Connie:

Wow.....could I ask what you paid for the rental?

Being an owner of a "rental" property on STT, we have experienced minor problems (caused by guests) that we had to correct. Of course some of these items were noticed by the next guest. Recently we were notified by the management company that our pull-out sofa bed in the living room was "falling apart". Since we were coming down in a few days I asked the maintenance folks to try to repair it and that we would replace the sofa when we were there. Upon my inspection I found the the steel braces that unfold to extend the spring mattress support were actually severed....I couldn't believe it.....it must have been one wild "honeymoon" (lol). I wish we could have billed the guests for the damage, but we couldn't, since no one knew just when it happened. At least they didn't break the bed in the bedroom.

F.I.

Future....we paid $4500.00 for the week in the beginning for 8 people. Another girl was added on, so that made it $5000.00 for the week.

This is the statement that REALLY p**** me off.....

The comments you referred to were indeed, all made by "guests" such as yourself."

If they knew there were THAT may problems, then maybe they shouldn't of been renting the property at all.

Future Islander, you have just hit on a common concern of ours. As property owners that are "remote", we depend upon our management company to be aware of damage or missing items when rental guests vacate the property - and to promptly inform us as well as the rental guest if necessary. The main reason is to ensure the issue is resolved prior to the arrival of the next guest. But another reason is to ensure that the damage (if its reasonable that the damage was caused by negligence the rental guest) or the missing inventory can be attributed to the rental guest - and resolve the issue via the deposit if necessary or appropriate. To other owners or property managers, what steps do you take and when do you take them to ensure the property is closely looked at once a rental guest has vacated the property? I know that the usual act of cleaning the villa "should" reveal any damages or missing inventory. Do you provide the cleaning service with inventory of the contents of cabinets, # of towels, etc.? Do you have a maximum timeframe when you commit to informing property owners and vacating rental guests of damage or missing inventory? Thanks!

Connie:

I agree.....if they knew that there were problems they should have taken care of it, immediately. Our place was removed from the rental pool (temporarily ) due to the "broken" sofa bed...which was "repaired" the same day.

F.I.

FLBI:

Our management firm is on-site.....they run the rental pool as a hotel program. They provide daily maid service (i.e. cleaning, fresh bath & beach towels, linens, etc) and provide inter-resort transportation. The problem with the sofa bed is that if it is not used the maid doesn't open it up.....so no one knew just when it was broken. But believe me they really had to try hard to break both side supports.....1 inch wide by 1/8th inch thick steel braces. I think someone used it as a trampoline. Other than a few broken glasses we really haven't had any problems in the 3 years of ownership....and our unit is constantly occupied.

F.I.

Connie,

I cold be worng, but i read the comment about "guests" such as yourself as a reference to something you may have written to them about the comments on VRBO. Are you sure they were talking about your list of misfortunes? Just an observation. If they were saying that other guests have commented on those same misfortunes, and they didn't correct them, then they shouldn't be in the rental business....but i suspect they meant comments on VRBO.

Aside from that, here's my opinion:

Let's look at other 6 bedroom villas on STT for a comparison of ths rate.
Top Lux Villas - 6 BR, 1 week in off-season.....Villa Great View....$5,100.00 for 9-10 people in 5 bedrooms(this rate includes management by Nancy Anderson. I don't know what Nancy's cut is...but I've heard that it can be steep becuase her services are so white gloved. So, keep that in mind....comparing Nancy's villa to a VRBO managed by a real estate firm. I can tell you, nancy would not have a broken toilet that you had to flush by sticking your hand into the water.

Another one, very close to the one you rented.....6 bedrooms....1 wk in off-season....Villa Paradise Found....$5,600 for 9-10 people.

Another one on Peterborg....Villa Enchantment.....$5,201 for 9-10 people (this one has 8 bedrooms, 7 baths....8,000 SF).

There are some other, more expensive villas in this area, with the same number of beds...but they look to be much more luxurious....mahogany furniture, private beaches, top everything.

So, it seems that the rate for this villa is the going rate for villas of it's size and amenity in this area. Nothing that seems to reflect it's state of (dis)repair. The number of serious problems you've experienced is very alarming. Grubs by the TV (ok, seen that a few places).....a missed bandaid under then bed (ok, maids can miss something)....but add that to serious things like a broken toilet, a shower with no handles to open the door (is that what the handles were for?), no phone, broken charis. etc.....NO way.

