Hello Michelle
It would help if we know a little more about what your family is looking for during the trip. Pure beach & snorkel, restaurants, shops or get away from it all? Coral Bay is still somewhat 'old island' although that will change over the next 5-10 years. If you like to stay closer to shops and restaurants you will be on the West end around Cruz Bay.
Start your searches on line now with the main agencies to get a feel for your budget and requirements. The choice ones in this price range book early.

Michelle,
I have not been to STJ but I would start with McLaughlin-Anderson, carefreegetaways.com, or bookitvi.com and click on how many bedrooms you want, check ammenities, and compare prices. And like Chris says, try to decide where on the island you want to be. I don't think you'll have too much trouble finding one for $2500 in the offseason, especially if your kids can share a bedroom, or sleep on a sofabed. You have plenty of time! Good Luck!

Hi Chris
We are looking for a combo of beaches, we love snorkeling, casual restaurants- forget shopping for this trip! We will rent a 4wheel and hope to explore different beaches each day. I have having a hard time deciding between Coral Bay area and Cruz Bay- I need to do more research on the areas. I want a more relaxing vacation- tired of the AI's and getting dressed up for dinner every night! I am looking forward to some nights at the villa- grilling with a glass of wine - kids swimming- doesn't get better than that!

Thanks Mountaineer girl for the info- some our new to me. I will go as high as $3000 if need be. I am an early planner!

Hi Michelle,
Orion's Hill is a nice villa with bedrooms in the same building, in a gated area with the owners close by. Large pool, gorgeous views of both the north shore and coral bay/east end and bvis. It's a close drive to the North Shore Beaches...1/2 way between Cruz Bay and Coral Bay. Since you have kids, you probably won't be staying out late partying, right? ...so the drive home after dinner/bars shouldn't be too much of an issue. The only real downfall to this villa is that it doesn't have a view from the pool. The pool was chilly for us in November, but this mountain-top area would be a wonderful temperature in July, I think and the pool would probably be just right. You can find this villa on CaribbeanVilla.com. Good luck with your search and have a great trip! 🙂

I have been to STJ in July, and it can get pretty hot, especially in the locations that get direct afternoon sun on the decks. I personally MUST have full ac in the summer. Once we stayed at La Chateau in the summer and it was ok without ac, but it's pretty high up with a north shore view. That's just my 2 cents. Most people seem to be fine with ac in the bedrooms only, and use ceiling fans for the living areas. I just can't stand to feel sticky and muggy.

Iowa- thanks for the recommendation for Orion's Hill- looks great!!!

cypressgirl- we do want a villa with full ac! Thanks

When do you recommend to book a villa for next July/Aug?

The percentage of villas that have full ac is pretty small. If you have a specific date you must travel, I would book as soon as you can. There is a villa ON Hawksnest beach called Terrahawk that is a 2 bedroom and fully aired. It does not have a pool, but you have a georgous beach out your back door. I would think your kids would love that. Just an idea.

We stayed at Villa Maria (thru Cateredto), 2 large, ac bdrms (both with bathrooms) are in the main dwelling and a separate master (with a separate entrance) overlooking the pool. We decided to invite the grandparents to use the extra space, but we loved being near our 2 kids (6 & 10) at night in the main part of the villa. I believe the price depended on whether you needed that other bdrm. The pool (large and deep by St. John standards) and all the large decks looked out over Great Cruz Bay (where the Westin is) and St. Thomas. We enjoyed many breakfasts, cocktails and grilled dinners on the deck while the kids swam for hours in the pool. We went to a different beach every day so the pool was a nice amenity that I wouldn't pass up with kids! I can't remember if the main rooms had ac, but my in-laws rented the villa again last June and loved it (again!) This was the second time we rented a villa with the kids and I do remember that it was a challenge to find just the right configuration so that they were not far at night.

Michelle,

If your kids can share a bedroom, you might want to try Perelandra. I looked at lots of villas, trying to find one with the bedrooms in the same building. At Perelandra, which is near Cruz Bay, there's one bedroom and the living space/kitchen on the main floor, then a spiral staircase goes downstairs to another bedroom, bathroom and laundry room. It worked very well for us. Nothing big or super fancy, but quite nice. It has a pool and a nice deck.

