We booked our trip to St John on relatively short notice, and booked with the owner of SeaGate Villa on just as short notice. We traveled in mid April of 2009. We got a 5 nite deal because there was a wedding booked just after us. Myself and wife, with 12 and 15 year-old daughters, plus my 15 year-old nephew went and had an amazing time. The villa was actually a bit too big for us. We never used the downstairs bedrooms. The three on the main floor were perfect though.

The owner sent us a great welcome kit, and then we worked directly with the on-island rep once we got to the USVI. This villa has some great mature landscaping, and the layout is great. The main floor is perfect for a large family, with the nice kitchen, large great room with hot tub, three bedrooms off the great room, plus the covered deck overlooking Chocolate hole. Also can’t forget the quad entry doors and pergola at the entrance, plus the side patio off the kitchen, which has a grill and great view of the bay, plus stairs down to the pool. The one thing that the website and owner never really impressed upon enough was that this villa is truly ocean front!!! The property is relatively large and has a nice gentle sloped grass path directly to Chocolate Hole. To the left and right of the path are beautiful mature landscaping, which was relatively dry when we went as there had been little rain recently. My daughters were a bit freaked out by the iguanas, which can startle you when they are interrupted from their sunbathing. They can scamper away very quickly (the iguanas are quicker than the teenagers!) We only saw one big slow one by the pool, which can be seen in our photo gallery. Nephew and I snorkeled right in front of the villa and saw a medium size turtle. Get past a couple urchins, and Chocolate hole is a nice morning snorkel.

Chocolate hole can seem small from the villa, because you are so close. There was construction to the left of the villas, and it always seems that there is a weed-eater or skill-saw running somewhere during the day. You are so close to the water that you can hear the ocean lapping the rocks at nite, and also the water trucks delivering water across the bay in the late afternoons. I’ve been to Eden’s Whim as a dinner guest, which is directly above Seagate (some photos of Eden’s Whim can be seen in my 2006 photo gallery). This is much closer to the ocean, which is a completely different experience.

The pool and decks are great. You can see Pond Bay from the top deck though, but you are normally facing either across the bay, or to the ocean when sunbathing. Reading a book from the lower deck is a truly peaceful moment. Usually just the ocean is what fills your senses; sight, sounds, smell. Especially great at nite.

The upstairs bedrooms are all neat and clean, with nice new amenities, including large showers, modern fixtures, and an outdoor shower in one of the bedrooms. The downstairs kitchen was mildy dated, but had a fridge with a huge capacity ice-maker, so we never had to buy ice to fill coolers for day trips ( there were 3 coolers to choose from, when going out or the day to the beach). That bedroom/kitchen is directly adjacent to the pool, so it serves as a pit stop for a cold drink, if you fill that fridge with a few cold drinks. The bedrooms/bathrooms downstairs are nicely done, even though we didn’t use them.

As for the beaches and eating, we had a great time, even though we tried to cram a lot of sunbathing and meals into a short trip. We were usually wiped by the time dinner-time came around, as can be seen by our red faces in the photo gallery. Not much more can be said about the St. John Beaches, so this is mainly a Villa Review. Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

Photos Link here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/TSMannLumber/StJohn2009#
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Thanks,
Kenzoco