A report about our trip (May20-26) to STT that you might like. Or might not. (kinda wordy)

First, my wife and I were going to be celebrating our 35th anniversary, so I wanted to a special place to spend a week with her. About January of this year, I Googled “Caribbean villas”, and began my search. I looked at hundreds of villas searching for one that was “just right”. You know, a G&3B's kind of place.

One place that got my interest was called “Stone Cottage”, a one bedroom on the north side of St Thomas in the Dorothea area. No matter how many others I viewed, I kept coming back to it. About the same time, I learned of the McLaughlin-Anderson Luxury Caribbean Villas Agency while reading an article in Caribbean Travel & Life. It just so happened that Stone Cottage was one of their listings.
http://www.mclaughlinanderson.com/Caribbean-villas/STONECOTTA/

Let me say now that the people at M-A were without a doubt the most efficient, helpful, & friendly group that you could possible use for renting a villa. Especially, Sherri, who met us at the airport. (more on that later)

Stone Cottage it was.
After a few weeks of watching airline ticket pricing & trying to get the best price, I just said to heck with it and picked AA. Round trip from Nashville, TN to STT with one stop in Miami (avoiding a hop at the San Juan airport). More than I wanted to pay but, hey, it was our anniversary.

So, about mid March( yup, looked for that long), I called the nice people at McLaughlin-Anderson, sealed the deal for Stone Cottage and booked on line with AA. Every thing was set.....now the wait. Oh, the wait....two months......one month.....3 weeks, 2, 1 and finally departure day.

Off we go to paradise.
No problem leaving Nashville. No problem leaving Miami. No problem flying. Then it hit. We arrived at STT on time and called for pickup by the “Big National Franchise Car Rental Company”(BNFCRC). They are off-site, but according to reports on TripAdvisor and VINOW, this wasn't a problem. (avoid the long lines at the airport on arrival and leaving, no problems with rentals,etc.).

But things are not always as you would won't them to be. Arriving on Sunday, when only one person is in the car rental office, and having a power outage that hit the area around the airport, can really screw things up.

We got our bags, stood at the designated pick-up area and called BNFCRC as directed. The phone just rang and rang and rang....with no answer.Again....ring...ring...
ring.....no answer. Knowing that M-A's agent was waiting at BNFCRC to take us to the villa, I was about to take cab when a car drives up and a lady asks “Are you the Smiths'”. Sherri, as mentioned above, had come to our rescue.

It seems that when the power is out, BNFCRC phones are also out. But, wouldn't you think that, knowing they had a booked reservation & knowing their phones were out, & knowing they might need to pick someone up, that they would need more than one person in the office & they might have to extend a little extra effort. Not so. But Sherri, waiting patiently for us, took over and drove to the airport to get us and return us to to BNFCRC.

About BNFCRC....... The guy on duty said two words: “driver licenses”, and not much else. Next.... The car was about as dirty as it could get without being cleaned for maybe a year or two... and smelled like a hundred ashtrays. But, being very hot and completely soaked with sweat, I took the car, indicating my displeasure & assuring him I would return it the next day for a clean one.
Note: The people that work at the big national rental agencies really don't have a vested interest in the company. It's just a job. And they just may not care about the extra effort that's required to give great customer service. Keep that in mind.

Now on to the Villa.
First, going up very,very very steep and winding narrow roads while driving on the wrong side and repeating:” Shoulder to the Shoulder...Shoulder to the Shoulder” and seeing nothing but blue sky out the corner of your eye can be somewhat harrowing, especially for someone who gets a little nervous about high places. And, just when you think your doing OK....you start going down the very,very very steep and winding narrow road while driving on the wrong side and repeating:” Shoulder to the Shoulder...Shoulder to the Shoulder”. And, hey!, what's that smell? Man, they must have to replace the brakes every other month on these rentals. Shift to first and keep on going.

