STJ Based Management Company - Online Vacations

chrisn · Post by **chrisn** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 3:46 pm

Has anyone ever heard of or booked from this company? I don't recall reading about anyone booking with them at all???

waterguy · Post by **waterguy** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 4:16 pm

I think they are just a brocarage house alot of the villas they list are managed by other companys so they would be a middle man I'd ask if they hold the calender for the villa you want to book they might not tell you though.

Margy Z · Post by **Margy Z** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 7:04 pm

Hi - Yes, I have used Online Vacations many times. Denise Wright is my contact. They are not a villa management company - I think they are what is called a villa rental agent (like a broker?) Denise is great. She has acted as an agent for us when booking off-island villas, too. As long as the price is the same to us, I am fine with her taking a commission as she does provide service and resources. She has always been good on follow-up with the management companies and we have never had issues. We were at Morningside one time and our bbq gas ran out - we called Denise and someone was knocking at the door with a new tank within 20 minutes. Denise lives out on the east end and is a wealth of info about the island. All of the villas listed on Denise's site are manageed by various companies - a little internet research should tell you who the direct manager is for your chosen villa if you prefer to go the direct route.

Toadmom · Post by **Toadmom** » Fri May 08, 2009 11:04 pm

We booked a villa in 2007 through denise Wright. All seemed well until we arrived on the Island and were met at the car barge dock. We always rent a car on St. Thomas and bring it over. It is much easier with a group of seven people. Our greeter was great but instantly said that there was no way that we were ever going to get to the villa in cars. denise failed to tell me this in the 10 times that I communicated with her. We called her and she told me that I was a liar and that she had told me. Now I have been to St. John many times and know if you need a Jeep, you need a Jeep. We asked her for help as it was now sunset and she no longer answered her phone even to the greeter. He finally called a different rental company that found us a place to stay. In the morning we had to rent a jeep, park a car for a week and shuttle 7 people to the villa. I think that she was upset that we did not get a rental vehicle through her. Only problem I ever had on St. John, everyone is so nice. We will never rent from Denise again.

susan & herb · Post by **susan & herb** » Sat May 09, 2009 9:35 am

This week will be our second trip booked by Denese of On Line Vacations. She was recommended by "Budman", not sure if he still posts here. He said that he valued her opinions on villas very highly.

Of course, the first question I asked also was was there an additional charge for her services. The answer was no. She recommended Villa Carolina the first time we used her and said I would not be sorry, well we are heading down Wed, to the same villa. She did not disappoint. We usually make our ouwn car reservations, but you know what, it's just easier now to let Denise handle it.
I do not have any negative things to say about her. She is a wealth of info. if you need it.

Margy Z · Post by **Margy Z** » Sat May 09, 2009 12:28 pm

That sure doesn't sound like the Denise Wright that we know.

I'm curious as to why toadmom waited two years after their dealings with Online Vacations and then on toadmom's very first post here on VIOL resurrected an old thread from 2007 to post their problem with the company. Just wondering...

- Margy

susan & herb · Post by **susan & herb** » Sat May 09, 2009 12:46 pm

Hmmmmm, interesting. I didn't catch that.
Good detective work.
Our villa was originally with a large rental company but as of last year, they were marketing it themselves. Last year while on island the owner call us at the villa to see how everything was (which I thought was very nice) and I told her we wanted to rent the villa for 2009 and did she want me to deal with her directly.
She said that since Denise had booked us last year we should go thru her again. I think if there were problems with Denise this villa owner would certainly not have given her the business.

budman · Post by **budman** » Sat May 09, 2009 3:04 pm

Hello everyone, its been forever since I posted here last, but I still lurk often. This post kinda bothers me a little and I'm glad Margy picked up on the original post date. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I cannot hear Denises voice saying to a client that "you are a liar". That is not her style at all. She has always given us great advice when it comes to picking a villa. Through the years she has learned what my family enjoys in a villa and she is quick to point out what "we" would see as negatives. As a renter you should really have a list of questions ready for whoever you rent through, such as do I need 4 wheel drive? is there construction noise near the villa, is there room for multiple vehicles in the driveway? is the pool heated? is there an internal stairway to bedrooms or exterior entrances only? etc. etc.

Anyways, there may have been a communication breakdown, but the poster made Denise sound ugly and not helpful and for those of you who really know her know that she is not like that!

A long time ago I posted how Denise runs her business. She is a middleman or middlewoman that gets a commission from the owners. She does not charge anything extra, same price as if going straight to the owner. She is a wealth of knowledge for me and she handles all of my plans, villa, vehicle, day trips etc.

Hello Susan, hooked on Villa Carolina aye.....save some weeks for us

have a great time!! We are headed back this summer for two weeks and can't wait.

Take care
Budman

ShipwreckPat · Post by **ShipwreckPat** » Sun May 10, 2009 7:43 am

And if anyone is sitting on the fence as to use On Line Vacations or not, just letting you know that everyone in
the party gets a free drink at Shipwreck. While this is true, it is not the reason I am responding. The person that had difficulties did not portray Denise is a very nice light. She is a kind, intelligent and caring person that would never call anyone a liar. She always puts her
guests first, going the extra mile for them and is the essence of what St John,especially Coral Bay is about.

Shipwreck Pat

DaveS007 · Post by **DaveS007** » Sun May 10, 2009 8:44 am

Toadmom wrote:We booked a villa in 2007 through denise Wright. All seemed well until we arrived on the Island and were met at the car barge dock. We always rent a car on St. Thomas and bring it over. It is much easier with a group of seven people. Our greeter was great but instantly said that there was no way that we were ever going to get to the villa in cars. denise failed to tell me this in the 10 times that I communicated with her. We called her and she told me that I was a liar and that she had told me. Now I have been to St. John many times and know if you need a Jeep, you need a Jeep. We asked her for help as it was now sunset and she no longer answered her phone even to the greeter. He finally called a different rental company that found us a place to stay. In the morning we had to rent a jeep, park a car for a week and shuttle 7 people to the villa. I think that she was upset that we did not get a rental vehicle through her. Only problem I ever had on St. John, everyone is so nice. We will never rent from Denise again.

It's odd that you say you have been to SJ "many times". You would obviously know that a car is almost never adequate for SJ, under the best conditions and regardless of the Villa.

Berlingirl · Post by **Berlingirl** » Sun May 10, 2009 10:39 am

Not defending Toadmom...don't know what the story really is about there, but we've been going to STJ for the last 10 years now and we've never done more than a car rental. One year it was Taurus as Thrifty was out of compacts, but we've never had occasion to wish we had spent double to triple on our rental. We spend about $250 a week and that includes taxes. We also do explore, have been to all the beaches everybody else has and driven in the rain. No, we have never rented a villa with a vertical drive way and don't anticpate doing so in the future. We always get a kick out of passing Hawksnest, Trunk and Maho beaches with only 4 wheel drives in the lots. If you look around the islands of the USVI you'll see a lot of different sedans and lots of locals driving them also...Oh yeah,we don't beat the cars either. Just what works for us!

PS...we live in the NE a couple of hours from Canada where it's artic tundra for half the year and that's no joke. We both have 4 wheel drives here as we do live at the top of a small hill that I slid down more times than I care to recall with any car I had at the time!

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