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Iowaguy's Trip Report---Part II
Iowaguy's Trip Report---Part II
This part will be short------and may not be of interest to anyone except those who like to keep track of villas on island---but I do know there are a few of you villa-hounds out there. I wanted to comment briefly on the houses and other places where we stayed in our March trip. Our group of 8 stayed at Indigo, another group stayed at Villa Bijou, right below Indigo, and one family stayed at Angelica (a little further afield, but still in Great Cruz Bay area). We all liked the houses where we stayed.
Indigo was much nicer than we really needed but we certainly enjoyed it. I must tell you that Indigo is the only villa we have rented where I briefly thought ---"maybe I should not tell anyone else how great this house is, so I can keep it to myself and come back here every few months." I guess the real owners could stay there too, since they obviously know about it
Problem is, I can't remotely afford that plan, so I'll go ahead and tell you about it. Its a 4BR, 5 bath house on Maria Bluff, overlooking Great Cruz Bay. Here is the view looking west from Indigo.
Brand new and beautifully decorated with lots of cushy furniture you can really sink into, and filled with interesting antiques, armoires, etc., apparently moved here from a house in Charleston, SC. The house has a real "low country" feel to it----the piece de resistance is a wraparound porch both on the front of the house---facing Great Cruz Bay---and on the side of the house---overlooking the small but very pretty pool.
The porch at Indigo has to be one of the greatest places in the world to have breakfast, take an afternoon nap, or have a cocktail. Didn't actually get to try the nap thing, but had quite a few cocktails here, and breakfast every morning. Another very cool feature to the house was the rooftop sundeck, variously known to our group as the "happy hour tower" or, later at night as the "after hour tower."
The sundeck had nice outdoor teak furniture, and a refrigerator and wet bar. Pictures don't really do it justice because it had an incredible 360 degree view, stretching from St. Thomas and outlying cays to the west, and then Great Cruz Bay to the east, and then south of that, Chocolate Hole and views along the south shore all the way to Rams Head. Went up there several times late at night to have a final Red Stripe and look at the stars. The two master bedrooms in the "tower wing" were especially nice. Here's one of them:
The two bedrooms below the great room were also nice, but smaller. Honestly, I thought those smaller bedrooms would be fine for adult couples---they were extremely well furnished, and all the bathrooms were beautiful and immaculate---no outdoor showers though. Kitchen was beautiful and well equipped. There was a nice stereo that had speakers in the house and on the porches. There was a large flat screen in the living room---I am happy to report we never even turned it on until the last night when a couple of the kids wanted to check on the NCAA tourney. A/C everywhere, though we tried to keep it turned off in the great room.
The only two cautionary comments I would have about Indigo are (1) the house has a lot of steps (I tried to view this as a positive, since my caloric intake was consistently high and I thought this was a good counterbalance), and (2) the pool, though very pretty with an especially nice fountain, is smaller and has fairly limited sunlight. Everything else about the house was so great these two issues didn't bother me. It was a steep driveway, but not too harrowing.
We really enjoyed the house and spent several afternoons there just hanging out----I reassured myself with Pete's mantra on this Board that "its OK to be a villa rat."
Our friends stayed in Villa Bijou, the first house down the hill from Indigo. I believe this was an older house that was gutted to the walls and completely redone. There was no evidence at all of the "former house"----it seemed brand new and if you hadn't been told that story you would assume it had just been built. Lots of island stonework in the great room. Two large identical master bedrooms on the main level (no ocean view though), and one more nice-sized bedroom below on the pool level. The floors everywhere were a really pretty stone and there was nice mahogany railing everywhere.
Very pretty view of Great Cruz Bay, and great room windows completely opened up so the great room was open-air. Great open kitchen. Pool was bigger than ours at Indigo, and there was a pretty big sunning area. We had 20 people for cocktails on the pool deck and it didn't seem crowded.
In all, a really nice house.
Another family stayed at Angelica. This was a nice house too--very nicely furnished, small but pretty pool, good kitchen---no ocean view though.
