Price Goes Way Up at Dream Catcher

snorkelqueen · Post by **snorkelqueen** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 1:43 pm

We stayed at Dream Catcher 6 years in a row and it was without a doubt a huge bargin at $1960 a week plus Caribbean Villas 5%! Returning last July we noticed that the house was really in need of major repairs and big time cleaning and passed this info on to CV - it was beginning to look a little dumpy..... We were told the villa would be cleaned and repaired.....I was shocked to see that Dream Catcher is now $2660 a week - what could they have done to warrent a $700 a week increase?? Is this a trend on island because of the big hike in property taxes or just an owner who realized they could charge a lot more with a little cleaning and TLC?

alw1977 · Post by **alw1977** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 1:50 pm

It could have been sold, and the new owner made repairs plus they have a high mortgage payment = higher rental rates. I don't know where this villa is, but a nice re-do plus a good location equals an expensive rental property. It may have been unvalued to begin with. Rentals on St. John are extremely expensive relative to other Caribbean locales (for good reason).

Just my 2 cents.

villa_owner · Post by **villa_owner** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 1:53 pm

Are you the same person that ripped this villa big time in the Villa Review section on this site? It seems that you were "moving on" anyway, so why do you care?

Frankly, expect to see a lot more of this when (and if) those property tax hikes go though. Most villa owners run at a loss anyway, but with the tax increases, it's not doable anymore without rate hikes for the rentals.

Anyway, I would suggest you stay somewhere else since you were so disappointed last time....

DELETED · Post by **DELETED** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 1:55 pm

DELETED

captainjay · Post by **captainjay** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 2:05 pm

Wapa just got another price increase as well for power.
Jay

Ksea · Post by **Ksea** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 2:07 pm

We looked at Dream Catcher last year. It did look like an amazing value. After speaking in person to the agency we decided on a different villa. I would be interested to see new pictures and descriptions of the villa!

Wolfhound · Post by **Wolfhound** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 3:13 pm

That villa needed an enormous amount of work. We stayed there in 2006. Location, view and price were good and that was all. I wouldn't be surprised at the jump in the rate. I just hope they did what was needed.

PA Girl · Post by **PA Girl** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 4:32 pm

I would suspect that climate, villas go downhill fast if the owner turns their back on maintenance.

A transfer of ownership could also explain a few things. From my experience in other areas, owners tend to dislike spending money on maintenance when they are selling the property.

At the current price, I would hope that the past problems were corrected.

snorkelqueen · Post by **snorkelqueen** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 4:46 pm

I am one of several people who have commented both on this site and in the villa guest book over the years regarding the condition of Dream Catcher. I guess "Villa-Owner" that I believe in pride of ownership whether you have your property in a rental pool or not. I am sure you would not wait for people to start complaining before you decided to clean or make necessary repairs.

daycruise · Post by **daycruise** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 5:20 pm

I agree with many of snorlegirl's comments. This forum is all about sharing ones insights and experiences with St John related issues. We read restaurant reviews that are bad all the time. We should also be able to post our comments and experiences with certain villas, without fear of "villa owner" criticism. These are individuals opinions of things. If they are not true, or valid, why be so concerned?

California Girl · Post by **California Girl** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 6:25 pm

villa_owner wrote:Are you the same person that ripped this villa big time in the Villa Review section on this site? It seems that you were "moving on" anyway, so why do you care?

Anyway, I would suggest you stay somewhere else since you were so disappointed last time....

Nice attitude villa_owner. What villa do you own? I just want to know so I avoid renting from you in the future. It seems funny that you'd remember a specific villa review...maybe you own Dream Catcher and are a little ticked off that people spoke their mind about it?

villa_owner · Post by **villa_owner** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 6:56 pm

California Girl wrote:
villa_owner wrote:Are you the same person that ripped this villa big time in the Villa Review section on this site? It seems that you were "moving on" anyway, so why do you care?

Anyway, I would suggest you stay somewhere else since you were so disappointed last time....
Nice attitude villa_owner. What villa do you own? I just want to know so I avoid renting from you in the future. It seems funny that you'd remember a specific villa review...maybe you own Dream Catcher and are a little ticked off that people spoke their mind about it?

No, I don't own Dream Catcher - I just remembered the review because it was so bad - there aren't many like that in the villa review section here.

I just don't understand why someone who obviously wanted to blab to everyone about how terrible Dream Catcher was to the whole internet after renting it year after year is now still looking to rent it and now questions the rates.

As a villa owner, I can understand how hurtful a bad review could be and it seems that this person is beating a dead horse for some reason. And, considering that this is a public board, I think I am entitled to an opinion like anyone else.

villa_owner · Post by **villa_owner** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 7:04 pm

snorkelqueen wrote:I am one of several people who have commented both on this site and in the villa guest book over the years regarding the condition of Dream Catcher. I guess "Villa-Owner" that I believe in pride of ownership whether you have your property in a rental pool or not. I am sure you would not wait for people to start complaining before you decided to clean or make necessary repairs.

What I don't understand is why you keep staying there if you think it's not worth it and now that they have supposedly made some repairs and raised the rates accordingly you're complaining about it.

Of course as a villa owner I wouldn't want people complaining before I clean or make repairs, but if someone did and I made changes, then I wouldn't want the same person to continue to beat a dead horse when they don't know what changes have been made.

Of course you are entitled to your opinion, but I am entitled to comment on it as well. I was just suggesting that maybe this time you stay at a different villa since you had such bad experiences last time.

MIke · Post by **MIke** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 7:10 pm

WOW This is getting good.We haven't one of these in a while.
Come on Jorge,get involved

California Girl · Post by **California Girl** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 7:12 pm

villa_owner wrote: I just don't understand why someone who obviously wanted to blab to everyone about how terrible Dream Catcher was to the whole internet after renting it year after year is now still looking to rent it and now questions the rates.

And, considering that this is a public board, I think I am entitled to an opinion like anyone else.

Do you know for a fact that snorkelqueen is the one who wrote that review? If you don't know that for a fact, then how can you rip on her for it?

She is entitled to her opinion on this board as much as you are. You complain about a scathing review that wasn't even directed at YOUR villa, then you rip someone to shreds over it when you don't know that was even written by them. Who's flaming who here?

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