What type of house are you looking for ?
dollars and how many people ?
i can make a suggestion from there.

Monte is great even before the new owners got it
I like ambiance evry much but it is booked solid
Vistaero and papaya are very nice and my wife liked bothe
The retreat is different and my wife did not like it
where is lost horizon ?

be careful who you rent from
i had a problem with VIVA AND NOT HAPPY WITH THE WAY THEY HANDLED THE CANCELLATION 6- 7 MONTHS PRIOR TO ARRIVAL
I WOULD NOT RECCOMEND THEM AT ALL THERE ARE TOO MANY OTHER GREAT RENATL COMPANIES TO RENT FROM AND NOT DEAL WITH NONSENSE

I WILL POST THAT LATER

I don't know about any of those villas but Destination St. John is a great agency to rent through! And I saw most of those villas on their website: http://destinationstjohn.com

i heard the same thing
just 2 of them they don't have

I'm not familiar with any of these villas. But we did rent a villa through Destination St. John and they were great. Lori Piety is the name of the lady we spoke with there. (My husband actually worked with her husband some years ago when they lived in the states.) I think they would be very helpful if you just email them and tell them what you are looking for.

Yes, if you email them they respond rather quickly. I sent an email this morning inquiring about Great Escape and came back from lunch and got my response! Again, my husband and I rented through them last year for Beyond the Sea villa and had exceptional service!

I'd have to agree the Retreat is not up to par. For a house out that way, check out Windpree agency. They have Villa Ventosa and Memory Daze. Great caribbean Getaways Inc has a new house called Seabiscuit in the Coral Bay area. For a semi-Northshore house checkout Sago Palms from Private Homes VI. This agency has only a few homes at great rates and they rent out way ahead, but this one is a great bang for the buck and would be good for a second honneymoon. While I have not rented from the, they have great reviews from others.

Monty Bay is beautiful, but other than water, the southshore views in that area are nowhere near as good as the Northshore or some of the Carolina Ridge, Bordeaux Mt places. Villa Rendezvous, a Monty neighbor, has just finished a major rennovation and has a huge pool and the same views for a more reasonable price. CV is just begining to post the new house photos. Another great buy.

I am surprised about Viva vacations being difficult about a cancellation, though some of the rental agreements can be very difficult on that subject. Caribbean Villas has a fair cancellation policy. I've rented from them several times. Monty Bay is one of their many houses.

I would suggest you and your husband sit down and write down your priorities (the things you want in a home if you were buying) and calling a LOCAL rental company (look for area codes that start with 340) I spent about three solid weeks searching then I called Catered To, did what I suggested above, and I was done in about 30 seconds. Good Luck!

Lots of good advice in these posts. We have been renting villas in STT/STJ for about 15 years. Through trial and error we have learned what we like and don’t like. The north shore views are indeed beautiful – we’ve stayed up at Cinnamon Ridge a couple of times and enjoyed the postcard views. Then we stayed at a villa in Klein Bay that was closer to the water and discovered that we like to hear the ocean but be high enough to have a view. We realized that we liked to be in a bay as that gave us multi-views – shores and open ocean.

So, everyone is different – that’s great advice to sit down and ask yourself and your traveling companions what you really want. I would also determine how much time you will be in your villa – if you will be coming and going many times each day then you may not care to navigate switchbacks and “river bed” single lane roads – that four-wheel driving gets kind of old for us. Access to some of the higher villas also gets trickier in the dark and when it rains. Some of the cliff-side villas are reached by very sharp descents from the main roads. So, ask about the roads into the villas and think about what you want to handle and how often. When we go with a group we try to have two drivers to break up the driving load and also have a DD when we are enjoying the local nightlife.

Also determine what home amenities you need. We are picky and spoiled - I can’t get along without an internet connection – it was fun using the cafes for a couple of visits but now I want it in the villa. My husband can’t get along without a good a/v setup – especially if there are any kind of sports playoffs going on when we are there. You may not need any of that or you may need other things – like PS2 or X-box for the kids, an icemaker, full house a/c, great kitchen, whatever. I always think about what the whole crowd would do if we had 3-4 straight days of rain and then try to plan for sanity - lol. Traveling by ourselves or with a group means different villa needs. Our last trip we had our 86 year old aunt with us so that dictated a whole different set of requirements.

