Trip Review April 13-20 Andara

[mahi2mahi]

I have been looking at this site on and off since it was COOL for some carib info.

Had been to STJ for a couple of day trips but never stayed the week.

Originally wanted to stay at Wings over Water but whomever manages their website had not updated the dates so not available.

Drive from Andara was not bad at all. 15 minutes to Coral Bay. About 30 to Maho.

Major construction on the house next door which was supposed to be completed in February (although to be fair they never said what year) was not an issue. They were pouring concrete and working on the roof while we were there. Besides getting by the cement truck and an occasional hammer and saw Andara is the only completed house in sight. No other lights at night except for the BVIs.

Driveway was interesting the first few times. Helps to have someone in the front passenger seat to tell when you can turn right to avoid the stairs. Try to be somewhere near the center/left when you go over the infinity edged driveway.

Rented a Jeep from Amalie. Very good experience. Jeep seemed to have some issues shifting into 4WD when stopped and in neutral but did not really need it. Roof leaked but imagine that is common since there was a Jeep on the car ferry with the roof seams sealed.

House was exceptional with lots of room for four. Six would have been no problem either.
Could look at the view for hours although sunrise and sunset were not an event.

Mosquitos were numerous but had two cans of Repel from Walmart which lasted the week and did the trick. Small mosquitos = small bites?

Did not hear any growling at Haulover North during the week but must admit looking over my shoulder a couple of times while on the lower balcony.

Would have been good to have radio (92.3?) on the outdoor speakers but no antenna/poor reception? Took some time to figure how to get satellite radio on out there. If you have an I phone you will be better prepared since that’s what they are set up for.

Wifi worked well but would have helped to have an old computer hooked up. Bring at least a tablet if you want to do any research.

Snorkeled every day form the North shore beaches and Lameshur. Not spectacular although the offshore side of the small island at Cinnamon had some huge boulders, deep blue water and motorboats. Never get tired of watching the fish drift around with the current. Haven’t snorkeled in a while so didn’t get too adventurous. Wanted to snorkel Haulover North but the tradewinds were strong and it was too choppy for us. Rented fins from Crabbys.

Ate most meals at Andara. Why leave? Aqua Bistro and Sweet Plantains (red and yellow curry) were very good. Red Snapper at Aqua Bistro was very fresh, the rub a bit too much for this excellent piece of fish. The good owners comped a steak since the char was very heavy. The big bowl of excellent clam chowder was filling enough though. Also had a very good lunch at Bordeaux Mountain, chicken roti and fingers. Decent apps at the Tourist Trap. Had to ask the waitress if the table was really crooked or had I been drinking too much?

Don’t know why it took so long to get here for a week. Too many islands I guess. 10 or 14 days would have been better but you still have to leave.

[Lovermont]

Nice report! Andara is on my "in my wildest dreams" list. For now, driving up that hill and looking out from the unsold lots will have to suffice. Thanks for taking the time to post.

[dreamshark]

Try to be somewhere near the center/left when you go over the infinity edged driveway..

Perfect description for all too many St. John driveways.
Andara looks gorgeous. Glad you had a good trip!

[ColumbiaSCTraveler]

Andara is gorgeous!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

You're right - 7 days isn't enough....but then, neither is 10 or 14 or ....

[gibber161]

Wow..impressive looking villa!

[harrissc]

It's great to hear a good review (though most are) on Andara. There are not that many. I will be traveling to Andara for a week and a half in early August for my wedding/honeymoon and am also renting from Amalie.

Are there any tips that you have or things that you wish you had brought that the villa doesn't offer?

I'm a long-time lurker of the boards but signed up once I saw your review.

[mahi2mahi]

Since you went through the process of signing up, have been trying to remember what was not mentioned..

I started to download some music to my Windows phone but figured there would be plenty of options at Andara. There was a way to use a windows phone by unplugging the audio out? From the I pod dock and plugging it into the windows phone. Sounded great on the outdoor speakers but only had ten songs since had to use zune to download songs. Most of the good songs I found from doing an island playlist search were not available on zune.