It's listed at carefreegetaways.com.

cg- thanks for the recommendation of Perelandra- it is one of the villas on my list. It seems to get a lot of great reviews and is a good price as well. We are going in July- do you think a/c in bedroom only is ok. It does seem hard to find a/c in the entire villa.

Also on my list is Orion Hill, Miles Away, Cloud Nine, Sundance, Arco Iris, Bay House and Allesandra. Since I really am not sure what location we would rather have I started looking into villas that fit our price range and must haves. Any thoughts on the above. Still investigating lay out in some to make sure it will work with the kids.

Kelly- thanks for the info on Villa Maria- looks great- but a little more than I would like to spend if possible.
Cypressgirl- thanks for the recommendation on Terrahawk- also looks great- but I really want a pool for the kids

I do not understand why posters continue to recommend McLaughlin-Anderson for St. John. With 10-15 St. John based agencies, why does this St. Thomas agency with no STJ office and a very limited number of villas (all brokered) continue to be mentioned?
Given your price range you may want to check Windspree agency if the East Side is OK for you.
As previous resort stayers before, are you planning to cook in alot? If you are planning on eating most meals out, proximity to Cruz Bay may be important.

michelle,

not familiar with others but stayed at sundance on our 1st trip to stj in 0ct 04 and have since stayed at c9 3 times. would gladly go back to either. the big isuue at those villas and most villas with a pool, are your kids waterproof?

we prefer c9 because all on one level (except for a large loft in great house), has a nice gazebo for afternoon shade and showers and west views to die for. the 2 master bedrooms adjoin but have outside access and doors are less than 5 feet from the pool. i'll cut and paste some prior posts. sundance is more convenient to cruz bay, has good west views, has a great master suite and large garden shower bath with west views and can hear surf from hart bay below. pool, another master and second bedroom on lower level. she's larger overall than c9 but you are goinig up and down steps from greatroom to pool deck.

"bride and i have rented a villa thru marcy at c9 5 times since oct 04 and never a hitch (did have a lot of rain oct 05, but that's not their fault). our favorite c9 villa is c9 and we have stayed there 3 times.

while weather may be warm in july (limits of our trips is oct to april) you should enjoy c9. bride and i have stayed there 3 times in last couple of years and we love her.
the views from her deck are breathtaking, an expansive panorama across pillsbury, stt and on to stx and the islands between stt and puerto rico. she's not luxury but she is very well equipped and maintained, and comfortable. all areas are comfortably air conditioned with 3 separate quiet split systems however we never used during dec and jan trips but did use part time during a very warm and humid oct trip.
we found the evenings on her deck so enchanting, watching the sunsets, the lighting of stt and the departing cruise ships, that with each trip we spent more evenings dining on her deck under the gazebo rather than going out. the last trip a couple of weeks ago, we dined in 6 straight nites. she has mutliple sets of double doors that open and fold back onto a very large deck that give the feel of living out doors.