Finally, Stone Cottage.
Just to let you know, M-A called two days before leaving, to tell us one of the two air conditioners in the villa had stopped working. The part had been ordered but may not be repaired by our arrival time. (Being from Tennessee and living with high heat and humidity in the summer, air is really a necessity) Not much I could do at this late date but say thanks for the notice. When we arrived at the villa, the air unit was still out but our first evening & night would turn out to tolerable. We unpack, check everything out at the villa, and by now it's 6:30. A quick trip back down to the market at the base of Route 33 to a market called Pueblo's with the intentions of eating dinner at place called Deano's close to our villa. Pueblo's is not a very spiffy market, but it'll do for want you need. Back up and then down Route 33 for an expected nice dinner but Deano's, had closed. Should've remembered: It's Sunday. PBJ's and salads for our first night. (Just like at home!)

The next morning (Monday), the lack of a working air unit in the bedroom became very noticeable. The sun baking the roof tiles made in very uncomfortable. That's when Jeff ,the owner, offered to let us stay in his larger & empty-for-the-week villa , called Rockworks, just a few yards up the hill. Wow! A bad start to the week was really turning around.
http://www.mclaughlinanderson.com/caribbean-villas/ROCKWORKS/

Let me say now, both Stone Cottage & Rockworks are beautiful villas. And, Jeff is without a doubt one of the nicest villa owners you could ever hope to meet. Not only that, but he is quite the “Master Builder”. He built both Stone Cottage and Rockworks himself, requiring help only with the pouring of the foundations. Knowing that Rockworks was hand built made it an even more special place to stay.

Sherri , knowing of our car problem, suggested that if we wanted to check with another rental, the Amalie Car Rental agency was locally owned and gave really good service. So before returning to BNFCRC, I stopped by Amalie just to check them out. While I had rented a small Carolla from BNFDRC, Amalie only rents Jeeps, but after meeting the very nice couple who own Amalie, I was convinced enough to use them if things turned sour at BNFCRC.

On to the car problem.
Now the Monday rental guy was a lot nicer and sociable than Sunday's guy. But after checking all the other Carollas available, I couldn't see much difference in cleanliness. I then indicated I wanted to pay for one day's rental (with the intention of going to Amalie). He did offer to rent me a Jeep for the same price as the Carolla, but I declined. (If seven Carolla's were in poor condition, why should I expect a Jeep to be any different) His one day charge for the dirty Carolla: $57. I protested and after further discussions, we came to a mutually agreed $37. Again he was a very nice person.

I then called Amalie and they picked us up. While I didn't really want a Jeep, you make adjustments. Hey, remember, it was our anniversary.

Let me say now, the couple at Amalie were two of the nicest people you could possible use when renting a car. They are the type of people you would like to have as friends.
Note: When people own their business and derive their whole income from it, they are more inclined to give the special service that will insure repeat business and good referrals. Keep that in mind.

So, it is now Monday afternoon. We have a nicer, bigger, beautiful villa and a spotless nonsmoker Jeep, and all is well in STT. At last paradise!

On to the Beach.
Our first beach stop was Magen's Bay. Very nice. From downtown, it's up the mountain and then down the mountain. And watch the road signs carefully at intersections. If not, it's easy to get confused as to which road to take. After a nice relaxing afternoon at the famous Magens's Bay beach with the cruise crowd, we then back to the villa to refresh for dinner. This time we drive across the top of the mountain on Route 40 and 33 for some different site seeing .

Note: As far as mosquitoes and other bugs: “There may be bugs on some of you mugs, but there ain't no bugs on me”. Didn't see any all week and didn't even use the DEET.
And rain? One morning and that was it.

Our first night out was at a place called Wikked's on the bay not far from the Cruise Ship dock at the east end of downtown. We both had the special: Grouper. I'm not a big sea food eater, but it was quite good. The atmosphere is nice and romantic(ooh!). Just what you would like for your wedding anniversary. Not being the late night type, we cruised around for a while in our little red Jeep then headed back to the villa.