I also bought a Blue Ray speaker which would have worked well if I thought I would have needed it.

We brought food and shopped on ST Thomas. Found everything we needed at Cost U Less and Plaza Extra. Also stopped at the Fruit Bowl for some veggies. Worked out well as we met our friends who arrived 1 ½ hours later at 2:45, at the 4 PM car ferry. Got to Andara about 5:30, before dark

Driving at night was not bad but would not want to do it the first day. Although the very thorough villa rep would get you there with no problem.

The rep will make sure you know how the door locks work. They were different. My best advice is to pull up on the door handle, then turn the key towards the door jamb/frame.

There were many dried spices left there. I would guess about 30.

The coffee maker takes medium size cone filters (I think). They hade plenty of those when we were there and some smaller filters for smaller pots.

The stove had six gas burners. The two rear outside burners did not work while we were there, but four was plenty for us. Maintenance was aware.

The refrigerator likes to freeze things. All of our fresh vegetables were frozen after a couple of days even after lowering every dial we could find. Might try putting cold sensitive items on higher shelves.

If the cell phone stops working, turn it off then back on. You might ask Viva how to do this. I can’t remember the exact button. Using the phone is also another trial by error experience. Something like enter the phone number, push dial, the push enter for number one when the weird
numbers/letters appear then dial again? Friends had decent success using an ATT cell phone although calls would be cut off occasionally.

Grill worked great until gas ran out the first night. Called Viva Villas Sunday about 10 AM and it was fixed by noon. Did not want to call Saturday PM but it appears they are used to issues on change over day.

Just checked with the wife to make sure I didn’t forget anything. She was more than happy to set me straight. You will find out soon

There was plastic wrap, paper towels, flour, sugar and toiletries provided. Speaking of sugar the bannaquit bird feeder is on the steps to the outside bedroom. They like either sugar water or straight sugar, not fussy at all. The threshers with the long tail were partial to honey nut cheerios. They will follow you around the property. Had one staring at me in the kitchen window one morning wondering why I wasn’t doing my job. Think it might have been related to my wife.

That’s about it although will probably think of something else in about five minutes.
Most important, enjoy your special time together. Andara is a great place to start. Congatulations!

[Capn Dan and Ruby]

Don’t know why it took so long to get here for a week. Too many islands I guess. 10 or 14 days would have been better but you still have to leave.[/quote]
Well at least you went to other islands before you got spoiled! We want to venture out, but every time we think of not going to St. John in favor of another trip, we get the cold chills!.

[Capn Dan and Ruby]

Don’t know why it took so long to get here for a week. Too many islands I guess. 10 or 14 days would have been better but you still have to leave.[/quote]
Well at least you went to other islands before you got spoiled! We want to venture out, but every time we think of not going to St. John in favor of another trip, we get the cold chills!.

[chloe_jade416]

Thank you so much for posting. Really good info, especially about Andara. Like others, this villa is definitely on our list for any future trips. Would have really considered it even for our first trip this summer....but all booked up for most of June-July and would've had to wait 'til mid-August....way too long for us to wait for this much needed vacation, LOL! And cutting it close to "back-to-school" for our kiddo.

Hubby was also a little concerned about staying too far away from Cruz Bay for our first trip, especially with 2 kids in tow & not having a good feel of the island yet. But, it sounds like it would be a great place just to get away from it all & forget the rest of the world....which we've enjoyed doing in the past (on other islands). Sometimes those "villa gravity" days are the best days of all.....so, probably would work well for us on a future visit.

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts!

[mahi2mahi]

It really is the get away from it all place. Thats why we went. Some more stuff.

Have been working on the house new landscaping, and car new battery, a trip to Tampa to see the Sox and dinner with the neighbors so not a lot of time to correspond.

There are supposed to be bats flying by the pool for a drink at night. They were too fast for us to see but according to a review in the guest book that’s what they were. Don’t be surprised. Should be OK in the hot tub

A family of goats will come to the pool for a drink. The smaller members of the family are too small too reach the pool.

There was a large land crab at the backside of the pool/patio the first night. Don’t know where he came from or how he got there or where he went.

Dave