Kids in Villas

[pipanale]

I know certain ones say they're kid friendly and others say "8 and older" and others just say no kids. How strict are they really about this?

Next summer, our angelic daughter (she'll be 6 for the trip) may be with us. We still haven't decided if she's going on the trip yet, but I have the plane reservation made just in case. We're torn on this one. We'd really love the time for an "adult vacation" but, it's possible, next summer could be our last hoorah as just a group of 3.

If we see a house that says "8 and older" are the rules really enforced? This will be off-season (August).

Thanks

[flip-flop]

I think it depends on the agency. When booking for our last trip I came across one or two agencies who said the "rule" could be relaxed upon request. I think that basically meant if the house was off-season and not looking like it was going to be rented, they'd relax the rule.

I cant imagine a well behaved 6 year old would have issues with any house. I can get the crawling-toddling age having some issues, without intense supervision.

[PA Girl]

Enforced? I think it depends on the agency and maybe the owners. We are running into this same topic now that our son is getting older.

Pre-kid, we were repeat renters of a house we loved, loved, loved. This house did have an 8-year old and older restriction. We did take our son at at 4-5 months with the agencies ok. The agency said the restriction applied to mobile children only and it was ok for us to bring an infant.

We wanted to return for our most recent trip and were willing to sign a waiver. No luck, no exceptions. We ended up renting a different, kids-allowed house.

For Feb 2008, we looked at two, 8-years and older houses. I called the agencies, told them I was interested in the houses and we would be travelling with a 2.5 year old. Both times I was told it would be fine. One asked us to sign a waiver.

We ended up renting a house advertised as 8-years and older and I signed a waiver that basically spelled out recognized dangers.

I say it can't hurt to ask, you might be pleasantly surprised. We were.

[PA Girl]

FF and I posted at the same time and her post prompted me to add that we are renting in February so even in season some may be flexible.

I would expect more exceptions, should they be granted, to be made for older children than toddlers.

[RickG]

A lot of the time its those infinity edge pools with big drops and restrictive liability insurance driving some of these rules. I would ask the villa management companies for guidance. It might be something as simple as signing a release. FYI, Destination St. John only lists one villa on their web site that is "no kids," the rest do not restrict age.

Last November was my first STJ trip with young boys - 2 to 10 years old. Those crazy boys did things my daughters never would have considered - real gene pool depleting acts.

Cheers, Rick

[flip-flop]

We rented Ambiance from Destination St John last trip and had a 1 year old (just walking) and my 3 year old with us. They were fine. There is an infinity pool & some precarious stairs, but we jsut had to keep a close eye on them. Honestly, any house that isn't home, you are going to need to be super vigilant about any toddlers. I would never expect just because there is not a "no kids" rule that the house is kid safe or friendly.

The fact that most houses we'd stayed in kind of freaked me out when I thought about a kid is why we waited until our daughter was 3 to take her. However, with the 2nd child, I've totally lost my mind and the drive and desire to be on St. John outweighs any common sense I may have had. Of course, we are going in with a 3 to 1 adult to kid ratio!

I always assumed the "no kids" houses were either on crazy ledges or owned by people who didn't want their things touched by sticky, slimy kiddo hands. Which is absolutely their right

I also know that Cristys rents babygates and the like if you ever arrive and find your house less kid friendly.

[chicagoans]

Even though my kids will be 9 and 11 when we go, I was steered away from a couple villas by the agencies because of the distance from the master bedroom to the 2nd or 3rd bedrooms. (In these cases, the bedrooms were physically separated by a pool.) I'd much rather be under one roof with my kids, especially with a pool involved, even though they're both good swimmers. I think you just need to ask enough questions to satisfy yourself that everyone will be comfortable and safe.

There was one cliffside villa that looked gorgeous but would have made me way too nervous with 2 adventurous kids. We joked that it was only 3 steps to the water, but watch out for the third step... "One, two, aaauuugggg!"

[pipanale]

Thanks for the tips. They were about what I expected.

We were discussing this at dinner last night and trying to see if the little one would be accompanying us. My wife and I are dancing around the elephant in the room about the number of people we'd need to bring for future trips.