Beachgirl,

Check out Rick G's post on the other message board. (He is my bro and so is Chris G) we are going to St J in 10 days (but who is counting 🙂 ) with 24 family members from our family and my husband's family. Rick G has a great knowledge of the island and villas and maybe able to give you a good idea of where to stay. We did 3 villas so we could have our personal space.....very important! We are planning on meeting on a designated beach each day and then having a happy hour at different houses or places and who ever wants to come comes and if you need your space you go elsewhere. We have been vacationing with the same group on Maryland's eastern shore for years and we work well together as long as we can all have a drink or two!

thanks

He may not be smart, but he has opinions! In/near Cruz Bay narrows things down a lot. 3-5 bedrooms is a pretty big range. More data for a better fit - price range is key. Most of the villas listed as Cruz Bay end up being a steep walk back up the hill to get home. So, walkable is an opinion, not a fact. Venturosa Villa sleeps 12, but is a couple of hundred feet above Cruz Bay.

Tennis Villa over near Great Cruz Bay has been recently renovated and is getting good reviews. Cygnus and Ciellodonna over on Chocolate Hole have good group amenities. Inn Love with 5 bedrooms on Great Cruz Bay had a good review lately.

Up on the hill above Chocolate Hole, I like Jazz Villa a good bit with 4 bedrooms. NE is staying in Le Lapin II and I'm staying in Cocotier for Thanksgiving. I'm up the hill because I love a sunset. She picked Le Lapin II because there are internal stairs so she can my beloved and demented scorpion eating 3 year old nephew in the cage. What's your fetish?

Cheers, RickG

Wow - RickG and the CREW! Is it THAT close already? Rick, weren't you the one wiht the fantastic website for planning this grand adventure with your family and friends?

Bluwater, I love your STT trip reports. We are 10 days out for the Gang of 24. I don't know about fantastic, but the STJ new visitor guide is obsessive. Mostly info I've handed out to folks on trips in the past pulled together in one place. Everytime I revisit the content there are things that need updating... maybe I'll add photos of the landmarks this time around.

http://www.garvin.us/STJ/St_John_US_Virgin_Islands.html

Cheers, RickG

beachgirl, the weather in May is beautiful...hardly any rain, and not sweltering hot like July/August. Like RickG said, needing accommodations in or near Cruz Bay really narrows things down, plus, if you don't get a rental car and rely on taxis, you may actually end up spending more money on transportation. Also, taxis are not always around when you need them.

I'd vote for Cygnus we are staying there fir the third time in Jan. with 8 . if its 6 I'd say Allesandra is our favorite it sleeps 6 easy the place is just gorgeous

i would like to find a villa in cruz bay (proper, not greater). non of the group wants the bother of a rental car and since we would be a large enough group to we would need more than one car, so its not worth it
I don't really worry about the taxis. i am willing to pay for a couple trips in them. I prefer just walking to honeymoon or salamon for a day at the beach. less crowded, at least when i was there.
number of bedrooms doesn't matter too much, just as the house can fit about 10 people. those traveling are used to crashing on couches wherever we go.
is the beach bar that was down by the docks (i think) still a nice place to go for drinks?
cheers, p

We have stayed at Villa Cielomar and really enjoyed it. The house has beds for four, but there are also a building with a couple of condos right next door which are all managed by the same person. They have a great pool and hot tub too. We loved it! We could walk the the grocery (Starfish) and into town quite easily.

www.villacielomar.com

We are going back and staying there in February 2007.

Are you asking about THE Beach Bar? It's definitely still there, and always a great place to get a drink and watch the sunset. The live jazz on Sundays is a great way to wind down the weekend as well.