Before our larger group arrived, Janie and I stayed two nights at Gallows Point.
This was our third short visit to Gallows (before or after a villa stay). We really love Gallows---the views are just wonderful and I love being so close to the water. We stayed in 2D this time---an oceanview upper---very quiet since it was on the southern end of the resort. Here is the daytime view from our deck.
2D had not been refurbished as a few have, but it was very comfortable. We snorkeled a couple of times at Gallows and the water there is just crystal-clear with a lot to see (a fairly good-sized barracuda made me just a little nervous). Its also great to be able to walk to town. We had an absolutely perfect sunset on our second night there, and we had a great view of it from our porch.
Restaurants next up.
Indigo was much nicer than we really needed but we certainly enjoyed it. I must tell you that Indigo is the only villa we have rented where I briefly thought ---"maybe I should not tell anyone else how great this house is, so I can keep it to myself and come back here every few months." I guess the real owners could stay there too, since they obviously know about it
Problem is, I can't remotely afford that plan, so I'll go ahead and tell you about it. Its a 4BR, 5 bath house on Maria Bluff, overlooking Great Cruz Bay. Here is the view looking west from Indigo.Brand new and beautifully decorated with lots of cushy furniture you can really sink into, and filled with interesting antiques, armoires, etc., apparently moved here from a house in Charleston, SC. The house has a real "low country" feel to it----the piece de resistance is a wraparound porch both on the front of the house---facing Great Cruz Bay---and on the side of the house---overlooking the small but very pretty pool.
The porch at Indigo has to be one of the greatest places in the world to have breakfast, take an afternoon nap, or have a cocktail. Didn't actually get to try the nap thing, but had quite a few cocktails here, and breakfast every morning. Another very cool feature to the house was the rooftop sundeck, variously known to our group as the "happy hour tower" or, later at night as the "after hour tower."
The sundeck had nice outdoor teak furniture, and a refrigerator and wet bar. Pictures don't really do it justice because it had an incredible 360 degree view, stretching from St. Thomas and outlying cays to the west, and then Great Cruz Bay to the east, and then south of that, Chocolate Hole and views along the south shore all the way to Rams Head. Went up there several times late at night to have a final Red Stripe and look at the stars. The two master bedrooms in the "tower wing" were especially nice. Here's one of them:
The two bedrooms below the great room were also nice, but smaller. Honestly, I thought those smaller bedrooms would be fine for adult couples---they were extremely well furnished, and all the bathrooms were beautiful and immaculate---no outdoor showers though. Kitchen was beautiful and well equipped. There was a nice stereo that had speakers in the house and on the porches. There was a large flat screen in the living room---I am happy to report we never even turned it on until the last night when a couple of the kids wanted to check on the NCAA tourney. A/C everywhere, though we tried to keep it turned off in the great room.
The only two cautionary comments I would have about Indigo are (1) the house has a lot of steps (I tried to view this as a positive, since my caloric intake was consistently high and I thought this was a good counterbalance), and (2) the pool, though very pretty with an especially nice fountain, is smaller and has fairly limited sunlight. Everything else about the house was so great these two issues didn't bother me. It was a steep driveway, but not too harrowing.
We really enjoyed the house and spent several afternoons there just hanging out----I reassured myself with Pete's mantra on this Board that "its OK to be a villa rat."
Our friends stayed in Villa Bijou, the first house down the hill from Indigo. I believe this was an older house that was gutted to the walls and completely redone. There was no evidence at all of the "former house"----it seemed brand new and if you hadn't been told that story you would assume it had just been built. Lots of island stonework in the great room. Two large identical master bedrooms on the main level (no ocean view though), and one more nice-sized bedroom below on the pool level. The floors everywhere were a really pretty stone and there was nice mahogany railing everywhere.
Very pretty view of Great Cruz Bay, and great room windows completely opened up so the great room was open-air. Great open kitchen. Pool was bigger than ours at Indigo, and there was a pretty big sunning area. We had 20 people for cocktails on the pool deck and it didn't seem crowded.
