USVI-On-Line

The housekeeping service is included in the price of the villa, at least all the ones I looked at it was included.

BasUR - Which house are you renting? We stayed at Open Deck. The woman that takes care of that house and several others is Betsy and she was terrific.

She came in the morning and would make the beds and provide clean beach and bath towels, sweep up the floors, empty the trash, tidy up the kitchen, empty the dishwasher. She was there for about an hour a day, maybe a little less some days.

When we booked the house, I thought it would be weird to have someone come in like that but it really wasn't. It was a nice service. For the most part, houses on VG don't have washers and dryers for guest use so clean linens would have been a problem without her.

I seem to remember the rental company asking us what time her daily arrival would be convenient for us.

We were generally getting ready to head to the beach as she arrived and she stayed out of our way, doing the outside stuff and laundry until we left.

She was a wealth of information about VG and we really enjoyed talking to her. We did a few things that we never would have known about without her to tell us.

@PA Girl-- how does the cost for a Villa on VG compare with STJ or others? Do you think the VG villas run more because of the housekeeper or do you think it's just going to cost more in general. Just curious.

We are staying in Adagio. That is good to know about the linens because we do not have a washer and dryer. I was curious about beach towels. While on Jost, we use the same ones over and over and over and by the end of our trip they are pretty disgusting!

Just curious - the owner told me tipping the maid service would be at our discretion. I have no idea what would be appropriate. Any idea?

Any do not miss restaurants, etc. We are traveling with kids, ages 10 to 18.

Thanks!

@BasUR: Doesn't Jost have a laundromat? We were thinking it would be easy to do the towels once in the middle of the week if they need to be freshened up. We're also bringing clothes line clips and febreze. No doubt that should help!

Gromit - where are you staying? I am sure there is somewhere to do laundry. When we stayed at The Pink House for two weeks we had a washer and dryer. We tried not to use it very much.... you really have to conserve! We have stayed at White Bay Villas 3 times and each time we just make due, hanging towels out to dry, etc. In a weird sort of way it is part of the simple charm.

BasUR-- we are going BARE BONES on Jost for a week at Ivans cabins.

We stayed there overnight last June and actually loved it, spartan though it be!

I'll bring some towels with us and will try to keep them fresh. But I want a plan B which is why I researched and found the laundromat.

Fortunately the neat sheet helps in that we won't be putting towels directly on the sand.

I learned from the sailing trip in December that bringing a few bounce sheets to keep in your clothes and some febreze can do WONDERS for keeping things fresh!!!!!

Bounce and Frebreze will do wonders. Just hang up and spray and let the tradewinds take over! You will love staying there! Please tell Racquel that Don and Debbie said Hi! You will love the mornings and late afternoons when all is quiet! Be sure to go up to the top for a spectacular view!

Just finished reading a book by Peter Farrell about Foxy and Jost van Dyke. And he mentions that hike and the view you captured. Can't wait to do it!

Thanks for sharing the pic!!

Gromit wrote:@PA Girl-- how does the cost for a Villa on VG compare with STJ or others? Do you think the VG villas run more because of the housekeeper or do you think it's just going to cost more in general. Just curious.

I can only answer based on our personal vacation preferences.

We like to be on or very close to the beach and we are somewhat particular about maintenance and quality. I don't need granite countertops, 600 thread count sheets, fancy electronics, etc. but I do expect my rentals to be kept and furnished at a certain level and I don't mind paying for it. (Boy does that make me sound spoiled!)

Our favorite house on STJ is Kallaloo. It rents, for two couple, for $6,874 or $3,437 per couple. The only reason we don't continue to rent it is because they don't accept kids under 8 yo.

The house we rented on VG was actually a nicer house (bigger, AC, awesome outdoor living area) and closer to the beach. It costs $5,712 or $2,856 per couple.

This past Feb we stayed in Virgin Grande STJ(not close to the beach) and it cost about $2,400 a couple.

VG was a better value. Travel costs were the same.

BasUR wrote: Just curious - the owner told me tipping the maid service would be at our discretion. I have no idea what would be appropriate. Any idea?

Any do not miss restaurants, etc. We are traveling with kids, ages 10 to 18.

Thanks!

