Which villa rental, PLEASE help

[marlenesusan]

We are planning to rent a villa over the holidays (Christmas and New Year's), and would like some advice so we can make a decision finally after umpteen hours of research on different villas. We are 2 couples and probably will have to stay in the east end or Coral Bay area because of the huge increase in $$ over the holidays.

Here's what we would like:
close access to swimming (5 minutes by car), snorkeling, ocean views from balcony, would appreciate pool/hot tub., clean and kept up

Here's what we don't need or like:
fancy place, nightlife, eating out every night in expensive restaurants, crazy hills and a lot of tight switchbacks for driving
We've narrowed down our list to these I think:

Rhumb Runners
Raj Mahal
Bay House
Cameron Cove Villa
Kambesu
Other suggestions from you
thank you, thank you!
Marlene

[Ksea]

I vote for Rhumb Runners out of the list you provided. Lovely decor, great pool, nice bedroom set up and fantastic views! 5 minutes to the beach? Im not sure, but what's another 5-10 mins?

[Chickadee]

Raj Mahal is way the heck out on the east end, I mean way out there. If you don't like driving on STJ, you won't like the drive out there. The beach is walkable from the house, though it's probably more than 5 minutes and is not an easy walk. The beach there is not sand, it's stone, we never swam or snorkeled it, so I can't comment on that.

When we were there (probably 5 years ago now) the place was really nice (roomy, nicely done up and equipped), but the screens were in horrible shape such that one had to keep the house closed up to keep the bugs out or tolerate the bugs in the house to keep the house cool. VERY unpleasant either way. I would check with the rental company to see if this has been repaired.