"when our gkids stayed in loft, they were 5 and 7. they handled steps fine but they lived in a home with steep steps to their back pool deck, were excellent swimmers since pool can easily be walked into. we only used ac on that stay in oct 05 when hot and humid (rained for almost 2 whole days). ac kept all cool including loft since the units are the quiet split systems with ground mounted condensing units and high (in great room by loft) mounted coils and fans. the split systems are very quite which made nice when needed in bedroom. as i recall even in oct after sun went down, on most evenings we opened all doors and enjoyed breezes. didn't use ac dec 05 or jan 07.
the bugs seem to be a seasonal and location thing. never a problem at c9 but last month late in day nonseeums ate me alive at francis bay one day. we decided to extended our stay last month but we had to move down hill to moomsong and mosquitos where an issue w/o off and raid that were provided. we let ants get out of hand in kitchen during 1st stay at c9 until we realized our daughter was cleaning off counter with dish rag when she should have using clean wet paper towels. during all 5 stays at a c9 villa we have never purchased consumable products such as paper towels or tissue (facial or toilet), soaps, detergent etc inc windex which is a great ant killer), always found abundant supplies. if you like bar soap for shower or lav, bring your own, they provide soft dial in pump container.
dishes, pots, pans flat ware seemed adquate to me but only cooking we do is grilling (nice duccane job) and a few side dishes and the bride found all she needed. did notice during last trip that while there was a normal abundance of unbreakable glasses she was short glass stem ware which we seldom use because of problems from breakage on all tile floors and deck area surrounding pool where any glass must be a nono. midway through our stay marcy called to tell us she had forgotten to get glassware back from a neighbor villa where guests (friends) were allowed to take some stuff for a party. we told here not to bother for 2 of us. seems there were maybe a couple of coffee mugs but they are probably not a hot island in the islands or maybe marcy bought some after someone complained.
last month c9 did have: plenty of beach chairs and towels, regular towels and linens, a larger playmate 1 handle cooler (helps getting stuff to beach), 2 door top/bot refrig with icemaker and bunches of those blue frozen cooler things, drip coffee maker, large micro wave, heavy duty blender, gas stove that bride won't use, full size washer and dryer near kitchen, fair color tv, vcr, and music system, highspeed internet, no safe, and all light witches clearly marked. i'm certain if i'd asked marcy for for any reasonable item not at villa it would have been provided. during one of our stays i just mentioned to her i couldn't get the stero/cd player to work. later that day when we returned from beach,there was a new one all set up.
i believe i stated in my intial post that c9 is not a luxury rental. we have stayed in nicer villas on stj and in nicer condos on other islands but have never stayed in one that was more comfortable and livable from a suit case with that "down island"feel. nuff from papabou, i'm beginning to sound like a used car salesman.

papabou

Michelle,

We had no problem at all with the bedroom-only AC, and my husband is a real baby when it comes to AC. There are lots of windows and big screen doors, and there's plenty of a breeze when you open them all. I would suggest that you don't leave the AC on 24/7 as my husband insisted on doing, or it might freeze up. (We just turned it off and let it thaw, and it was fine.)

We've stayed in other, larger villas when we had bigger groups, and they all were AC in the bedrooms only. I don't know anything about the other villas you mentioned.

Also, Perelandra had a few pool toys for the kids, which was nice since we didn't bring any. It also had a cooler to take to the beach and, I think, beach chairs. Of course, that was two years ago, but I expect that's still the case. And the people at Carefree were very good to work with. (I promise this isn't a sales pitch!)

The key for most people is getting some breezes moving through the villa. If you are just laying or sitting in stagnant air, it 'feels' more sticky than it really is. Thus A/C in a bedroom at night works but during the day a good shady spot with a steady breeze really is just fine. The key to getting a breeze is location relative to the hillsides. The higher you get, the more breeze while the closer to water level the less likely you are going to notice one. This is especially true on a Western facing location. Check with the agency. Don't forget you are probably going to be away from the villa for much of the day anyway.

Papabou- Thank you for the detail description of Cloud 9- yes are children are good swimmers, so that should not be an issue

Cg- thank for your response on the a/c at Perelandra

chris- thanks for the info on a/c!

Hi Michelle,

We've stayed at Perelandra 3x now. A very comfortable home with killer views.

Agree with cg's posts re: only needing a/c in the bedrooms--the great room area with fans and all the window/door screens is very comfortable. Most of your non-sleeping villa time will be spent out on the deck and by the pool.

Also agree with cg that it can be challenging finding a home with both bedrooms in the same building connected by interior stairs (something we were originally looking for also).

I think you and your kids would really like Perelandra--it's close to everything so you won't feel like you're spending most of your time in your car, driving to the beaches, then to the grocery store, then to restaurants etc. You'll have fun with the pool and 'wildlife' (a couple iguanas like to snooze in the trees in the afternoon sun and if you put out sugar-water, you'll have a dozen or more bananaquits & hummingbirds flying around you on the deck). There's lots of family-friendly videos and some games.

Good luck on your hunt!
Suzie

Michelle-

Check out Long View in Chocolate Hole. www.longviewvilla.com. Perfect for a family of four. I highly recommend!

New Englander

Thanks New Englander
The villa looks great!
Another one to add to the list!

Michelle

I agree...go with a St. John based agency. I've noticed that McLaughlin Anderson (sp?) often charges more for villas that are available through other companies. Plus, having a local company means that there is always someone available if you have a problem with your villa.

I've had great luck with Caribbean Villas, http://www.caribbeanvilla.com, but there are several good agencies on island.