In all, a really nice house.
Another family stayed at Angelica. This was a nice house too--very nicely furnished, small but pretty pool, good kitchen---no ocean view though.
Before our larger group arrived, Janie and I stayed two nights at Gallows Point.
This was our third short visit to Gallows (before or after a villa stay). We really love Gallows---the views are just wonderful and I love being so close to the water. We stayed in 2D this time---an oceanview upper---very quiet since it was on the southern end of the resort. Here is the daytime view from our deck.
2D had not been refurbished as a few have, but it was very comfortable. We snorkeled a couple of times at Gallows and the water there is just crystal-clear with a lot to see (a fairly good-sized barracuda made me just a little nervous). Its also great to be able to walk to town. We had an absolutely perfect sunset on our second night there, and we had a great view of it from our porch.
Restaurants next up.
---Jim
Iowaguy- Thanks for sharing the "secrets" of Indigo, it looks very nice. I LOVE rooftop party-spots, sundecks, widow's walks, etc...I may find myself on top of Indigo one day thanks to you...
Cheers~
Cheers~
STJ Villa Map:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie ... 2&t=h&z=14
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie ... 2&t=h&z=14
I am one of those "villa-hounds" and really appreciate your report. Indigo seems like a very nice villa.
I understand the "maybe I should not tell..." thought. I get that too sometimes. I suspect good numbers of people think that way and actually don't tell about their favorite villas - I can't blame them.
I'll be staying at Blue Palm Villa and Sea Stone in May/June and hoping to do a full trip report. Can't wait to get there.
Thanks again, iowaguy.
I understand the "maybe I should not tell..." thought. I get that too sometimes. I suspect good numbers of people think that way and actually don't tell about their favorite villas - I can't blame them.
I'll be staying at Blue Palm Villa and Sea Stone in May/June and hoping to do a full trip report. Can't wait to get there.
Thanks again, iowaguy.
Thanks, all, for the nice comments.
Pickle, SeaStone is a house that has looked really interesting to me ever since its been built---love that cliffside location---will be interested to hear about it.
Sherban---with a group of seven college kids in our crew, that rooftop deck definitely got used as a prime party spot:)
MaryBeth---Our friends really liked opening up the window wall at Bijou. It was a really lovely view. But then, this was March and it wasn't really hot outside. Also, the island had been really dry and there were almost no mosquitoes.
Pickle, SeaStone is a house that has looked really interesting to me ever since its been built---love that cliffside location---will be interested to hear about it.
Sherban---with a group of seven college kids in our crew, that rooftop deck definitely got used as a prime party spot:)
MaryBeth---Our friends really liked opening up the window wall at Bijou. It was a really lovely view. But then, this was March and it wasn't really hot outside. Also, the island had been really dry and there were almost no mosquitoes.
---Jim
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cypressgirl
- Posts: 2178
- Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2006 2:42 pm
- Location: houston
Jim, I should have taken you up on that cocktail tour of Indigo. It looks fantastic. But then again, I don't think that is in our yearly family of 4 budget, so probably best I didn't see it. It would be perfect for a couples vacations. Now I need to find some couples I'd like to travel with that don't need me to pay for everything. 
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Kentuckygirl
- Posts: 1903
- Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2006 10:17 am
- Location: Kentucky
[/url]Cypressgirl----Wish you had stopped by. Not sure why we splurged this year, but we're planning next year's visit and we're looking at a smaller house next time for just our immediate family.
Liamsaunt--I may have overstated the openness of Villa Bijou. Its just that the windows on the great room wall facing the water slide open so its mostly open-air on that wall if you want it to be. A number of other houses in St. John are like this too.
Liamsaunt--I may have overstated the openness of Villa Bijou. Its just that the windows on the great room wall facing the water slide open so its mostly open-air on that wall if you want it to be. A number of other houses in St. John are like this too.
---Jim
