Kristen -

Yes, we (my wife along with our two teenage girls) stayed there two years ago April.

The pictures on the website are quite representative. What kinds of questions do you have? I'm happy to answer then all.

We used Lisa Durgen as the rental agent...she did a great job for us.

Kristen -

Okay ... I found our trip report from our stay at the Splash Villa...let's see if this answers some questions you might have...let me know if you have any others.

We rented Splash from Lisa at Vacation Villas. I can highly recommend her and her team. They did a great job for our family - a group of four including two teens. We had been to St Thomas once, and St. John a couple of times before (stayed at the Westin) so it wasn't all new to us yet Lisa made it easy.

To start with, you get what you see in the photos on her website. The villa looked like the pictures...the pictures did not tell a different story than what we saw on our arrival. That was comforting.

Lisa also arranged a jeep rental for our stay. You'll certainly want a rental of some sort.

Upon arrival on St. John Lisa met us at the ferry, we grabbed the rental vehicle and she lead us to the villa and gave us the tour and instructions for the week. She had also stocked the fridge with some welcome beverages for the adults and kids. Gave us lots of great recommendations on local groceries, shopping, restaurants, beaches, snorkeling, etc.

Is it well maintained?
The villa was fully furnished in every way. Kitchen utensils, supplies, sundries, beach chairs, cooler, towels, you name it. The unit was well-maintained...not that everything was like brand new - it shows its age in some ways. On arrival the spa was inoperative...Lisa had the repair guy there the next morning and all was fine by mid-afternoon. The beach chairs were a bit old and rusted, yours truly busted up a couple the first day - okay, so maybe I could lose a few pounds. I bought some new ones up at the hardware store and Lisa took care of that later.

What about the sleeping arrangements?
We only had four so didn't stretch the capacity. The main Master was great - comfy King bed, plenty of closets, storage, etc. Also an attached bath. Our girls shared the other "master". This room has king bed and a bath next door shared with others. Again very nice. The Crow's Nest room requires climbing a very steep and narrow circular outdoor staircase - Fine for someone young and nimble, but problematic for others - I went up there a couple of times - but wouldn't want to after a couple of cocktails. My 15 year old thought she would sleep here, but the rustle of the iguana's in the trees outside the windows spooked her. Both the girls found it to be a nice hide-away. This room contains a double, maybe queen bed and sink/toilet but no shower. Off the main entrance on the main floor is another room that has a set of bunk beds...fine for a couple of kids, but not very attractive to an adult/teen. This room also doubles as the laundry room. Also one of the couches pulls out to a bed in the living room, but we never tried it. You can sleep 10, but that implies using the bunks and the pull out bed.

What about the pool/spa?
The pool is indoors...actually kind of neat. There is an open roof above the pool that is screened to keep out bugs and critters. The pool is surprisingly deep...you can't see that in the pics. I would guess 7-8 feet... it was well over my head. It is quite cool - its not heated...very refreshing after a day in the sun...if you'll have little ones around, you'll need to keep an eye on them. The spa is just a typical spa - but nice at nite.

How about the beach and water at the villa?
While Splash is right on the water on Great Cruz Bay, it's not really on the beach...you can see the wall in the pictures and all the sailboats moored in front. The little beach you see with the chairs is a joke. Looks good in the picture but that's about it. There is access via steps through an opening in the wall to the water. My girls didn't find swimming there to be very attractive. We drove to the National Park beaches, as we had known we would having been there before. The best beaches are in the national park which will be about a 15-20 minute drive. The drive to the beaches will seem difficult the first time you make it (hilly and narrow, longer than you think from looking at the map since you're driving so slow, taxi's pulling up right behind you and honking just when you want to slow down to soak in the view, not to mention that left hand side of the road thing) but by the second day you'll be zipping around like a local laughing at the newbies.

Is it difficult to get to?
Splash is justs a short ways down a road that is just past the Westin. Easy to get in and out of town and to the beaches. There's a pretty steep driveway to get in and out of the villa via a shared driveway with the villa next door. By St John standards its pretty tame. If you haven't driven on St John before it's an adventure, but not a bad adventure...drive on the left, narrow roads, lots of hills, but everyone is driving pretty slow so no big deal. You'll get used to it quick. Hard to get lost, there just aren't that many roads.

