Ok. here is the problem with Stone Cottage - MY PARENTS WILL NOT STOP TALKING ABOUT IT!! Sherri - I was going to call you and tell you about this but things got a little busy in the last couple of days with trying to squeeze everything in and say goodbye to everyone........thank you so much for taking so much time with us on our MULTIPLE visits to your property - lol!!

Sherri and I did a tour of some of McLaughlin Anderson's villas while I was there. She is lots of fun to be around and really knows St Thomas! So, part of the tour was for me to go visit Rockworks and Stone Cottage. I was planning on saving this for the trip report - but I'll add this here since I just saw this thread on Stone Cottage.

Rockworks and Stone Cottage are fabulous! First, there's the location - off the beaten path and in this really lush area where palms and banana trees grow like crazy. It kind of feels more like St John in this area. So, I enjoyed the visit so much and really thought about Rockworks for myself on a near-future visit. Then we saw Stone Cottage and I immediately thought of my parents who love cottages and love that really Caribbean feel with whimsical colors and romance. Stone Cottage is VERY romantic feeling - private - yet not rustic or anything like that. After all, it is a McLaughlin Anderson managed property so you know this is no "cabin", right?

So I came back and told my parents about it and said they had to see it. After I described it, they wanted to see it right away. As we were driving over there, they were saying "where did this area come from??" They said it looked like something from French Polynesia - Bali - South Pacific - not St Thomas. Then we reached the cottage and they were awestruck. It was sunset and the view was just right - lights were low - the plants and trees made it feel like you were on an island by yourself. Mom kept saying - "this is NOT St Thomas - where are we???!!!"

We were supposed to leave Stone Cottage and head directly to dinner, but they made me stop at our villa and pick up my McLaughlin Anderson catalog so they could look at pictures of the cottage during dinner. Then they showed the pictures to the waitress...and asked me if they could cut them out of the catalog and post them on the fridge at home to keep their spirits up because they were definitely planning on coming back ASAP just to stay there. Mind you, they have been ALL OVER the Caribbean - St John, BVI, Grenadines, St Lucia, St Martin, Anguilla, St Barts....many, many stays on each island.....so they are not easily moved - especially not by grande estates or fancy villas with central air and fancy kitchen appliances. They are escapists.

They absolutely LOVE Stone Cottage and keep saying how sweet Sherri is and how they feel so fortunate to have seen her place and met her. Mom has to have surgery later this month, so dad has planned to paste the Stone Cottage pictures on the wall of her hospital room so that will keep her spirits up during what will be a pretty lengthy recovery - and they have plans to get to Stone Cottage as soon as she is well enough to go.

Great report Bluwater. Sounds like you had a great trip. Keep the reports coming. I love reading them.

Dear Bluwater,
I am at a loss for words! Thank you! I am so glad I got to meet you and your parents whom all are lovely people. I feel I have found new friends for life that is for sure! I am only sad that I didn't get to meet you sooner in your trip so I could have spent more time with you. Please let your Mother know that she will be in my prayers and I will be thinkin' of her. Please give your Dad my best also. I am looking forward to seeing all of you again! As I told you, if I can be of help to you in any way you just give me a call!

Thanks Sherri. Will pass your prayers along.

I feel the same way about wishing we had met sooner since we hit it off so well and had such a great time at Indigo 😉 You should know that I grow mint in my own garden STRICTLY for making my own Mojitos at home!! 🙂 Since the Northeast winter will be here shortly, I'll need to harvest my mint in the next couple of weeks and put Mojitos into mass production - waste not, want not! LOL

I am already planning the next TWO visits and I think the first will be a "me, myself and I" visit.

So, I'll see you soon.

Bluwater,
My honey LOVED what you wrote about Stone Cottage! He sais coming from you that means A LOT! And he is right! Your Mojitos were definitely a hit! (I had never heard of them before Bluwater)! I will look forward to having a FEW with you when you come back, you can bet!!!!! 🙂

Hey Gobucs!
So when are YOU coming back! Want to Thank you for your kind words as well! Next time we'll get to see a little more of each other I am sure! How's things going there?

Not soon enough!!!
I know i havent emailed you yet but i havent emailed anyone since i got back.
I will though!

Hey Bluewater,
Did Sherri tell you hi for me or have i been forgotten already LOL

Sherri tell Jeff hi from us
Ill let you know when well be back
Not looking like it wont be till next year ( Im soooo sad)
Hows Kitty?

