Relax...Google "villa rental agency ST John USVI" Look for ones with 340 area codes,(these are on-island) call them tell them you information, and whats important to you views north shore veiws of the BVIs, South shore (STT Lights at night) how far to town. Let them guide you. They don't want disappointed guests showing up at their offices, and will go out of their way to help you.

My experience:

Relax!

We have done one rental villa trip and just booked our second. I went through the "I need the perfect place!" mode. We loved our first place, and after looking around at the island, locations, etc., felt I wasted time searching for the "perfect" choice, so many would have sufficed. You just need to get your short list of items and go for it.

I started to look all over this time for a trip with our boys (last one was just us 2), they'll be early 20s. After showing them a few choices, I got the basic response that any of the options looked great and I should just do it.

I will also add that I tried to let the internet tell me everything, but find it helpful to call and speak with someone who is on island, or at least familiar with all the villas (as opposed to an agency that covers the whole world) and find them very helpful. Give them your situation, gotta haves, preferences, dates, and they'll find you a decent option. Book it, accept it, relax, and look forward to your trip.

You might check out Temptress at the Destination St. John web site. My wife and I stayed there a for a week at the beginning of August and didn't have any complaints. It is hard to tell from the pictures but it is actually four small buildings connected by a huge deck. There is a master bedroom/bath. A kitchen/dining section. A living room building and a second bedroom with two twin beds. All four areas are air condidtioned and feature sliding glass doors. The master bedroom also has a standard door.

The master bathroom is a fairly large space since the shower is not enclosed...the showerhead is on the wall opposite of the sink mirror and thereis a drain in the floor but no shower doors or curtain. One of the bathroom walls is comprised of large stones that were left in place when the house was built.

The kitchen was recently remodeled and is nice if you plan on doing any cooking. There is also a gas grill on site that we used a couple of times during the week.

We barely used the living area and didn't spend any time in the second bedroom. I know it had a bathroom but that's about all I know. The living area featured decent furniture a small TV with cable and vcr and had a little nook area with a chair for relaxing/reading.

There is a small pool...emphasis on the word small. Perfect for cooling off or relaxing at night but it would get crowded if you all 4 wanted in. I'd guess it's about 7'x4' and goes from a depth of about 2' to 4.5'.

Overall the villa shows a little more wear than is visible in the photos. There are some wall decorations that seem to have vanished, The wall mounted A/C units aren't exactly aesthetically pleasing, other minor things like that but nothing to be concerned about. I would recommend it.

It is located in Chocolate hole and was about a 10 minute drive into cruz bay and about 20 minutes to the north shore beaches.

Yes, I have recently been in perfect villa mode & finally, after much agonizing, made a choice. I found a site, http://www.bongobongostjohn.com/, that has a great description & drawing of the villa. Even shows what the view will be like. The only adivce I received when looking at a brand new villa is that there might be some things that don't work right in the beginning. Depends on when you go. We were looking at a brand new one called Chocolate hart & the management agency told us they were having problems with roof leaking, etc. So we went with a 3 yr old villa instead. Yes, it wasn't exactly perfect because the pool was small, but the reviews were good & the rest of the villa was great(Treasure Ridge). You might try this site for reviews on others: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/sj/sjhotelreviews/index.shtml Hope this helps.

ChrisN, you're getting good advice all around. You'll want to deal with an agent that is local to the area or has managers (not just caretakers, but empowered stakeholders) located on St. John.

The age of your 8 yr old gives you an extra consideration because a good deal of the villas offer only the Master Bedroom in the main pavillion and the other bedrooms might be in a separate building or all the way across on the opposite side of the villa. The last thing you want is a villa where the second and third bedrooms are in anorther building on the other side of the POOL! (yikes for 8 yr olds who might wake up in the middle of the night and go looking for you).

The 18 yr old would probably love her own space. My 18 yr old likes his own pavillion so he can sleep late and not be disturned by us early risers.

So, your ideal villa might be one with 2 bedrooms in the main structure (master and a second one close by) and a separate 3rd bedroom in another pavillion or secluded area of the home.