Did you call them about the toilet while you were there? What did they say?

IMO, offering you 10% off of a repeat rental within 12 months is an insult. Owners often (dare I say, usually) offer 10% on repeats anyway...so what's the concession here?

I've had good luck with VRBOs. I've rented immaculate villas and some that were not so perfect, but the price was adjusted for accordingly.

By the way, i googled this villa's name and noticed that your original VINOW post (from when you were considering renting it) came up on the first page of Google returns. you might want to post your review there, since that's what people will see if they google it today. People are always looking for reviews of villas.

I'm SO sorry about your experience and even more sorry that their responses, after your return, have been so insulting.

Hi Blu....after reading over what they wrote back to me, I believe you're right about "other guests". Last night when I got the email, myself, husband and daughter read it a different way. Now I understand and thanks for pointing that out.

For 9 people renting Wyndcliff it comes out to about 555.00 a night. That's not bad when you devide it up. In fact, it's a pretty good deal. I too have rented before from vrbo and didn't have a problem. I just want to make sure if somebody is looking for reviews that they find mine. All those things were true.

Not one of the phones were working, so I couldn't call them. I did try on my cell a few times, but I had a difficult time getting service. We were trying to have a good time and I guess I should of called them when I thought about it and when I had the service.

I guess there isn't a concession here. I have good news though. Got the deposit check back in the mail today. That makes me feel a little bit better. I was just so worried that they would blame something on us and we'd lose it. One good thing, daughter was thinking and took some pictures of previous damage. Don't know whether that means anything, but at least we had them.

I will put it on vinow. At some point I just want to give this thing up. I was so upset after getting there and I felt so bad for everybody else that went with us.

It didn't toally ruin our vacation, we still had a ball. It just felt like a dirty place to me.

Connie,
I am glad to see the report and VERY glad you got your damage deposit back promptly.
Will be calling you as soon as I get the chance!

Connie,
Sorry to hear about your experience. I looked up Wyndcliff Villa on vrbo and it was certainly portrayed as a top quality villa.

It is a shame that vacationers can be mislead in this fashion. We have rented villas all over the Caribbean and have been very fortunate in our selections. We rent through a management company located on or has a presence on the island where the villa is located. We have never used Vrbo and never will based on your experience. I have looked at them in the past but was always leery about not having someone on the island to contact if there is a problem. As a matter of interest I read some of the vrbo fine print and as a renter they suggest that you must do your "due diligence" before you agree to rent. The website doesn't make it easy to research a villa. They allow the property owner the option of allowing a review to appear about the property. If the owner elects not to have a negative review appear then the website will show the number of negative reviews that were written but not the reviews. The issue that really is interesting is that the owner can eliminate any negative review counts by resetting the review counter. No honesty on that site in my opinion.

Hi Dave....actually I thought I was renting right from the owner, but my rental went directly to a real estate office on St. Thomas.

I have rented from vrbo 3 times in the past and really didn't have any problems. In fact, I've been renting the same condo in Sanibel Florida for over 12 years now...feels like home.

If you looked at Wyndcliff and saw the reviews, there was 1 negative. That was mine and it was deleted.

Right now Wyndcliff is getting a face lift. Too bad that I didn't know that before I rented.

I am also sorry for the unacceptable things at your villa.
I am the owner of Flamingo Point Estate, Water Island. I advertise my vacation home on VINOW as well as Great Rentals.com. Neither are Property Management companies....at least that I'm aware of. I do have a property manager, living on Water Island who checks my home once per week if it is vacant to ensure no dripping faucets, all is in good order and secure. Once I receive inquiries from the advertised sites, speak with potential guests and receive verbal commitment, I formally introduce and connect them directly with my property manager. (And, I stay "connected" to them in case they have additional questions including contacting them at my home one time during their stay to make sure all is well.) Property Manager then begins the registration process and works with the guests until their arrival, greets them at the ferry dock, gets them acquainted and settled into the home and is available to them throughout their stay. My property manager demonstrates a strong commitment and ownership of ensuring guests have a pleasant villa rental experience. Our property manager notifes us when there is something broken or needs replacing and works very quickly to ensure repairs are made prior to the arrival of the next guest. I just wanted to raise this example as I know other homeowners who advertise their properties (some on VRBO) and enjoy the same very capable, competent and experienced Property Manager - and happy guests.

