, let alone a vacation pad on St. John? Quit yer bitchin', and tuff up. As Vito Corleone once said: 'This is the business you've chosen'. Nuff said. Stop the whinin' and start the dinin'...
Joe
Joe