Are villa owners/agencies relaxing policies due to economy?

[aroobagirl]

As many families know, the villa rental pools are greatly limited if you have kids under 8 years of age. There are a number of houses I would consider if that rule was relaxed. Not sure if owners are making these kinds if concessions to get their houses rented. Anyone know?

[Iluvstjohn]

I have kids under 8 and from what I have seen it's the ones where there are dangerous drop offs or very nice amenities that really limit the age of kids. A few have offered to rent to us inspite of the age cut off...but many say....'there is a 2 story drop off at edge of pool'..Um, yeah...I can totally see my 4 year old testing fate! Eeks!

[djmom]

no way would I do that unless you get it in writing that it is ok. there is a chance that the age limit is in place due to an insurance policy. God forbid something horrible happens, and then they claim that they didn't know and that you broke the terms of their contract.

it is one thing if they have the age limit because they think younger kids will mess up furniture or whatever. it is another thing is it is due to railings, cliffs, etc...

there is nothing like a safety hazard to ruin a vacation-even if nothing happens. you don't want to be worrying the whole time. there is enough to pay attention to just having a pool, etc...without being on edge the whole time, for example if the deck railings are inadequate. you would feel like you couldnt even relax when they weren't even in the pool.

we are in the same boat, every year it is an issue. but you will get something good.



I have seen some pics of villas with pretty open railings on decks, etc...

We are in the same boat with an 8 year old. it does complicate things, but there is plenty out there.

[aroobagirl]

Please be assured I wouldn't choose a villa that is unsafe. Time Out is one that I have my eye on. Looks cute, bedrooms accessible from inside which is difficult to find. For health reasons stairs are something I have to avoid so I have very specific requirements.
Thanks for your concern, however.

[djmom]

I hope you didn't think I was implying that you wouldn't care about safety. I didn't mean that at all, I just didn't know how many times you have been to St. John. I think lots of people dont realize how steep the cliffs are and such.

There just for sure are some out there that aren't real good- we once rented a house (that was awesome by the way) but it had an indoor pool, which was really cool. We got there and the gate couldn't latch. Luckily my kids were just old enough that I didn't worry too much but I was wondering the whole time what if they got up in the middle of the night and couldn't find the bathroom....the pool was really close to their bedroom. We put a chair in front of it, but if my kids were any younger I would have had to sleep in front of that pool in order to relax!

So all I meant was that maybe in desperation to rent certain brokers or agancies might relax policies without thinking of the implications.

Hope Time Out works out!

[aroobagirl]

Really, no offense taken. I have been down to Saint John five times so I know what to ask and expect with regard to houses. There are just so many that can't even be considered due my requirements and then add the age of my youngest. I just want to expand my available pool!

[djmom]

Ok, good. I just had a friend go last year. And she was annoyed with me because she "thought it would be like Hilton Head" (resort).

And she had rented a house that had BRs on different levels, with out door access. And she kind of scolded me "what if we had brought our kids, we would have never known", etc. etc.

[PSUWethr]

I know what you mean. We have had our daugther down to STJ a few times, but this time will be the first that she is walking. My parents house is one that sits on a hill with a pool and I actually bought some safety items and sent them down (like the netting on the railings, temp pool fence). Maybe you could ask if any of the villas have that stuff to rent for the week. I know my parents are relucant to rent to anyone else with kids...it is a shame since there are a few parents that make it tought for the rest of us. Maybe the Gibney Villas could be a choice. They are on the beach, close to the water, but you avoid the high up and pool factor...Just a thought.