usvi-on-line
Villa Newbies in St. John.....
Villa Newbies in St. John.....
Hi Folks....
As the subject implies, we will be newbies to the experience of renting a villa in St. John. We visited the island in 2003, (stayed at the Westin) but will be making a return trip to celebrate our one-year anniversary.
Staying at Sea Stone.....learned it most likely should be re-named Villa Iguana
in reading one poster's experrience.
Any tips/recommendations/advice for us villa novices!
P.S. We are REALLY looking forward to our return to St. John.
Thanks!
Deb
As the subject implies, we will be newbies to the experience of renting a villa in St. John. We visited the island in 2003, (stayed at the Westin) but will be making a return trip to celebrate our one-year anniversary.
Staying at Sea Stone.....learned it most likely should be re-named Villa Iguana
in reading one poster's experrience.Any tips/recommendations/advice for us villa novices!
P.S. We are REALLY looking forward to our return to St. John.
Thanks!
Deb
This is a spectacular location, one that will spoil you for most other villas on STJ. You did not mention time of year, but whenever it will only effect the magnificense of the sunrise and sunsets;the closer to June 21 the better. However, this site will likely be exceptionally windy. But that generally is a good thing, cooler and less critters. Bring a pair of sturdy shoes to retreive stuff the blows off your living areas;anything the falls toward the cliff forget about. The water will also be fairly loud-I love it, but not all do.
As a brand new house, their may be some amenities you expect that have yet to be provided, beach chairs, coolers, enough beach towels. The agent should be helpful, within island time and reasonableness, with these requests.
Given the location and description you should have a terrific time.
As a brand new house, their may be some amenities you expect that have yet to be provided, beach chairs, coolers, enough beach towels. The agent should be helpful, within island time and reasonableness, with these requests.
Given the location and description you should have a terrific time.
Thanks MLS for your reply....
As it turns out, we will be staying there from June 4-12....so pretty close to the 21st....
The view is what sold us on this property....it definitely looks spectacular in the online pics....so I can only imagine what it would look like for real....
Any tips out there for provisioning? We definitely want to cook a couple of dinners at the villa. Where or how would you go about purchasing fresh fish or shrimp? Also, what is the best/affordable market....I have heard about Dolphin, Starfish and Pine's Peace (I think??)That last one might be wrong
Thanks again, for any replies!
As it turns out, we will be staying there from June 4-12....so pretty close to the 21st....
The view is what sold us on this property....it definitely looks spectacular in the online pics....so I can only imagine what it would look like for real....
Any tips out there for provisioning? We definitely want to cook a couple of dinners at the villa. Where or how would you go about purchasing fresh fish or shrimp? Also, what is the best/affordable market....I have heard about Dolphin, Starfish and Pine's Peace (I think??)That last one might be wrong
Thanks again, for any replies!
Just FYI, Sea Stone is not "brand new," we've been considering renting it for the past three years! I only say this so that you don't worry about all the amenities and necessary items being in place--I'm sure it has all been worked out by now! 
We've rented two different villas in this area and yes, the views are amazing. You will love it.
For fresh fish to cook at "home," the best place we have found is the small market next to the Fish Trap restaurant. We've bought good tuna and wahoo there that I recall. We've also found good jumbo shrimp at Starfish, sometimes. There are also local fishermen selling their catch from coolers by the VI dock some evenings.
We've rented two different villas in this area and yes, the views are amazing. You will love it.
For fresh fish to cook at "home," the best place we have found is the small market next to the Fish Trap restaurant. We've bought good tuna and wahoo there that I recall. We've also found good jumbo shrimp at Starfish, sometimes. There are also local fishermen selling their catch from coolers by the VI dock some evenings.
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
Thanks for all the advice on good places to shop.....I plan on printing this out for reference.....
Couples more questions...
We were considering using Katilady Catering for the initial set up provisioning (seemed like a good deal and fairly reasonable). Has anyone every gotten the dinners? We might consider this as an option, depending on how tired we feel after a day of traveling. Also, their bottled wines seem pretty reasonable as well....
Car rental .....deciding between L&L and St. John. I think we are leaning towards St. John Car Rental, since they have a lot in Cruz Bay....and heard that might be
an advantage with hard to come by parking. Good experiences with either?
Couples more questions...
We were considering using Katilady Catering for the initial set up provisioning (seemed like a good deal and fairly reasonable). Has anyone every gotten the dinners? We might consider this as an option, depending on how tired we feel after a day of traveling. Also, their bottled wines seem pretty reasonable as well....
Car rental .....deciding between L&L and St. John. I think we are leaning towards St. John Car Rental, since they have a lot in Cruz Bay....and heard that might be
an advantage with hard to come by parking. Good experiences with either?