If you *think* family might come, they probably will. We've had multiple guests rotate through our vacations and camp at our villas. You do have to let the villa agent know and pay for the guests if they exceed any of the occupancy tiers.

I don't recommend brand new villas for the reasons that sparks mentioned. It seems, to me, better to have the villa used for at least 6 months....perferably a year. Villa furnishings tend to be embellished over the first occupancy year. A brand new villa might be sparsley furnished - even if professionally decorated. Give the owner(s) time to add to the furnishings and amenities...like the little touches you've added to your home over time. Think about the state of your home when you first moved in. Also, guests tend to leave things - pool toys, floats, beach chairs, coolers, cookbooks, CDs, wine, rum, etc. Give these items time to accumulate. Also, give the garden time (fruit trees) to mature and the house a little time to settle out the "bugs" (not real bugs, but issues).

$3k a week in June will get you a very nice villa and you'll have lots of great villas from which to choose! Deal with a reputable agent and you'll be fine. Most villas look better "live" than in the pics.

Will your 18 yr old bring a friend? If so, they'll probably want to spend time in Cruz bay in the evenings - and maybe taxi back to the villa? If so, consider a villa that is close to the main roads. The taxis are open air trucks and they don't take you right to your villa, usually, as they have other passengers on board. They'll drop you the entrance to your villa's road and driveway.

It's really hard to select a place to drop $3k in once week, especially when the decision feels like it's being made over the web. I like talking to the villa agents and people on their staff about villas I am considering. I have found that they are honest and forthright about villas they like the most.

Just remember, it'll be better than you expect! (and $3k is more than enough to get a beautiful villa for a week).

The villa thing is also making me crazy!!! I have been to STJ many times, and the villas that I loved 12 years ago don't seem to be quite what I want now. I thought with all the new construction on the island there would be hundreds of villas for rent, but that is not the case. I seem to be in a hunt for the perfect location, perfect home, perfect views, perfect ammenties, and so on ...........If anyone knows of a 3 bedroom villa on the north shore that has ac, pool, spa, great views, Please let me know!!!

yes, there are so many villas and rental companies to choose...it can get overwhelming !!we have used the same company for years and since we have been pleased with the service and beautiful villas we have never bothered to use at any other...why ruin a good thing !!i like that they have an island office and staff/this is important esp. for newbies to st. john, to offer any help if needed. Caribbean Villas...check them out. as for the new villa Bongo Bongo...it does seem like it will be terrific but i would hesitate renting it due to the fact it's not yet completed. the website is stating winter 2006, but "island time" has been known to prolong construction,just keep that in mind.

Chris,

I can completely relate to your feelings - as I was in the same state last week.

I was hopping around on all of these villa rental websites. I asked advice from fellow travelers. I had about 6 pages of notes and (like you) - I was ready to pull my hair out.

Unfortunately, we needed a place for the last week in April & everytime that I found someplace that I thought looked perfect - it was already booked.

Luckily one of the villas that grabbed my interest was called Perelandra (I think that I had read a positive review on the forum). I contacted the rental agency "Carefree Getaways" - only to find out (of course) that it was already booked for part of our stay.

The wonderful agent (who happens to be from our home state of Massachusetts) was so very helpful. She made a few other suggestions & based on her strong recommendation (that was based on my list of "gotta haves") - we are booked in a villa called "Cielo Vista".

You are definitely on the right track. Once you have narrowed down where you want to be on the island & what you want for amenities, that is half the battle. Like you - I went crazy to find the "perfect" villa from reports & reviews.

Probably the best suggestion that you could be given is to call a few different rental agencies & discuss your dates & preferences. -And if you are lucky enough not to have such a high demand week, you could actually narrow it down to 2 or 3 that were suggested by the agencies & send a shout out on this forum to see if people who had stayed there had positive things to say. (I grabbed mine right away as I was afraid it would be gone in a day or two & didn't take the time to ask for reviews.) But, it would have been helpful, if I had felt that I had the time to ask for some. - But, again, it was a fairly new villa rental & I am not sure if there would have been any reviews. - Sorry, I digress.

