Connie - are they calling it Ocean Cliff now??

Margy...yep, that's it. If you want any information, just PM me.

With all due respect, Connie, you obviously had some problems with the villa but were apparently able to communicate with the owner and reached some sort of resolution, unless I'm mis-reading your post? Seems from your post that the owner made some changes after you complained and is it not possible that he/she decided to stay with the same management company once these problems were resolved for justifiable reasons? It may have been a scenario of "six of one and half dozen of another" issues at hand.

Sounds as though the owner offered you a compensatory package and basically tried to do the right thing - why would you feel that he/she should keep in touch with you afterwards?

I'm all for caveat emptor and, although I don't remember your prior post, I'm sure you had legitimate problems which it seems were taken to heart by the owner and were subsequently duly addressed, as even you seem to note.

Your opinions of your villa rental and the problems you encountered are something you obviously raised from the get-go. Maybe things weren't resolved to your satisfaction and that's for you to follow up on, but posting an outright "dun" on an open forum does strike me as a little "off."

Sincerely hope my comments aren't construed as a personal attack and that you can appreciate my point of view based on what you posted. Cheers!

STT...If I can save one person from going through what our party went through then I will.

If you notice, I did not mention the management company. He was so angry with what happened and it happened because that management company did not check on the upkeep of the villa. Yes, he should check on the villa from time to time, but i'm sure that the management company had no problems taking the commission or whatever they get from owners.

I have not been back to the villa, so I am only going on what the villa owner has told me. I would hope that alot of things have been taken care of, but how am I to know?

The owner did offer me "a deal I couldn't refuse", but I was the one that was keeping the emails going. Yes, he has called me on occassion...I have yet to get that "deal". I don't consider that a resolution, although he continues to talk about it.

This is a message board for information and evidentally Margy was looking at the same villa, renamed. I'm glad I could give her the information that i have now, what i know now.

IF at some point that I see the Villa and all the things that were wrong with are right, then I will do my job in posting a review that raves about it...until then, I post it as I see it now.

Sorry you don't understand.

I'm really sorry, Connie, but I sttil don't understand. You have me on a major DUH there.

You posted "Wyncliffe Villa" as a new post and not in response to something that "margy" posted because "margy" posted AFTER your post. Ergo my confusion.

You've indicated on more than one forum that your next trip will be five years from now and it would appear from your posts that your recent trip was your first.

I know you enjoyed your stay here in the US Virgin Islands and I truly hope that your next visit will be even more memorable than the last,

Cheers!

but my opiniom

Last May was my second trip to STT.

The ticker on the other forum is a joke. I have no plans right now. I wish I did, but i don't.

Hi Connie,
My suggestion would be to try contacting the owner once again and find out exactly what his offer will be. Be persistent and then take it from there! If he holds true to his word, go ahead and try to make plans for that trip as you want to make sure that you have the dates you want! You can have him let the management firm know what the plans are and let them know his offer. I am sure the Management firm will make sure they do their best to make your stay pleasant and a happy one! I know the owner of the Management firm personally and I truly believe she will make good on her end of things! I will be happy to help in any way I can as well. Keep us posted as to what takes place!
Good Luck!
PS- also request that you be notified in advance of any problems that the villa may have....re: non-working phone, non-working anything...... This should be a must!

Thanks for that information Sherri. I believe that he is trying to take more of the management on himself. In a way, I've been waiting for him to make that offer. I feel kind of funny asking about exactly what the offer will/would be The last offer made by the management firm was a 10% discount if we came back within a year. I figured that out to be $500.00, which is kind of crazy because I was thinking the cost of the villa could go up $500.00 in a year, so what kind of deal was that? Blu had pointed out that alot of villas will offer you that just for you rebooking, which made sense to me.

I really want that beautiful piece of property to be what it should be. It has so much potential, but was seriously in disrepair and I believe alot of that was due to people not looking after the property.

Thank you for your offer of help. I'll just wait and see what happens.

Connie - this is obviously gnawing at you and still upsetting you. I know it's tough to recover from what we consider a bad trip - we all save and save and plan and plan and when things are not what we expect or things go wrong then we are extremely let down.

You might feel funny pushing the owner for an accommodation but this is business now - the trip is over, you and your party were disappointed and feel you were inconvenienced by the condition of the villa. If it were me, I would give the owner/management the chance to make things as right as they can for you and move forward - if that means pushing them to give you some type of a partial refund or make you a return discount offer to bring this to closure then I would push for it now and put things to rest. What is reasonable is between you and the owner. As they say, life is a negotiation. You have a negative opinion about your stay at that villa and have shared your review. I would point out to the owner that you have given the villa a bad review across travel forums but that you would like to also share that the story had an upbeat ending - - that the owner recognized there were issues about which he/she was not previously aware (for whatever reason), is working through that situation, and that he/she has offered you a reasonable refund which you have accepted (cash or discount, whatever you negotiate). I would suspect that continuing to dun the villa would make the owner less than enthusiastic about working out a settlement with you - if he/she feels there is no hope of appeasing you then there is no incentive to negotiate.

What the owner does or does not do with the villa condition or the management company after that would really not concern me. Based on what I have gleaned over the years there are many different ways that villa owners work with their management companies - different services bought and provided, different expectations on both sides - definitely apples to coconuts. It's interesting to know those things but, for me, though, I don't feel I need to worry about the inner workings - I just expect the villa to be as advertised and at value for the rental price; like you, I try to do research and read between the lines of the listings, compare prices to location and amenities on similar villas, and ask a lot of questions before I book. Unfortunately, sometimes you can do all of your homework and still have a less than wonderful outcome.

