Hi azthermal1 - may I suggest a private villa? My fiance and I are also doing the wedding/honeymoon combo on St. John. We are renting a jeep and a villa with a pool for 10 days. It will just be the two of us and also do not really care for nightlife. Activities we have planned are kayaking, day trip to BVI, LOTS of snorkling and beach bumming, parasailing and snuba. I can't wait. But definately check out a villa - most are fully stocked with linens, pots/pans, a grill, washer/dryer - pretty much everything but food. What could be more romantic than an entire house to yourselves as a newlywed couple???

Azthermal,
We have exactly what you described here on St Croix. There are several Catholic churches on the island. We have some of the best snorkeling in the Carribean. Some great beaches. Several outfits that offer horseback riding. As far as accomodations go, we have everything from fancy hotels (The Buccaneer) to smaller quaint hotels (The Pink Fancy) to villas to condos. Check us out.

My wife and I have rented The Retreat. Check it out at www.the-retreat.us. Seems to be a cool place. We're coming there on 6/26 for 5 nights for our 10th anniversary. It's on the east side of St. John and looks to be very private. One thing we were told is that make sure you get a villa with a pool, because during the summer, you should plan your day to do the active things during the morning and evening, and spend the hot mid afternoon inside your villa. Being able to take a dip in the pool is always refreshing. Just something to think about. We also found lots of other great places at www.vivacations.com. You can also see The Retreat there, but we rented directly from the owner and got a 20% discount doing it that way. It was only $1600 total for 5 nights. Check out the garage doors at The Retreat...3 garage doors that open up, and the WHOLE villa is open to the ocean. We can't wait! Good luck and congratulations!

Rick-

Interesting comment about renting your villa directly from the owner. I thought the owners had to contract through the agency with whom they have signed. If you go direct, what do you lose (as a guest)?

How do the Villa agencies make their money?? Anyone know? Do they take a % of the rental cost? Why do some villas appear on the sites of multiple agencies? Do they have a master calendar to know if it is available, or not??

Hello Steff,

From what I understand villa agencies take a % of the rental cost. What might you lose - if the owner is in the states and can not offer meeting you at the dock or being on call to come out to the property if something was wrong ect. then that would be something to consider as a loss; not sure what else. Agencies have different plans; one being a no-compete situation where only that agency books and the owner can't book privately or list with anyone else - this property would get preferential bookings since its exclusive to that agency. Then there is just listing your property with them and you can list with others or do it yourself. Not sure about a master calendar.

--Islander

I see. Thanks Islander. It seems like an interesting line of business (to me)....but I wonder how lucrative it is.