Whoa! Stop!

The building just over the marina has MAJOR construction going on when I was there last week this time. I was walking along the marina dock on that side and saw crews under the building doing heavy power sawing and sparks where flying from some machine that was making a very loud screeching sound - like drown out your conversation loud!

I am not sure what they were building or what tools were being used, but it was LOUD and ugly. This poor man was sitting on his patio having his morning coffee and I felt so badly for him.

Some of the buildings also had scaffolding going up the sides (I can't remember if this particular building had scaffolding, I just recall that I saw scaffolding).

I would steer clear of the entire village until this work is done. It would ruin your vacation, for sure!

Blu.....are you even talking about the condo's that are further up the hill like St. Kitts?

I'm so confused and don't know whether to cancel our rental and rent something else or not.

Although...won't be around during the day much as we like to get around the island, but still....i don't want to be woken up early if we feel like sleeping in.

Thanks for any info!

Hi Connie - For whatever it's worth I e-mailed Dan the other day after reading about the construction and he said the refurbishments weren't going to affect his building until around November.

Yes, Connie, I am talking about the condos in Sapphire Village, not the Sapphire Beach Resort. The Beach Resort looked fine and the noise wasn't noticable down there. The condos are rented under Antilles, as well as privately. Under Antilles, they list the condos as "Sapphire Village" (not to be confused with Sapphire Beach Resort, which is also an Antilles Resort, and sits at beachfront)

We are planning a trip to Sapphire Beach this summer. We have been to St Thomas 4-5 times over the years. Stayed at Bolongo-nice with younger kids-and Elysian- nice too with a hike from the condo's to the beach. However, Sapphire Beach is the most amazing place-the water is breathtaking. You can dive right there. You can only use the pool at the resort if you stay there. We are in one of the two story villas on the beach-good price nice guy to deal with. Its at vrbo.com under Gossets Sapphire Beach Penthouse Condo. Always said if we ever went back we would just stay right there instead of having to travel to get there every day. Staff at Bolongo is AWESOME! Great all inclusive. Day trips to other islands are well worth it, ST John has the bluest water, The Baths and Virgin Gorda are great for any age. Willie T's is the best!!
Hope that helps-
Maryanne

Oh NO -- I'm staying at Sapphire Village in the Tobago building in a few weeks. Does anyone know if that's really close to the construction?

Better be sure to lock in with Gosset if you go that route. I was working a deal with him and "poof", he game my week to someone else without telling me until I emailed repeatedly. I don't like doing business that way....not knowing whether I have a palce to stay or not.

annelizabeth- I wish i had a map of the Village so I could tell you which building I saw under major construction. It was the one closest to the marina.

I happen to have a map of Sapphire Village that I saved from another thread and Saba and Dominica are the two buildings on the marina. Lucy's Jewel is in the Dominica building. If you were standing on the marina Saba is on the left and Dominica is on the right. Tobago is slightly further up the hill (above the Saba building).

Jeanne-

Thanks! It sounds like the building I saw under major construction was Saba. I assuem you mean if we were staing at the marina and facing the Village (??). In that case, the building that concerns me would have been the one on my left (directly in front of the boats).

Yes, that's right Bluewater...if you were facing the village Saba would be on your left. I'm considering renting a studio in the St Kitts building for a couple of nights before we go to St John from the same person Connie is renting from but I can't seem to make up my mind!! I'm torn between spending the extra money on Secret Harbour or staying in something more economical like this studio (which, on the plus side, has been recently renovated). I'm assuming the St Kitts building is far enough away from Saba that the construction noise wouldn't be TOO bad but thanks for the warning Bluewater.

I must disagree with Bluwater's assessment of, "I would steer clear of the entire village until this work is done. It would ruin your vacation, for sure!"

Sapphire Village itself is privately owned and the units are either privately rented out by unit owners to vacationers or rented out via the rental agent.

