Hello Aunt Kiki,

Which villa did you rent? How did you feel it was misrepresented? What was wrong/right about the place? What did you expect that wasn't realized? How was your disappointment handled by the owner?

I don't think it is fair to extrude an experience with one individual owner to all of them, so I look foward to you sharing more of the experience you had so we can get a more complete picture.

--Islander

Dear Islander,

I am not trying to extrude anyone, just a helpful warning to fellow travelers. I am sure there are wonderful individual villa owners we just found one that clearly is not. The villa was misrepresented because it was not a villa for rent on a regular basis like a timeshare, rather a personal home used all of the time. There were trashcans full of overflowing trash, food in the sink, more cockroaches in the cabinets than I could count, a refrigerator full of 1/2 used items that needed a good scrubbing, dirty towels and washcloths, questionable bed linens, etc. The sleeping quarters were not at all what was described in fact they were on a completely different level, no locks on the door, posters of a questionable nature in the bedrooms and I could go on and on. The owners were not around when we arrived, we could not reach them by cell phone and it looked as if they had just left for the evening and would be arriving home at any minute. We expected a clean, safe environment. We were finally able to reach the owner the next morning. He was angry that we had not stayed and of course we were upset. Needless to say we learned a very expensive lesson as we lost our money! As I stated before, I just wanted to give a warning to fellow travelers. I thought I had researched this man and his villa to the fullest, but we were still terribly surprised. I prefer not to post his name as I am not trying to slander him. St. John is too beautiful of a place to have an expensive vacation ruined because of misrepresentation. I posted this simply be of help to other families planning their dream vacations. I would hate for anyone else to go through our situation if it can be prevented!

Aunt Kiki

I would appreciate it if you would name this villa. You're only slandering someone if you report what's not true. If you wish to help others to avoid the bad experience you had, what better way than to give us the name. Not identifying them just creates an atmosphere of anxiety and distrust.

I actually agree. There are individual owners who manage and rent without using a management company. Your post intimates that you did check up on this person and he checked out "OK", yet he still disappointed you.

A person like this casts a pall on the industry and may dissuade others from working with individuals.

I'd like to advise all to verify that people renting villas to them are licensed to do business in the territory. Also check out any associations they may belong to such as chambers of commerce, hotel associations and the like. Their web sites should proudly trumpet these affiliations.

This is not to say that you won't be mistreated by an individual with these associations, their standing would be affected by formal complaints. I'd take the time to get in touch with our Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs. It will then become a matter of public record, there for all to know. Help others by reporting him or her!

http://www.dlca.gov.vi/ - you can email the Commissioner from the web site... or write to:

Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs
St. John Division
Administrative Complex
St. John, VI 00830

Phone: (340) 693-8036
Fax: (340) 776-6989

I sure hope you'll consider reporting the son of a bad person!

Hello Aunt Kiki,

Thank you for discussing more about what happened; sounds disappointing. If you will, could you e-mail the property name to me? I'd appreciate it.

--Islander

For those of you who may be considering renting a villa for the first time, and are now understandably wondering how frequently such bad experiences occur, let me say on behalf of the villa owners and management companies that it's extremely seldom. With the very rarest of exception, the villas that are in the rental market on a regular basis are maintained and operated in the same manner and on the same level as any resort would be. While the villas may range from simply appointed budget models to the definitions of island luxury, we take great care to present each arriving group of guests with a clean and well-kept villa, with no evidence of it's having been occupied by previous guests (despite the fact that they may have left only hours earlier!). Our invaluable repeat business depends on your feeling as if we keep the villa waiting just for your stay; which in a sense, we do.

Food left in the refrigerator, dirty laundry, questionable decor, and trash left behind are signs of a resident who just decided to try and make a dime while away from their own home. I believe the frequent villa guests on this forum will attest to the fact that the typical owners and managers of St. John's villas hold themselves to far more professional standards.

Aunt Kiki, I'm genuinely sorry about your experience, and glad to hear you were able to make the best of your trip anyway (I'm not sure I would have been so resilient). Thanks for sharing your cautionary note in such a positive and constructive way.

Best Regards,
Regan
Morningside Villa

I have been renting villas, mostly in St. John since the mid 80s. For the most part, the villas were nicer than the pictures and the reputable rental agents have been more than forthcoming with negative info - they have advised me against certain villas because of bad roads, unequal bedrooms, etc - sometimes the downsides were unimportant. These agents also make sure that the places are in tip top shape - one villa owner called them the "villa Natzis" - from the point of view of the renter, it is better to have a new dishwasher even if the old one had not actually died, than to have a broken one and try to get a fast repair. I have rented directly from owners 3 times; one time was great - a week ago in STT, one time was outragous, and one time it was in between; in the worst case, it was an owner who had a number of properties, oversold what he had, had somewhat deceptive pictures and did a little bait and switch; in the other bad case, I had a bad hip and asked about steps - just a few turned out to be more than 50 to get to the house, no railing, no light - an accident waiting to happen in my state - in this case, there was a local agent, Viva, who was outstanding in getting us into another property and working out the problems with the owner of the problem villa.

All in all, villas are the best and it is unlikely you will have a bad experience.