What else?
Oh yeah, a couple of things. There is a computer in the villa that was set up with AOL internet access. A godsend to two teenage girls since their dad refuses to bring his laptop on vacations.
Oh, and the iguanas - we were told not to feed them and didn't...apparently they will hound you if you do. They are harmless. They live in the tree next to the dining room and the crows nest. They will sun themselves on the brick wall during the days and disappear at nite. Don't worry about them.
Splash is not air conditioned. We didn't find that to be a problem at all. You can see in the photos all the windows...they are all screened and everything opens up...along with all the celing fans, the windows, open roof , there is a lot of airflow , which is pretty pleasant right off the bay.

The villa rental worked great for us. I would do it again with Lisa with confidence at another of the properties that she represents. Also, her husband owns and runs the Cinnamon Bay Motor Yahct and does day trips for snorkeling etc. See http://motoryachtcinnamonbay.com/

Hi Bob,

Thanks so much for sharing the details of your trip. It was very descriptive and invaluable to us! If you don't mind, I just have a few more questions. We have reserved Splash for a week this Spring. We have rented a villa before on St.John. It had a great view, big outdoor pool, bedroom A/C etc. This year we wanted to "feel" closer to island life. So we are hoping to be able to hear the waves at Splash? We were a bit concerned about not having AC, but you seemed to be okay without it? How bad were the mosquitos and other biting bugs being so close to the water? Did your family pretty much wear bug spray all of the time? How did you like the view? Was there much boat traffic from the Westin? Also, hubby wants to know how the water pressure is in the showers! He is going to be very excited about the pool being over his head. We can't tell from the pictures how long or wide the pool is. Can you guesstimate?

Again, thank you soooo much Bob for your info. I will be sure to post a trip report myself!

You're welcome...no problem.

We were there in April as well. Weather was wonderful. A/C is not an issue! Everything is very open and there are many ceilings fans to promote air movement. We left the villa shutters et al pretty open during the days with ceiling fans running to discourage any heat build-up...don't know that it made any difference. It was always comfortable - We didn't experience any problems - in fact it was quite cool at nite for sleeping . You can't tell from the photos, but the shutters actually are not solid...they are a wooden grid so even if they are closed air flows though...pretty nifty idea.

You will definitely be close to the water. The villa is as close as you can get to the water on St John. Yes, you will hear the water lapping against the rocks/wall/boat hulls. The bay is pretty protected so there aren't usally a lot of big waves crashing againt shore. Also there are many boats moored in the bay...you'll hear people that live on some of the boats running their dingy's in and out, also early morning ferry to the Westin bringing the staff to work from St. Thomas, etc. All part of island life. The villa is surrounded by gardens with lots of tropical fruits, I recall coconut, banana, and lime trees for sure. Very islandy - also promotes a lot of birds...with attendent morning songs.

We didn't have any problems with bugs in the villa. The occasional gecko snuck in though and had to be chased out before the girls could think of going to bed. Everything is screened. We were not constantly dealing with insects buzzing around our heads or anything like that. We have huge mosquito problems during the summers in Minnesota where we live (they are known as the state bird here). I've not experienced them as a problem on St. John, but mosquito populations grow and shrink based on recent rains...perhaps we've been lucky. Mosquitos are actually more attracted to brackish, standing water than open waters like the bay so I would think they are not typically worse down by the shoreline. If they're anything like Minnesota misquitos they really come out just after sunset...which is when we usually left to go into town for dinner so we may have missed the worst of the problem. My problem is the no-see-ums at the beaches in the late afternoon. We tend to hang out at the beach until late afternoon...that's when they get you. I always make it a point to slather on the bug spray mid afternoon. We didn't experience them as a problem at the villa. After showering for the PM's I didn't use bug spray again.

The view is nice. You're down by the water so you don't have the wide expansive view you would from up on top of a hill. The view is mostly of the bay, the Westin beach, and across to St Thomas. Good sunset views on the deck. I sat out there every afternoon for the sunset while all the girls got dressed for dinner with an island drink...sun sets just over the north edge of St Thomas.

There is some boat traffic. There is the aforementioned traffic to and from the boats moored in the bay. Also ferry couple of times a day to the westin. A few boats in and out for excursions that pick up from the Westin. Not a problem for us...I guess it depends on how sensitive you are to those types of things.

Water pressure? Hmmm...don't recall it as a problem so it must have been fine.

The pool is a trapazoidal shape. There are steps to get in...I always stubbed my toe on it getting out. I wouldn't recommend diving in. There is also a nice ledge perfect for sitting on and relaxing on one long side. I would guess ir's around 8-10 feet wide and 20 feet long or so. Not big enough to do laps or anything, but plenty of room for several people to sit, swim around a bit, float, etc.

Hope this helps. Let me know if there is anything else.

Bob,

Thanks again! You have been so helpful.