I miss you all

P.S
I couldnt have put the description of Stone Cottage any better

Hey Gobucs,
Ofcourse you are not forgotten! Tho I have to be honest and tell you that I don't remember every guest I take to the villas! Some I connect with and some simply want to be left alone to do as they please when they please and that is the way it should be! You are the first guest that I had connected with on-line (thru vinow) before an arrival! and as you know i had a hard time leaving the evening you arrived. Those drinks with you two were going down smooth! Just wish we could have connected again.......(Gobucs and her honey were on the go ALL the time! Had plans to get together one night, but they didn't get home till something like 9pm? Jeff and I are early to bed, early to rise, so we were too pooped by then)!! I have a small feeling there will be a next time!!!!! 🙂
Kitty is doing well and spoiled by the guests as usual, some wishing they could take her home with them! For those of you that are wondering...Kitty made herself at home well over a yr. ago! She won't let us near her as she knows that we would try to find her a new home- she has no intention of leaving! This is a feeling that most guests have!!!! I have only had one guest not so happy with her, but she is not allowed in the villa, so not to be concerned! Thankfully most guests love her and she acquires a new name each week, sometimes guests write more about her in the guest book than anything else!
Meeting people such as yourselves makes for a fun job! I am so lucky to be doing what I do!

Ok...now I wanna stay at Stone Cottage when I come....OH MAN...I'm already booked....somewhere else!
But we would LOVE to come check it out for next time!!

My Dad wants to come down next year sometimes....this would be a perfect place for him to hang his hat!

Since this thread was so popular, I'll just add my pics of Rockworks and Stone Cottage here - Rockworks pics will follow in another post since I need to run out now:

Here is a view image, which I think I took from the deck off of Stone Cottage. Sherri, you may be able to better tell from the vantage. This was taken around 1pm just as a cloud was moving over - but still shows the lushness of the area and the water views.

This image also shows the driveway as you enter the estate:

This is the pool at Stone Cottage:

This is the bedroom at Stone Cottage - this image was taken from out on the deck or from just within the sliders, I can't recall which - the bed faces the view that is shown above:

This is the stained glass window that is in the bath at Stone Cottage - and the artist is in residence!!! (Sherri)

Here is the living room at Stone Cottage - if you look out you can see that there is a deck that wraps around the whole cottage:

Great pictures!

And now for Rockworks. There are two properties in this gated estate - Stone Cottage is the smaller and original property, while Rockworks is the larger and newer property. They both offer seclusion from one another and you cannot see one from the other. But, they are close enough that you can walk from one to the other.

Rockworks pool and a glimpse of the grounds - with GRASS!! Sherri might laugh because while we were touring Villa Gisela I was telling her how much I appreciate home with grass in the VI (Gisella has a small grass lawn, which I took a picture of), since it is rare to have any real grass - most of them just have plants, trees and various groundcovers - so having fluffy, green grass is a luxury.

Deck at Rockworks Villa with ocean view:

Interior Great Room at Rockworks - the doorway at the top right of the image leads to the Master Bedroom, which has a fabulous view out to the ocean.

Kitchen at Rockworks - view out to the pool from kitchen window - so you can watch the action while you mix your sundowners or whip up some tasty hors d'oeuvres.

This is the second Master Bedroom at Rockworks and it is housed in a separate pavillion, separated by the deck shown previously. You have to rent both MBRs to get access to this room. This pavillion also has its own bath and a sitting room that is not pictured here - but you can see if you check www.mclaughlinanderson.com. Choosing MBRs here would be tough. I think the MBR in the main house gives a better view from the pillow - straight out to the ocean.....but this second MBR is private from the house and is a really huge room with a huge bath. Tough choices, for sure.

Here is the pool at Rockworks - notice the waterfall. There are some lovely lounge chairs and at least one umbrella table on the side of the pool area - and that area leads to the deck. In the spirit of full disclosure I have to say that I was surprised to learn that the house is between the pool and the ocean view, if I recall correctly. The pics on the Mclaughlin Anderson site made me think the pool was in front of the house, which it is not. This is the only thing that surprised me - everything else was just like the site looked and the pool positioning was just my assumption anyway - but others may have the same impression from the images on the site.