Tuesday was planned for a trip over to STJ. Off we go. Up 33 and then down 33. Then Route 30 thru downtown Charlotte-Amalie and on to Red Hook. We pass Udder Delight's and make a note to stop on our return for one of their shakes. Past Iggie's, (where we planned to eat dinner) and into Red Hook. We see the sign for “Passenger Ferry” and continue on looking for “Car Ferry”. When we pass Sapphire Beach resort we knew we must have missed the Ferry place. It's at Passenger Ferry place . Turn it there, keep to the left and you'll find it.

The nice couple at Amalie's suggested we get a one way fare and then we wouldn't be locked into waiting for a particular ferry boat when we wanted to return. It was a little bit more for two separate fares, but hey, it's our anniversary!

At STJ we parked (Hard to find a spot) and shopped a bit and then set out to drive up Route 20 on the north side for some easy sightseeing. As you drive along this route you can look down and see all the beaches on that side of STJ. And they are all beautiful. We pass Trunk Bay. Then Cinnamon Bay, and then Maho bay. We decide Maho would be our beach for the day. (Trunk Bay was quite crowded with the cruise ship crowd.)
Maho was a very relaxing beach, very few people and veerry quite with lots of shade for me. My kind of beach. Late afternoon we decide to head back to STT.
Note: Finding the Car Ferry dock in STJ is very difficult. The streets are very narrow and winding. When arriving, make note of where you are and what you are passing, and then get a shopping map. They have a very good drawing type map of Cruz Bay area.

Back at STT we head out to Iggie's for an early dinner. I have a Mahi Mahi Sandwich and she has crab cakes. Both are not much different than any other seafood place, just good. We hear that Wednesday nights are the best time to be at Iggy's. So if you plan to go, make it Wednesday. Then it's on to Udder Delights for our just desserts.

Wednesday is “Shopping Day” in Charlotte-Amalie. After a lazy morning at the villa pool, we head out after lunch. This time across the top of the mountain and down route 42 directly into downtown. 42 is a doozy also, but we make it. It's a warm today as it's been every other day, and I seek out the cool spots and do my “people watching” as she shops. Later we head back up to the Cruise Ship dock area to eat at Frogge's (or is it Froggy's). Not many people here at 5:30. Like Wikked's, it's on the bay looking out at the cruise ships. This time I go for the non-seafood and pick meatloaf (??) with mashed sweet potatoes and corn-on-cob. Bad choice. Should have picked something else. Her salmon was OK.

Thursday and it's time for Sapphire Beach. We head out on 33 and onto 40 (or Skyline Drive) east to 38 and pass Coki Bay and continue until we come to the Sapphire Beach Resort. You get to the beach by going into the resort. Parking is to the left and just a short walk. This was my favorite beach. Better even than Magen's Bay. We stay most of the day and enjoy every minute. This is where the iguana's are. While standing under a tree, I turned and was looking right in the face of one. Reached for my camera and he was gone. There were others all along the beach in the trees and shrub.

On the way back to the villa, we stop at Coki for maybe some snorkeling. I'll have to say, I wasn't too impressed. You have to drive pass what looks like a junk yard of shacks and then the beach is very small and crowded. We took a look and decided to pass on Coki.
That's OK . I was beached out anyway.

Thursday night we went to Mafolie's. This is a very nice restaurant. Fantastic view of Charlotte-Amalie from the hillside and great food. And you have got to try the Bushwhacker! We arrived at 6:30 and watched as the lights of downtown began to glow as the evening fell over the island. Honeymooner's should try this place for sure.

Friday is just another day at the villa and pool and a short site seeing drive on the West end of STT. Dinner is at Deano's just up the hill from our villa. We both have the Potato Crusted Grouper and it was delicious.

Bye, Bye Paradise.
Our Saturday flight is at 3:00PM. We arrive at 1:00 to find a 100 yard long line of people waiting to get thru customs. (Outside in the heat!) First you have to check in to get your luggage tagged. Then back to the end of the customs line. By the time we get inside for the security check, I'm soaked. It takes 1 hour and 30 minutes, but finally were at the gate. So I leave as I arrived. Hot and sweaty.

In summary, (at last) we had a great time in a beautiful villa on a great island and we'll never forget our 35th.