I just wanted to mention this to this forum and addressing Davepa's post, "We rent through a management company located on or has a presence on the island where the villa is located. We have never used Vrbo and never will based on your experience." I do believe it is critical to confirm if the homeowner has a property manager locally who is authorized and able to respond to guests' needs effectively and efficiently.

"We have never used Vrbo and never will based on your experience."

I've used vrbo and cyberrentals extensively over the years. Most places I've rented were accurately described. Twice I've been disappointed. The first was probably my fault for filling in too many blanks in the listing with what I wanted to read. The second time the property was great but the month's electric bill was deducted from my deposit, even though the listing said utilities were included, and when I brought this to the owner's attention she lied and said the charge was really for damage to some bedding or some such nonsense.

I don't think the fact that reviews are censored by owners makes much of a difference; feedback is unreliable anyway. Owners can pad reviews by having their friends rave about the place, and inconsiderate renters can use the threat of bad feedback to get out of paying for their damage. Furthermore, someone else's opinion is meaningless unless you know you share their perspective on what makes a good rental property. Otherwise, the features of a property that you really appreciate may be exactly what ruins a vacation for me.

Even though Connie rented the property through vrbo, I think she said the property was managed by Century 21, so there was an on island property management firm involved. I believe Connie also said that she did not communicate any of her disappointment until after she returned home, when it was too late for the property management firm to address any of her concerns. No doubt the cleaners, repair people, property management firm, owners, etc. let her down but had Connie shown a Century 21 representative the problems upon her arrival, I suspect she would've either gotten them resolved or received more favorable compensation for them. One's unhappiness is always more credible when registered after tasting a meal rather than after the meal has been consumed.

dntw8up,

Your points are well taken, I didn't see where connie mentioned that she had rented through Century 21 on the island. In that case I would have been at their door.

In the case of the reviews I would prefer to see them all and make my own mind up about the property. At least I would be in a position to ask the owner or property representative about the negative or positive comments that my seem questionable.

"Twice I've been disappointed" I am sorry but vacation time and dollars are too precious for me to be disappointed even once. We are not overly fussy and we treat a rental property like it is our own which is fair to the owner. Likewise, I expect the owner to be fair and honest with me. Vrbo is not my cup of tea.

As FL Barrier Islander has so well said "I do believe it is critical to confirm if the homeowner has a property manager locally who is authorized and able to respond to guests' needs effectively and efficiently." This is exactly the point I was trying to make. If there is a problem I don't want to have to contact the owner who maybe thousands of miles away to get it resolved.

We have had a few problems in all the years we have been renting but they all were resolved quickly because there was a representative on island.

I think the majority of rental properties are well taken care of otherwise no one would rent them. Message Boards like this one get the word out about problems and also the good experiences. The good experiences are the majority of message board responses.

OK, here we go...

Again, there was NO phone service in the Villa. My verizon phone was not working well at the villa. When i tried to call them from there, I would lose the connection.

The management company and the owner were we'll aware of the problems at Wyndcliff and I didn't need to spend my vacation trying to track someone down to come over to see what they all ready know is wrong with the villa.

I've tried to keep C-21's name out of this because I believe Sherri works for a C-21 and I DON'T want to get the two offices confused. She DOES NOT work for the office that was managing the company.

The greeter met us at the airport and walked through it fast (not a representive from the rental company) not really pointing out anything in particular. It was only after spending 24 or so hours in the house that we started to notice more then a couple "little" things. When we were leaving, we were told by the greeter that for approx. 4-6 weeks, they were not renting Wyndcliff because the owner was investing some money in it.

I did enough work pre-St Thomas...I didn't need to spend anymore of my time trying to resolve those issues when I was trying to have a good vacation. They knew it was a piece of c** and they continued to rent it.

What an incredible disappointment - and the owner's offer of a 10% discount on a return visit is one more indicator of the lack of "heart" he puts into his villa!

