im partial to genie @usvipvillarentals.com as you know blu 🙂

Lip, you had better be, since she is running your villa's "show". She does an excellent job with Villa Sail Away and, I'm sure, with the other villas in her portfolio.

I'm just wondering how guests choose. A single villa is typically listed on multiple sites.....usually with the managing agent, and then also with the wholesalers. But, what I am findng is that the managing agents often have some kind of value-add service that they offer to guests who book directly through them. For instance, McLaughlin Anderson will deliver your rental car to your villa for you, so you get escorted to your villa by the greeter and then your car is there for you. I didn't know about this until recently. McLaughlin will only do this if you rent through them.

Wholesalers may also offer perks.

I guess the point is that if a single villa is being offered for rent through 10 different agents...at the same price.....what will decide who gets the business? There's more to it than just comparing the rates. What is the VALUE of each agent - whether they be managing or wholesale?

We favor 'local' representation so we can call on them if issues arise.

bluwater,

first requirement on a remote location for any rental is local service. for me, no frbo, who may live in nyny; i want to know who i call on island if i have a villa problem.

my first selection in oct 04 was almost by default. cloud 9 villas had WHAT WE THOUGHT WE WANTED AT A GOOD RATE AND A MANAGER (marcy appel) who was very curteous, reponsive to inquiries, lived on stj as did the villa owners and she appeared very knowledgeable (we thought then now we now she IS). they were willing to accommodate us on a last minute trip (confirmed monday afternoon for tuesday arrival.) i was treated as a customer they wanted to accommodate and they got my business. while on island they were very responsive to our questions and problems and thus we have used them 3 times since.

my only other rental agency (april 05) was for same reason as initial booking, destination stj had what we wanted at a good rate and the telephone contact was very curteous, responsive to inquiries and knowledgeable. they offered and provided on island service that was responsive. we will use them again because they too have offered and provided the product and service i wanted in a professional manner. is that not why we all choice and return to any service provider (or retailer or professional) in our own home towns.

as i plan future trips to stj, i begin at the web sites of the people we know and trust. if they don't have what we want we look at other companies that appear to have what we might like (you'll recall we stay only stj westend high enough for the stt evening views) and i inquire. there are a couple of companies who's reps telephone manners have so turned me off that their sites are no longer on my view list. i have an old saying "i'm not going to beg you to pay you". i do my business with those who seem to want it and who curteously respond to my very legitimate inquiries, i didn't call to ask about the weather. when i feel like i'm being treated like julia roberts' getting the cold shoulder in the exclusive rodeo dr shop (in pretty woman), i don't come back, i make a point to avoid in the future. maybe i'm misssing out on great companies and villas, but i'm old fashioned, i want to be wanted!

now with than said (probably can tell been by pool and in cabernet tonite): how would i choice between 2 or more companies offering same service (a villa i wanted to rent): i would consider:
1. price (probably same), 2. on island service for those problems that do arise, 3. now that i've found this and another board, fellow poster comments, you know reputation, but the final decision will probably be based on how the management companies personnel handled my telephone inquiries (see above).

glass is empty gotta go, but final question. how would you decide?

peace and have fun in stt in aug (or is it later this month?).

papabou

papabou, pass some of that cab this way.....you seem to be enjoying it 😉 I dare say that you've committed a PWI tonight (posting while intoxicated).

My trip is in August and I plan to enjoy very much! Thanks for the well wish.

I agree with everything you've stated about choosing, as well as Chris@Work's idea. I admit, though, that I worry less about the "local" representation because I expect that there is a local manager for each of the villas I rent, even if the rental agent is not local. For instance, let's say that I (hypothetically) rent Villa Bluwater (I wish!) from Bob's Wholesale Villas (not a real agent)....and Bob's is in NY NY.....but the villa is locally managed by Mango Villas (not a real agent)....then I am still getting a local manager in Mango, but I am renting from Bob. Just because I rent from Bob doesn't mean that the managing agent has any less responsibility to manage the villa and care for my issues. They are, after all, still the manager and are still being paid as the manager.

I also make my decision on price. I like to work with agents and owners who understand that I want a good deal and they are willing to try to get me one. I am also willing to sacrifice to get that deal....like you, sometimes going last minute and taking what is available. In THAT instance, calling a local agent is a big help because they tell me what is open and then I ask them for recommendations. My last STJ villa rental was based on me getting a list of available last-minute villas and then calling back and speaking with a woman at VIVA (who was taking a message for the person with whom I was working) and she asked me which villas I was considering and then she gushed about one of them....how it was her favorite villa....and she went on about it in a way that told me she had been inside and knew it well...so I took that one - Calicaribe - and LOVED it too! I don't think a wholesaler in NY would have been able to do that.....maybe they would have, but I am not sure.

I try to get to know the agents and villa owners prior to needing a rental. If you are willing to email with me and answer questions, etc when I am not sitting there with my credit card out, then I trust that you'll also be there when I need you if I rent from you. Most agents I have dealt with have been wonderfully responsive, while a few others are "too busy" to deal with me unless I am ready to do business. I test them out...and if they aren't responsive, I don't consider them for rentals. Same goes for owners.

I am doing a FRBO next month (Villa Fairwinds)...but this owner has been super responsive to me over the last year, even when I wasn't ready to rent...and he is so proud of his villa and the work he has put into it, telling me tales of how he came by the exotic landscaping and all of the things he has done for the villa. I don't think someone like that would just ignore me if I had a problem, and he has 2 local managers, a greeter/escort, I have a local number to call if there is a problem, etc......

For me, I just try to get the most for the least....I don't have $7k for a villa for two weeks (or $14k since I try to get 4 weeks per year down there) and I don't travel with groups of people who can contribute to the payment. I am always the funder, even when I invite others along.....so the deals are key....and I don't do "rustic" or what some adverts will list as "cozy"...so I have to work the deals.....I want a really nice villa at a really great deal.

Everyone has their own travel style and needs...and some people's travel needs change with each trip......but I just wondered how everyone else made the decision. Do the little welcome packages really matter to anyone? Do you want an agent who will arrange a massage or a private chef for you...even of that agent is a but more expensive? Or, will you forgo the niceties just to get the price down several hundred dollars (or thousands)?

bluwater, sounds like we make decisions in similar ways. i suspect repeaters to vis go through a similar process and they too have benefit of past experience. maybe the first timers can learn somthing from this string.

i might feel same as you on your upcoming FRBO IF i knew owner and local manager had ability to summons a variety of home service types AND GET IMMEDIATE RESPONSE. my retirement job is handling family's commercial rental properties. we have enough to have partime handy man on call 24/7 and service companies (plumbing, hvac, electrical etc) who provide the same type service. the business community pays for and expects that type service and so do i when i'm one paying the rent (especially when i'm in paradise and don't want the unexpected to taint my trip). you every spent a day in a foreign land with an ac addicted spouse in lodging without ac? it ain't pleasant.

as always have enjoyed comments on this string and have made a few mental notes to consider for future trips.

papabou