Hi Blu,
Nice pics you took! I DO wish I had put a few things in their place tho! I see the framed print in RW's in down on the couch, the cushions not on the chairs to the new table set out on the deck, stuff on the counter both in RW's and SC, rugs up on the bed at SC, etc, etc. Leave it me to notice that stuff! It would all be in place had it been "show time" as we call it for our guests! Hope you all understand! 🙂
The first two view shots are actually taken from the front of RW's! The 2nd showing the driveway going up! Not to worry you guys, the parking area at RW's levels off and there is only one step into the yard and one step into the house! This is a major plus as most villas, not all, have LOTS of steps!!!!!! Something to think about when choosing your villa! SC has no steps to get in, but steps to go down to the lower level where the laundry is!
Yes, I DID laugh on your comment on the grass.....when we discussed the grass at Villa Gisela, I kept my mouth shut about the grass behind and below RW's and below SC! (notice the grass in the view pics. you took on the terraces)! Thought it would be more fun for you to notice it all on your own!!!! 🙂 When the RW's was built, it was planned to have a real (flat) yard, a hot commodity here!!!
Blu, I remember you saying that you didn't realize that SC and RW's each had their own pools! This is important for guests to know! Nothing is shared except for the gate onto the property!
Also at Rockworks, you can notice that Blu's pics. show Green walls! The pics on McLaughlin's sight shows the old white walls and since Blu's visit, we have put up new lighting in RW's- these pics will be renewed at a later date and then put on the web! Eventually RW's will be getting new counter tops, not sure exactly when and Stone Cottage will be getting all new tile and kitchen starting in 1 week! This will be a big job for us (the cottage is closed off for 3 weeks,hope we can pull it off)!, but it will look great! 🙂 What's nice about Blu's pics. is that you get to see different angles than what is showed on the web, so it gives you a greater perspective! Tho I do have to say that even tho SC's pool is not by any means large, the pic. above does make it look smaller than it is, just like the king at Villa Jamie!
Great Job on the pics. Blu!

Sherri and everyone,

Yes, most (if not all) of the villas we visited and photographed were not "camera ready" or "guest ready". There is obviously an entire routine that goes into prepping the villa on the day of a guests' arrival - and none of these had been prepped - even for our tour. The business is very dynamic - things are always in motion - guests are in and out and there is such limited time in between to do repairs, scheduled maintenance, cleaning, etc....it really is all like a broadway show - when the lights are down and curtains closed between scenes you can see people literally running around behind the curtain moving the props and getting things ready for the next scene - that is what this is like.

If you want to see how the villa will look when you arrive, go to the website for the agent or owner. Use my pics to do a side by side and feel at ease about the rental and get a different perspective. You villa renters know what I am saying - you look at the site's pics and can't figure out what that door leads to, or where the entry to the kitchen fits in with the pics you see, or what the view might be from a certain room, etc....and then you get to the villa and the layout is different than you had been imagining for 6 months.

Nancy updates her catalog pics every year and her site more frequently - but I don't think most others do. I have walked into a villa and it was furnished totally differently than the website pics.

So, what you see in my shots is not the "showtime" view - but more of the closed curtain view - a sample to let you know that the pics on the website aren't just staged - the villas really are as fanstatic as they are touted on the site - or better in person.

Yeah, Sherri, I agree about the pool at SC looking small in my pics. Hey, I wonder why my camera makes things like beds and pools look smaller, but makes ME look bigger! Hmmmm. I might have to ask Sony about that little defect! 😉

Sherri,
It is funny. I looked at the pictures and didn't notice any of things you noted until I looked back. I was so taken by the views and everything else. However, one question I have had when I looked at the websites and Bluwater's pictures...where do those stairs on the patio of RW lead?

KK,
The spiral stair case leads down to our work area. Extra washer and dryer for those same-day turnarounds, cleaning stuff, etc. It isn't much of a sight, tho we do try to keep it neat incase we have any wonderer's! There is also a efficiency apt. down there, tho we use it for storage. That level has the cisterns and in between them, we have an office. This is the way that you would go from RW's to SC if you rented both! There is also a driveway below RW's on that same level. We use this to stop and pick up garbage for our guests, etc.!
Blu,
Seems like all camera's have that same feature! 🙂

Thanks Sherri,
So when are you comming to the states?

Hi Gobucs,
Not sure of when I will get off the rock again! I very seldom go but about once every 5 yrs......$$$$$ is the reason ofcourse! When I do get up there, it is always to see family and ofcourse I take advantage of the shopping! Mega shopping is what I call it! Someday, I would like to get to Florida, I think my choices would be better as there is alot of tropical type stuff there from what I hear! 'Will have to look you up when that day comes! 🙂
People who live here call the states the "real world", I call it "fantasy land"!

So where on the mainland do you go to visit family?

Do you miss snow?!!?

That's why we all leave in the winter....cuz we want what you have!