We tipped her $10 per day, per couple = $180 for our 9 night stay.

For the most part, we liked all the restaurants. We enjoyed the Mine Shaft so much we went back twice. There is a man that plays music on certain nights and that was a lot of fun. There is a put-put course there also.

I thought Chez Bamboo didn't live up the hype but it was ok.

We had an incredible lunch at Little Dix. It was a buffet, which I generally avoid, but they served all sorts of local dishes like roti, stewed conch, grilled fishes as well as burgers on the grill and more mainland stuff. Pricey but worth every penny.

The Rock Cafe has a very striking setting.

We did the Jumby Night BBQ at Leverick Bay. I probably wouldn't do that again. It was very loud, very crowded and a hard partying crowd. (For reference, I party pretty hard on vacay) It felt like an adult frat party. The buffet was standard BBQ fare and it was good.

We enjoyed our lunch at Saba Rock.

We had a great meal Upstairs at Leverick Bay, probably the best of the trip.

Top of the Baths was good and there is a pool there, which the kids might like.

Dinner at Nail Bay was probably the most biizarre dining experience ever but the people that worked there were so nice, it is hard to knock the restaurant.

BasUR wrote:Bounce and Frebreze will do wonders. Just hang up and spray and let the tradewinds take over! You will love staying there! Please tell Racquel that Don and Debbie said Hi! You will love the mornings and late afternoons when all is quiet! Be sure to go up to the top for a spectacular view!

Thats a WOW shot. Nice! That’s a Jost shot you normally don't see - a different perspective, like these...

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmq/135378482/" title="JVD from sky by jmq, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/56/13537 ... 67736d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="JVD from sky"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmq/135378485/" title="JVD from sky2 by jmq, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/44/13537 ... 10e8f1.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="JVD from sky2"></a>

BasUR wrote:We are staying in Adagio.

Any do not miss restaurants, etc. We are traveling with kids, ages 10 to 18.

Thanks!

Well, you have to take the kids to the Mineshaft restaurant. They have a rudimentary mini-golf “course” in front and great sunset views from the dining deck. They would also get a kick out of all the chickens that clumsily climb/fly up into the trees next to the deck at sunset to roost for the night away from predators. Stick to the wraps, rotis, and ribs with the homemade potato salad.

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/ij ... site"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_8poT_jdtsYw/SGvXY ... s.jpg"></a>

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/UX ... site"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_8poT_jdtsYw/SGpqW ... 5.JPG"></a>

<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/QT ... site"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_8poT_jdtsYw/SGppa ... 0.JPG"></a>

jmq wrote: Great to hear you re-booked. Hope that volcano stays quiet this time. Have fun and give the GB doggies a scratch behind the ears for me!

Thank you. I hope the volcano will behave. Tonight a couple of the most northern airports in Sweden has restrictions, but they predict the ash to disappear soon. Just don't move south.

I will for sure scratch their furry friends. I still miss Fluffy, the beautiful cat.

Regarding restaurants on VG...here's another vote for Mine Shaft. Ate there twice on our trip and loved it. Very fun to see the chickens roosting for the night and vying for the same spot on a branch. Even the little chicks get up into the tree.

We really enjoyed the Leverick BBQ and Jumby show. It was family oriented the night we were there, but we didn't stay very late after the Jumbies were done, so perhaps it gets more hard partying later.

Loved the Nail Bay restaurant for lunch, however, I heard that the couple who ran it are gone now.

We ate at Rock Cafe and the food was not so good (lobster tasted like burned oil) that night, but the atmosphere on the outside patio among the boulders is great.

Had dinner at Fisher's Cove and enjoyed a romantic evening with sunset and nice atmosphere. Food was good.

B&J in VA wrote:Regarding restaurants on VG...here's another vote for Mine Shaft.

Another vote for the Mine Shaft for the view as much as anything. Get there early to see the sunset.
And my favorite lunch was at the Fat Virgin Cafe. The best Blue Cheese Burger I've ever eaten. Even better than Skinny's. Sitting at the little picnic tables, looking out at the turquoise water was simply sublime. Hop on the little ferry (free) to Biras Creek; the Fat Virgin Cafe is right at the ferry dock.

Lovermont