In truth, there is really nothing you or the owner can do at this point to rewind your stay and make it better. I guess I would decide what I would accept as compensation, negotiate for that, and then move forward to planning the next great trip to the VI. Maybe that trip will include a return trip to this villa - maybe not - but it will be a new trip to look forward to taking.

Love ya, Connie - can't wait to hear about your new travel plans!! 🙂

- Margy

I've been reading this thread, and it's been very interesting, but I don't remember Margy's villa drama. Perhaps it was before I got here?

Anyhow, can someone post the link to her original review of the villa? Just curious since I am going in 4 weeks!!! Woohoo! (Can I start packing now that I've paid the final villa payment and bought a plane ticket?)

Lulu,
Not that I haven't had my own villa dramas over the years 🙂 but, for this particular thread, it was Connie who had the group trip in May where there were disappointments with the villa formerly known as Wyndcliff.

I'm envious that you are going in just 4 weeks!!! Where are you staying??

IMO, you can start packing anytime, it's never too early to get ready to go - 😉 I'm hopeless - I just received my order of No-Ad sun products from drugstore.com for next year's trip which I am just starting to plan - all the lotions and potions at half price, of course, but I think this is indicative of a serious VI addiction.

- Margy

Margy...did you check the expiration date on that sunblock? lol Not that I've haven't had some for years :o) Also Margy, can I start packing for a trip I don't even have planned yet? I've already gone through clothes to put away for the winter (how depressing). Maybe I should always keep 1 suitcase ready to travel to the islands with.

I'd like to know Lulu how you swing it for 4 weeks. I know that I could do it personally, but how do you organize everything at home so that everything goes smoothly.

Also Lulu, if you'd like to see my original review you can PM me privately and I will direct you to it.

Oh, I only get to go for a week, but I'm going to start packing now, I think. LOL. As fall quickly approaches I will have to put up shorts and tank tops anyway, so they can go in the bag with my neat sheet and flip-flop pool floatie.

We are staying on Maria Bluff, which I guess is between Great Cruz Bay and Chocolate Hole. I haven't been there before, so I'm really looking forward to it. We got our villa through Destination St. John, which was recommended to me and so far they have been great.

Connie, I will PM you as soon as I figure out how to do that!

Lulu, i'm not sure about this, but it looks like you may not be registered. If you're not, you can't do pm's.

Connie,

I have attempted to register, but never received my confirmation e-mail. So until I do, no PMs for me. 🙁

Connie,

I think if you click on my name it will let you email me, if you wanted to contact me that way in the interim.

Lulu - Is your villa Hale Lani?? Great views from Maria Bluff!!! See, it's an addiction- - pretty scary when you start to know the villa inventory - rofl. I'm a neat-sheeter, myself. Last time at Trunk Bay I wish we had some extras - we could have sold them - folks without them wanted them b a d. Gotta know - what is a flip-flop floatie??

Connie - Go ahead and pack some stuff - you just never know when that powerball number will hit - gotta be ready! You know, after I read your post I had to check all of my newly received potions - the earliest exp. date is 2009. Maybe I can squeeze two trips out of this batch. I love that No-Ad stuff! I also stocked up on flip flops online at the Victoria Secret sale - those ones that weigh just about nothing so I can take a couple of pair in my carry-on without further killing my shoulder when I hoist the thing up into the overhead.

I am staying at Hale Lani. Have you stayed there before? I'm hoping it's nice or my traveling companions might throw me overboard. It looks gorgeous and the location's great and frankly I don't care where I sleep as long as I get to spend a week in paradise. There's nothing rum can't fix anyhow.

People have been raving about neat sheets, so I grabbed one at work the other day. I think it's going to be very handy and everyone says it'll last the whole week. It looks kind of flimsy to me.

I have an inflatable pool chair shaped like a flip flop. It cost $5 and the plan is to just leave it behind for whoever wants to use it in its next life rather than cart it back to the mainland. I am all about floating in the pool drinking and reading, so I thought I'd bring the coolest floatie I have ever seen with me.

Do I need new flip flops? I think I'm taking three pairs (four, if you count my Birks).

Lulu - No, wish I had stayed there. I know about it as it is on Maria Bluff and that is an area I have heard so many wonderful things about - Splendore is up there and a couple of other really great villas. I think I remember that flip-flop on the other forum was talking about it. Hey - - flip-flop, flip flop floatie (lightbulb: are you aka "flip-flop"??).

Your floatie sounds great - wherever did you find it? We have noodle chairs which pack up about the size of a scarf and then we buy the noodles at K-Mart or Cost-U-Less when we get on island. At the end of the trip we either leave the noodles at the villa or pass them along to kids on the beach. Last trip to STT Sherri dropped by Diva on our last day and I made her take them - if she wanted a Red Stripe then she had to take the noodles, that was the deal 🙂 She was on her way to a wedding - must have looked great with five neon noodles bouncing around her SUV - lol. Love to sit in those noodle chairs and just chill - I wish they would make them with cup holders - sigh, maybe next year's model - lol.

Don't worry about your neat sheet - we have two and they have survived about 6 trips to the VI and lots of picnics here and are still fine - they are great because they don't hold onto the sand like a towel or a blanket and they are already weighted at the corners so they don't come up in the breeze.

Don't know if you need new flip flops - I can always find a reason (read: rationalization) to get new things for trips so I am really the wrong one to ask - I'll just encourage you...

BTW, sorry to explode a myth but I did learn on the last trip that rum can't fix everything. I was with a pretty strange bunch and tried to overcome things with rum and various other blended concoctions but nothing worked for more than a brief moment - - I didn't get appreciably happier and they didn't get any more congenial. I am a glass is half full kind of person but even when I kept it that way things didn't seem to get any better - rofl. I'm sure you will have much better luck...

Sorry, Connie - kind of hi-jacked your thread here...