I'll try to stick to Orion's Hill details here as I may do a trip report if anyone is interested.

We stayed at Orion's Hill Villa during the last week of November and had a super time. The group consisted of one couple without children (they used the main/upper level), my husband, my 6 year old son, and I (we used the lower level/pool level).

We rented two Jeeps from Budget at the airport and took the car ferry over.

We rented Orion's Hill via Caribbean Villas (CV). Upon booking, CV gave us phone numbers for 'Doug and Sharon' to call upon arrival. We didn't know that they were the villa owners at the time. On arrival day, I was tired and a little brain dead from all day travel and ended up calling Doug 3 times before we actually reached the driveway entrance on Centerline Road. We've been to St. John before, but I was paranoid that I would get us lost in the dark -- we were exhausted and just wanted to get settled into the villa! Doug was very kind and friendly -- didn't complain about my multiple calls to his cell phone. But, I suppose the phone calls were better than driving into town to meet us at the ferry dock like Caribbean Villas had indicated would happen. =)

Orion's Hill is in a gated area. I thought the gate was nice for a little added security. I think there are 5 villas? on the drive including Doug and Sharon's residence. Orion's Hill and Doug & Sharon's house is at the very top of the mountain. I think you really need 4 wheel drive to get up there, but my husband managed it once in 2-wheel (I think this made him feel manly for some reason). Happy Moon is just below both of these -- about 90 feet.

So, we got up there and Doug showed us around and explained how everything worked, etc. He said to try not to use the air conditioning excessively because once he had a family leave it on all week and his electric bill was $1400. (In the end we didn't use the AC at all. We didn't really need it most of the time because it's quite breezy up there. However, we would have used it at night a few times to tone down the humidity, but we felt guilty and didn't want to run up the bill.) Doug was so nice when orienting us with things...I could have talked with him all night, but we were all too tired.

During the orientation we realized that Doug and Sharon literally live about 50 feet (that's my guesstimate) to the east. I'm a poor judge of distance, but it's close. They can see you and you can see them. I watched Doug play with their new puppy on their front deck and I'm sure he watched us do all sorts of touristy things on 'our' decks! Looking back I believe we all felt aware of their constant presence since they were primarily home when we were 'home' -- in the mornings and evenings -- and they come and go throughout the day too. One morning I felt a little uncomfortable when Doug was outside the lower level bathroom window. He had been cleaning the pool and was returning the net to the side of the house. I'm sure he heard me taking my morning pee!! ha ha! I know he wasn't trying to be intrusive (it was early) and we were glad the pool was clean.

The close proximity could have been a problem overall if it weren't for the fact that Doug is so damn nice! We had a child with us, so there were no late nights, no nude sun bathing, or anything that required isolation. Plus, we felt sooo safe there. If one of us would have shouted for help I bet Doug would have been over in a flash. At other villas we have felt the need to 'check everything out' when we returned each time. No checking necessary here -- we felt very secure.

The villa was very clean and well stocked with things. I'll start at the top...on the roof. The widow's walk is absolutely superb. The views are fantastic: St. Thomas, north shore, Maho, Jost, East End, Coral Bay! It's lovely up there. You have to climb a ladder (a nice ladder with hand rails), so our child only went up once and each of us maybe twice, but we were aware that the view is unique and one we may not see again on our budget!

The main floor views were also great. You can see nearly as much from the wrap around decks as from the widows walk -- you just have to walk a few steps in either direction to look. The living room is cozy with TV, DVD, stereo -- even a rocking chair. The kitchen has everything you need: coffee maker, microwave, blender, pots, pans, etc. The CV photos don't do this floor justice. The ceiling is vaulted with wood beams and the stained glass of Orion above the front door is nice. There is a half bath off of the foyer. The main floor and lower level bedroom suites are nearly identical with walk in closets and full baths, of course. If you'll be at Orion's Hill with family and you have a choice, choose the main floor suite -- you'll have more access to the views and there is a door leading from the bedroom to the deck with a nice view of Coral Bay. I wanted to sit out there every morning and evening, but it wasn't my bedroom!

Oh, I also enjoyed taking note of the decorative plates on top of the kitchen cabinets. Examples of Greek Revival architecture I think (I'm always confused by differences between Federal, Georgian, etc.) The villa is a Caribbean stone-work modification of this style -- really a neat house -- and the plates are a nice little touch.

The lower level/ground level/pool level is nice too. There is another nearly identical living area down there (no stereo though.) Doug and Sharon had many toys and our son really appreciated this! We forgot our bedtime book, so the children's' books were great to have. CV hadn't mentioned that there would be toys as well as beach toys for sand castle building, floatie noodles for snorkeling, some snorkel masks and snorkels for kiddos. There is also a life jacket for the pool and other toys and large floating doughnuts for the pool. We brought nearly an entire suitcase full of such things to keep our son busy because he was the only child in the group and I wanted him to have things to do and a bucket and shovel to build a proper sand castle! CV could have saved us a lot of trouble.

The pool was really a perfect size and had neat lights that changed color. However, only the six year old swam in it because it seemed too cold to the rest of us. You are so high up on the mountain ridge that in the morning the water had cooled and the breezes made it seem too cool for a dip. Since the pool is on the east side of the house, the shadow from the villa shades the pool and pool deck from mid afternoon on. Don't get me wrong, it's not cold up there by any means! It just wasn't sunny enough on that side of the house for the sun-lovers in our group and since the ocean is so warm, the pool water seemed uncomfortable. Our travelling companions like to bake in the sun and this was not the villa for them. The pool would be much better during the extra-hot summer months I think.

Overall Orion's Hill is a great place to stay relative to the cost: nice, clean, spacious, a lovely home, everything you need but not opulent. The VIEWS are what make it stand out. The owners were kind and always available if we needed them. (The microwave stopped working and Doug was there within minutes and immediately moved the extra from downstairs to the kitchen for us.)

The drive to Coral Bay took about 10 minutes and provided easy access to Love City Market. We grilled a lot and ran to the market as necessary. (took our own meat, by the way -- hee hee.) The drive to Cruz Bay was about 15 - 20 minutes. This became a bit annoying (due to the curves causing motion sickness after eating) on the way back from a night out on the town (until about 9:00 pm for us!) -- which was every night. There were many times that we wished we were closer to either the east or west ends of the island, but again, the view made it worth it. We won't rent Orion's Hill in February 2007 because we've opted to stay closer to Cruz Bay, however I recommend trying this villa at least once for the unique views provided at a reasonable price. Also, it is especially convenient to Maho Bay and all the North Shore beaches for that matter.

Oh and one of the highlights of the trip for the boys was that Doug showed us his Cobra built for him by Carroll Shelby. =) Very cool.

Fwewh! This was supposed to be a short villa review! I don't know if I'll have time for a trip report!!

I hope that my opinions will be helpful to someone and happy travelling to you all!
=)