I am still amazed at all the wonderful choices out there.

Good Luck - Believe me it will all work out!

Keep us updated, as we are now all part of the team!

Sue

Thanks so much for all your thoughtful replies! I will definitely follow the advice of a villa rental/management company. I'm sure it will work out. I was thinking if we did a 2 bedroom, the boys could share a room and the girls could share a room. The little man having his own room is not an option unless everything is located in the same structure and no separate entrance. He's smart enough to know not to wander or swim alone at anytime but we will keep a close eye on the little guy. He LOVED St. John the last time we were there. He's a natural beach bum! Anyway, thanks again for all the great advice!

One more piece of advice -- RELAX. This is one week out of your life and it will be great. But don't get your expectations so high that anything less than perfection (whatever that is) is failure.

You'll have a WONDERFUL time.

Chris-

Call VIVA Vacations and ask Jack if CaliCaribe is back on the market yet. It was being sold and was off the market for a few months. I heard it was recently sold and was preparing to re-enter the rental market. It's a newer villa - maybe 3 yrs old? I've stayed there - and would return in a minute.

It's a lovely villa on Contant Point, very near Cruz Bay. It has a little bedroom/office that is connected to the master bedroom. It's perfect for a small child. This is why I thought of it for you. My daughter was 6 when we stayed there.

It also has a pool and a separate pavillion with a bedroom and bath just off of the pool and also an apartment downstairs with another bedroom and bath. The Master bath has a large garden shower that is kind of like a room of it's own, but is screened on two sides. There are mature fruit trees and night blooming jasmine to scent the night air. You can find pics of it on the net, but I can tell you that the furniture was updated and even more plush when I stayed there last summer. So, this is another one of those "better than the pictures" villas. (ask if the furnishings were sold with the home)

Jack will know the scoop on it.

I sure do appreciate everyone's input. In doing some research today I came across a few I am interested in. They are already almost fully booked but thankfully they did have bookings for like the first and third weeks and the other was pretty open. Well because it's my daughter's graduation trip, I let her pick the one she wanted. And the winner is.....Villa Capiz booked through Carefree Getaways. It looks like a good price on a nicely maintained villa and has a great new pool and kitchen! Both Carefree and Destination were wonderful on the phone. Hope she made a good choice?!

Ok, it's not as bad as it sounds. We are still deciding between Villa Capiz in Gift Hill or Miles Away in Rendevous Point. They are both the same price. Any advantages as to one location/villa over the other?

I had not run across Villa Capiz before. It looks beautiful and the price isn't bad at all. Assuming these pix aren't 30 years old or there's major construction going on next door, how can you go wrong? It appears to be higher up than Miles Away so would have what I consider a better view and might be breezier and less susceptible to mosquitos, which are more prevalent the closer you get to the water.

Next time we're searching for a place, mind if we use your daughter?

We are going with Villa Capiz and I'm not going to worry about it anymore. There is not a whole lot of info out there about it but I did manage to find a few reviews and they were all glowing. The other thing was that this villa was completely booked for June all except for the one week that's now mine. Hope that's a good sign! I'll be sure and post my own (hopefully glowing) review on this villa next year. Just keep the hurricanes away!

I haven't been following all these threads, but just searched on villa Capiz. It's gorgeous - and St. John's is a perfect location!!!! You will have a wonderful time!!!!

Chris,

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Great Choice! I had even inquired about that Villa with Carefree Getaways & it was already taken for my week in April. It looks absolutely incredible! (I was very happy, as well, with the staff at Carefree Getaways.) I had also read great reviews on that villa!

Good for you - doesn't it feel great to have that behind you!!

Sue

Chris, we want to hear from you when you get back.

I will be staying at Villa Capiz in 3 weeks. We are going Sept 15-19. I will post a review of the villa when we return. I hope it is as nice as it looks!!
I also hope the weather holds out for us.