Regarding Monte Bay and Rendezvous Villa – we have stayed at Morningside which is just above them and the views are beautiful – Rendezvous / Klein Bays sparkle. This is a very quiet area. You can also walk or drive a short way to Ditliff Point, a white sand beach on which you will most likely be the only people for most of the day. Monte is a gorgeous high-end villa and Rendezvous has a new look, full house a/c and a huge pool. There is a very new high end villa in that area – I think it also has views of Fish Bay – Golden Dragon. It’s all bluestone and looks to have beautiful amenities – they were just finishing it up when we last stayed at Morningside. Lost Horizons has those views and more but is very high up. It seems like the most villas are located in the Chocolate Hole and the Great Cruz Bay areas and the villas seem to be more dispersed in Coral Bay and on the south shore and above the north shore.

We use a wonderful villa agent, Denise Wright, at www.onlinevacations.com. Denise, who lives on STJ, has very many STJ villas in her portfolio and has also been able to book others for us on STT. She is very knowledgeable, conscientious, personable, and great on follow-up both before and during your stay. I always know that the phone will ring about 11 am the first morning and that it will be Denise, ready to take care of any issues or offer assistance with planning any activities.

Good luck and have a great time – I think you really have to work at having a bad vacation in the USVI!

We have rented thru Destination St. John for November and so far everything seems great. Will report when we get back. They do ask for a check for $1000 for a damage deposit and said they don't cash it. They will return it after check-out if everything is OK. I guess this is normal - anyone have comments on this policy and was there any problem getting your check back?

carolmo

Have never had a problem getting a damage deposit returned when one was requested (not all owners require one) but have never had one hold an uncashed check. Back in the early 90's, Caribbean Villas just took an imprint of a cc but I don't think they do that anymore.

We used VIVA and they took and held an uncashed damage deposit. We had no problems getting it back after the trip - and no problems during the trip - except that our villa had a broken toilet that kept leaking running - so we lost ALL of our water - twice. VIVA was good to work with - they are slow with processing paperwork, like you might expect from an island business - but that only bothered me because I was frazzled to make sure I locked in. They met us at the dock and took us to our villa. We had a welcome tray in the fridge and the villa was amazing. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again.

Anyone know about St.John Properties? We rented the "Glenmar" which overlooks Cruz Bay.

One of the first and oldest rental companies on STJ. Honest, reliable and customer friendly.

For our vacation home on Water Island, our Property Manager requires a check for the deposit. Once the party vacates the house, she performs an inspection and inventory. We have deactivated toll & 900 calls on our phone line. So, if all checks out on the inspection, she writes VOID on the check and returns it to the rental guests in the mail. For other property owners, she waits until the phone bill is received and, if there are long distance calls incurred during the rental time period, she will cash the check, deducts the toll call charge amount, then sends a check for the remaining amount to the rental guest. She explained to me that this is the usual method in the VI and she's never had a problem. Actually, she said in 15 years of Property Management & handling vacation rentals, she's not had to deduct for damages or loss of property. Which, exemplifies how respectful people are of another's property.

Curious about Villas and Villa Mgmt agencies. What is the usual % taken from the owners on the rental? Does the mgmt firm take 10%, 20%, etc???

We pay our Property Manager a monthly stipend for which she does many things including
- inspecting the house once per week,
- checks for leaky faucets/hose bibs/pipes,
- flushes the toilets (in case of breeding mosquitos),
- turns the mattresses,
- checks for termites
- gets competitive bids for work or other services we need for the house/property,
- manages the grass cutting, exterminator....any service provider who needs access to the property she will get them to or in the house and stay there to monitor if necessary,
- communicates and handles confirmed vacation rental guests (scheduling, payment, contract, etc.),
- and other things I've probably forgotten to mention.

Our Property Manager is great!

For additional (very reasonable/nominal) fee, she
- takes the island car(s) to/from house & Philips Landing,
- meet/greet/settle our guests,
- on call & assists guests for duration of their stay,
- manages trash removal, cleaning, etc.....rental related services
- gets the house locked down and shuttered for storms
- provides detailed billing for all additional services.

As property owner, I do all the advertising of the property and manage inquiries from perspective guests. Once the guest has committed, I put them directly in touch with our Property Manager and she takes charge from that point. If she does secure a rental for our home through her own contact, she gets 10% finders fee.

Probably MORE information than you wanted! But, definitely things to consider if you are a part time resident and are hiring someone to look after your property when you're not there or are renting.

....Bluwater....we might consider moving over to the "Relocation" Board for this type of discussion.