Caveat emptor! If you see a unit that is priced way below any other unit either at Sapphire or anywhere else where condos are offered as vacation rentals, check with the rental agent/owner to determine why the rates are so below the norm. Ask for current photographs and, in the case of Sapphire, ask about the current renovations and how they might affect your vacation.

The building currently under renovation at Sapphire Village is "Barbados" which started about four months ago and is almost finished. From thence the crew will go to either the "St Maarten" or "St Kitts" building (most likely the former since it's below the Barbados building) and when the crew DOES go to the St Kitts building then that will have little impact on surrounding buildings since St Kitts is a rather separate building.

Some of the private owners at Sapphire Village have made no improvements to their units in the past 25 years since the place was built and, given the recent assessments placed on these owners for the major repairs which have had to be made to the basic structure of the Village units, some of the owners are under foreclosure proceedings and thus maybe are offering their units for rent to unsuspecting vacationers for cheap to reap!

Bluwater, you mentioned, "Gossett" as the owner of the condo that you hoped to rent. Maybe you meant, "Gassett?" Surprised he's still lurking around here...

The majority of Sapphire village owners are very honest and upfront in their direct dealings and of course whichever units the rental agent deals with must be up to par in order to do business because they've their reputation to uphold.

Do ask the right questions if you're dealing with an individual owner whose offer seems rather too good to be true!

Cheers!

We stayed at Lucy's Jewel just last summer. Work on the Dominica building was just being completed and the Saba building was done before that. I think the construction company might store things in front of Saba. Lucy's Jewel was re-done last year - new everything. We are staying there again in about 2 weeks.

Here is what I saw and heard 2 weeks ago and anyone is free to disagree:

I was standing at the Marina, in front of what the map (someone sent me a map of Sapphire today) shows as Saba and Dominica, and there were crews under one or both of those buildings (can't recall if they were under one or both). Sparks were flying, construction sounds were very loud, something was making that screeching noise you hear around construction sites (some kind of saw maybe?), there were pick-up trucks parked in the dirt/sand between the marina and the buildings and there were men under the buildings (Saba and/or Dominica).

If Barbados is the only building under construction, then they must be doing the sawing and whatever else under the Dominica and Saba building. I never ventured up the hill at Sapphire. I have no idea what is going on at other buildings. I was at the Marina and the noise level was enough to make me thank my lucky stars I wasn't a guest. I also saw scaffolding and it wasn't on Barbados. I couldn't have seen Barbados form my vantage at the Marina.

No, it was Gossett. I still have the emails and just confirmed the name.

I have nothing against Sapphire and I normally recommened it, Village included. However, *I* wouldn't stay there after seeign and hearing what I saw and heard two weeks ago. That's just me.

Dana, that might be the answer to all of this. Maybe the construction company uses Saba as a base of operations for their construction of the other buildings. In that case, they may do the sawing and whatever else under that building.

I wouldn't hesitate to stay there. We did and are going back in a couple of weeks.

FYI, I heeded the various warnings and sent an email to the guy that owns Lucy's Jewel. He says that someone else just inquired about construction and he called the Sapphire Village office. Sounds like they are removing scaffolds and other stuff from a building that was just done and are storing it in front of Saba before they put it up on the building to be worked on next. Must be just getting ready to the next job.

Question is.....where is the next job? How do you find that out?

Connie,

I called two friends of mine (one of whom is an attorney) who are both owners/fulltime residents at Sapphire Village in different buildings and I got the information from both of them which I posted. As I was told by them and as I posted, the next projects will be most likely St. Maarten followed by St. Kitts.

Friends of mine recently (in the last two weeks) stayed at Dominica and had no problems whatsoever.

You could check with the Sapphire Village Condo Association (340)775-6123. Hope this helps.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

A number is all I wanted. Although the owner of the condo I'm renting has been NOTHING but great in his emails and even wrote that he would send my deposit back, because all he wants is for us to be happy, I still feel the need to find out for myself.

I really want to stay at Sapphire for the convenience and the owners honestly, but I will call tomorrow and get my answer.

Again, thank you so much!!