As I turned the corner of the aisle in Pine Peace Market with yet another bottle of Cruzan Dark ready to grab a Daily News, I greeted Yussef(sp?) and his cashier with a friendly "Mornin', how are you?" Like most cashiers in St. John, she barely acknowledged me, but she didn't ignore me either. Yussef warmly returned the greeting and smiled broadly. We like the fact that we see each other each year and are pleased each year when we see one another again. He is one of the hardest working men on St. John opening and closing Pine Peace Market each day, only ocassionally sneaking out during the day for a break or errands. He also saves me a St. John Jazzfest poster (he actually just took it off his door and gave it to my wife last year). He also always has the best price on Cruzan rums.
As I walked around the first person in line, a young woman buying formula and a News, I was startled at the appearance of the second person in line, a tall, dramatically thin, barefoot black man with a 16 oz. Pepsi who looked just like Lindy (LeeLee), but clearly was not. Like a moth to a flame, I kept stealing glances, trying not to be too obvious, but the resemblance was amazing. We acknowledged each other, bought our stuff and stepped outside.
With no other family member with me to embarrass, I small talked with him a little and I flat out asked him if he were Lindy's brother-family members would have been mortified by my boldness. In his St. Johnian patois which I sometimes get, he said that he was not related then very formally said "My name is Goat." His wispy chin hairs were indeed separated into two strands sort of goatlike, not unlike Lindy's chin hairs. We chatted a bit more until he announced that he wanted to give me something. With a slight flourish he commenced what turned out to be a three to four minute poem which I swear was extemperaneous on faith, hope, and goodness.
For all I know it could have been something he memorized, but it seemed so personal. Regardless I was impressed, maybe even flabbergasted. I hope I meet Goat again next year, just as I look forward to seeing Yussef again. You do meet interesting people at Pine Peace Market.
Good retailers know that there are certain products to benchmark to have a reputation as a low cost provider. On St. John the product I use is 750 ml Cruzan Dark. PPM always has the best price
on this on the island. As isla_jen said PPM is hard to beat on alcohol. The selection is very good too, although Mixology is the only place we have ever found Barbancourt rum.
Penn's and to a lesser extent Delbert Hill have some parking availability.
As I walked around the first person in line, a young woman buying formula and a News, I was startled at the appearance of the second person in line, a tall, dramatically thin, barefoot black man with a 16 oz. Pepsi who looked just like Lindy (LeeLee), but clearly was not. Like a moth to a flame, I kept stealing glances, trying not to be too obvious, but the resemblance was amazing. We acknowledged each other, bought our stuff and stepped outside.
With no other family member with me to embarrass, I small talked with him a little and I flat out asked him if he were Lindy's brother-family members would have been mortified by my boldness. In his St. Johnian patois which I sometimes get, he said that he was not related then very formally said "My name is Goat." His wispy chin hairs were indeed separated into two strands sort of goatlike, not unlike Lindy's chin hairs. We chatted a bit more until he announced that he wanted to give me something. With a slight flourish he commenced what turned out to be a three to four minute poem which I swear was extemperaneous on faith, hope, and goodness.
For all I know it could have been something he memorized, but it seemed so personal. Regardless I was impressed, maybe even flabbergasted. I hope I meet Goat again next year, just as I look forward to seeing Yussef again. You do meet interesting people at Pine Peace Market.
Good retailers know that there are certain products to benchmark to have a reputation as a low cost provider. On St. John the product I use is 750 ml Cruzan Dark. PPM always has the best price
on this on the island. As isla_jen said PPM is hard to beat on alcohol. The selection is very good too, although Mixology is the only place we have ever found Barbancourt rum.
Penn's and to a lesser extent Delbert Hill have some parking availability.
MLS, You met The Ghost from Jost
The gentleman you met in the market is a fellow by the name of Courtney "Ghost" Chinnery. Though he may look like a Goat, he is actually The Ghost.
Interesting fellow, the brain is burnt out from who knows what over the years, but he can recite and create prose with the best of them.
As of two weeks ago, he was indulging in three hots and a cot as a guest of the USVI police for minor robbery of a local store.
A real character to talk to and there is some interesting reading about him online:
http://www.stjohnbeachguide.com/Ghost_Page.htm
-Ben
Interesting fellow, the brain is burnt out from who knows what over the years, but he can recite and create prose with the best of them.
As of two weeks ago, he was indulging in three hots and a cot as a guest of the USVI police for minor robbery of a local store.
A real character to talk to and there is some interesting reading about him online:
http://www.stjohnbeachguide.com/Ghost_Page.htm
-Ben