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Orion's Hill Villa - Ajax Mountain
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greyhoundmom
- Posts: 978
- Joined: Mon Jul 30, 2007 3:06 pm
- Location: Columbia South Carolina
Orion's Hill Villa - Ajax Mountain
Has anyone stayed here? We just switched villas because this one looks like the better choice for the 4 of us. Any construction going on? Looks like a beautiful villa.
My family and I stayed here over the summer. It's incredible. This was our first trip to St. John and the only reason we're not going back is because our party size has increased. The villa is beautiful, and I'll never forget the views. The owners live next door, and they may be the nicest people we've ever met. Without any hesitation, I'd tell you to book it. Ask any questions you have; I'll answer with specificity. But the house, the deck, the rooftop--with its own observation deck with 360 degree views--there's nothing that's been taken for granted. Just amazing. Can't say enough about it.
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greyhoundmom
- Posts: 978
- Joined: Mon Jul 30, 2007 3:06 pm
- Location: Columbia South Carolina
Orion's Hill
Thanks for your reply! The owners and your vacation sound awesome. My brother-in-law and spouse are going with us in July for 2 weeks. Did you feel you had your privacy with the owners being next door and how close is next door? The pool looks beautiful. Did you grill out much and if so, did you bring your own frozen meats? Was the kitchen large enough for 4 fannies? I am very impressed with how clean and nicely decorated it is. Were there enough towels and linens? Did CVilla go through the house with you after they took you up? I'd appreciate anything else you think we might need to know. 
I'm not great with measurements, but I'd say Doug and Sharon's house is at least a couple hundred feet down the dirt road that Orion's Hill sits on. You're well separated from them by hedges, trees and so on; it never felt like our privacy had been compromised. To the contrary, it felt good to know they were nearby if we needed them. We stayed there in mid-July, when an explosion on St. Thomas shut down all the power. Doug was there with two generators, making sure that we had water and that the dinner my mom was in the middle of preparing didn't even get ruined. He made himself completely available for advice and any help we needed without ever being intrusive. If you don't want to, you likely won't even know they're there.
We did cook a couple of times, but most of the time we ate out. One day we chartered a boat and cooked the fish back at the villa, another time we stopped at Starfish for steak and chicken. The frozen meat thing sounded a bit too elaborate for first timers like us. We live in NY, on Long Island, so since the prices are so obscenely ridiculous here, we weren't too taken aback by the costs of buying the food on St. John. The kitchen is normal sized, there was certainly room for three people, probably more, to be working around it, but there's such an open floorplan I really couldn't tell you exactly where the kitchen proper starts. The five of us never got in each other's way though.
We rented through Book-It-VI, who were fantastic. Doug himself picked us up at the car ferry, and he gave us the tour of the house and showed us all the amenities. I think there were absolutely enough towels; we try to keep everything washed, so towels were typically tossed in with the laundry every couple of days anyway. We were never short. The house is decorated beautifully, and if you do talk to Doug about it, you'll find out what a labor of love it's been to him. Nothing has been overlooked for your comfort.
The pool is gorgeous, it's chlorine-free, some kind of deionization keeps it as clean as drinking water without a drop of chemicals. If I could recommend anything, I'd say make use of the rooftop deck for at least one sunrise and one sunset. The opportunity to see in every direction on the island at once seems to be a rare one, based on the search I'm going through for a villa for next summer right now; don't take it for granted. Another piece of advice would be, if you don't have one already, pick up a Digital SLR camera. They're costly, but the photos that my father got, just around the Orion's property alone are like none from previous vacations. The flowers that are planted around the place are evidently magnetic to hummingbirds, and some of the pictures we have of them drinking from the flowers are outrageous. Take lots of pictures from the decks, of the valley and Coral Bay;they make great backdrops for your computer when you get home. Around the island and at the beaches, the dSLR paid for itself in that week.
Otherwise I can't really think of any other real advice. I'm sure I sound like I have some kind of interest in this place, but I really am just happy to have gotten the opportunity to talk about it finally. I've been feeling guilty for not posting a trip report or review of the villa for months, I just haven't had the time. It's been bugging me that I haven't seen many mentions of the house on any of the VI sites, especially knowing what a special place it is. Over the weekend I think I'll put all of my photos into an album and post them here; the pictures on the websites for the villa absolutely do it no justice. If there's anything else you'd like to know that I missed here, feel free to ask away.
Craig
We did cook a couple of times, but most of the time we ate out. One day we chartered a boat and cooked the fish back at the villa, another time we stopped at Starfish for steak and chicken. The frozen meat thing sounded a bit too elaborate for first timers like us. We live in NY, on Long Island, so since the prices are so obscenely ridiculous here, we weren't too taken aback by the costs of buying the food on St. John. The kitchen is normal sized, there was certainly room for three people, probably more, to be working around it, but there's such an open floorplan I really couldn't tell you exactly where the kitchen proper starts. The five of us never got in each other's way though.
We rented through Book-It-VI, who were fantastic. Doug himself picked us up at the car ferry, and he gave us the tour of the house and showed us all the amenities. I think there were absolutely enough towels; we try to keep everything washed, so towels were typically tossed in with the laundry every couple of days anyway. We were never short. The house is decorated beautifully, and if you do talk to Doug about it, you'll find out what a labor of love it's been to him. Nothing has been overlooked for your comfort.
The pool is gorgeous, it's chlorine-free, some kind of deionization keeps it as clean as drinking water without a drop of chemicals. If I could recommend anything, I'd say make use of the rooftop deck for at least one sunrise and one sunset. The opportunity to see in every direction on the island at once seems to be a rare one, based on the search I'm going through for a villa for next summer right now; don't take it for granted. Another piece of advice would be, if you don't have one already, pick up a Digital SLR camera. They're costly, but the photos that my father got, just around the Orion's property alone are like none from previous vacations. The flowers that are planted around the place are evidently magnetic to hummingbirds, and some of the pictures we have of them drinking from the flowers are outrageous. Take lots of pictures from the decks, of the valley and Coral Bay;they make great backdrops for your computer when you get home. Around the island and at the beaches, the dSLR paid for itself in that week.
Otherwise I can't really think of any other real advice. I'm sure I sound like I have some kind of interest in this place, but I really am just happy to have gotten the opportunity to talk about it finally. I've been feeling guilty for not posting a trip report or review of the villa for months, I just haven't had the time. It's been bugging me that I haven't seen many mentions of the house on any of the VI sites, especially knowing what a special place it is. Over the weekend I think I'll put all of my photos into an album and post them here; the pictures on the websites for the villa absolutely do it no justice. If there's anything else you'd like to know that I missed here, feel free to ask away.
Craig
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greyhoundmom
- Posts: 978
- Joined: Mon Jul 30, 2007 3:06 pm
- Location: Columbia South Carolina
Craig,
I loved reading your indepth report! I am excited to finally hear so much about this beautiful villa. If you could download your photos of Orion's Hill, it would make my day! It is obvious that you and your family truly loved staying here and I know my family will be just as happy. What a wonderful pool, the absence of chlorine will be a great change!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
I loved reading your indepth report! I am excited to finally hear so much about this beautiful villa. If you could download your photos of Orion's Hill, it would make my day! It is obvious that you and your family truly loved staying here and I know my family will be just as happy. What a wonderful pool, the absence of chlorine will be a great change!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!