We are the new owners of a St Croix villa, though we have owned/sold several types of rentals stateside for almost 20 years. In defense of online "by owner" sites - we advertise on many for our St Croix villa- I would recommend a phone call after the initial internet connection, asking if it is owner represented or in the hands of a management company. If owner represented, is there a property manager on call? You, as a customer, should feel that you're teaming with a trusted friend to help plan your vacation ....we work very hard to do everything from here in Ohio to help with planning - offering our "family favorites", sending more pictures,sharing websites, answering any and all questions, connecting with services on island to make our renters vacation everything they're hoping for - being very accessible to help in any way at any time - not just until lthe deposit is received! We have a trusted property manager on-island and a wonderful cleaning lady that we stay in close touch with to insure our villa is in top shape. We also contact our renters by email or phone at the start of their vacation to make sure all is well!! So....please don't dismiss all "by owner"sites such as vrbo....you could be missing an incredible villa, and personal, friendly vacation planning services for a memorable vacation...DO make personal contact, ask questions, and if it doesn't feel quite right - look for another villa!! There are many of us that take our villa rental business very seriously and want our customers to be 100% plus satisfied....come visit us in St Croix sometime!! 🙂

This is very simple.

Yes, there is the issue that Connie did not have phone service to contact C-21 to report the issues. Some say "she could have called from a pay phoe, banged on their door, sent up a smoke signal, strung coconuts on a string"...ok, some will believe she should have spent a couple of hours of her vacation tracking them down and getting them out there.

Ok, BUT....phone in the house does NOT work and, from personal experience, i KNOW that cell phone service on Peterborg is often not working. I recall being in tears when my 18 yr old son and his friend were out late one night and I couldn't figure out how to leave the security gates open (they were remote conrolled) for them when the taxi dopped them off...and my Cingular service wouldn't work long enough to call them from my villa on Peterborg. I sat on the deck for hours, waiting for them to return...only to later learn that the security gate had a little door in it that they could have walked though. Phone service on Connie's side of Peterborg is the worst I've experienced on STT and STJ.

Ok, so, no phone and Connie decides to move on with her vacation. She stressed on this forum for months about this place since she was planning for so many others and they expected a nice place for their money. Yeah, been there! That's some stress!! So, everyone closed their eyes to the dusty fans (gosh, don't turn them on and blow that stuff all over the room)...and sticking your hand into the tank to flush the toilet.....go on and pretend it's fine....

But, she returns and sends an email. The rental agent could easily go to the villa and inspect. Did Connie build up 1 inch of dust on the fan? Nooooo! Did she break chairs and toilets? Likely not! They knew that Connie was renting a villa at the end of it's rope. But, instead of conceding and offering an amicable settlement, they offer her a standard repeat rental discount. "Yeah...come back within 1 yr (FAT CHANCE) and we'll give you a paltry 10%". Basically, they told her to take a long walk off of a short pier.

This has nothing to do with VRBO. This has everything to do with Wyndcliff and C-21. This IS unusual. This IS very sad for the villa rental industry.

Connie, do you have the contact info for the owners? I would skip C-21. Maybe the owners don't know how pooly their villa is being managed. I think I found their info in an earlier search. They seem to be in Virginia. Probably nice people.

Hi All:

Very sorry to hear about Connie's experience. I very much appreciate her posting and I'm sure we all do.

Regarding VRBO.com, I have rented a number of times, for myself and for friends, through VRBO and have had good experiences. There was one condo that could have had finer touches, but over all it was clean and offered all that was promised.

I would hate for folks to get the wrong idea about VRBO; as far as I know individual owners listed there manage their own properties or hire someone else to do so. VRBO is more of a classified board that does a good job of sorting out places by location, price, etc.

Best of luck to all in future stays!

Islandlola

Blu, I don't have the any idea who the owners are. I did write a review on vrbo, so i ASSUME that the owners saw that. Who knows. I've tried everything I know to make sure people do not rent this villa in the condition that it is.

I want everybody to know that the view is absolutely beautiful. It's just a shame that the place wasn't kept up.

Will it stop me from going back to St Thomas? No way....I'll jus go through Sherri...and get the advise of Blu :o)

I've looked at Wyndcliff more than once. I, too, would have been fooled.

I'll have to look for the names and email of the owners and PM them to you. I saw them somewhere.