Pic's Pics and Report - Wonderful Villas
Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2009 10:42 pm
The day we returned to St. John, feeling the familiar humid air on my skin as I looked at the slightly overcast waterfront of Cruz Bay, I was serenely happy.
That night we went to sleep on St. John for the first time in a long time, I developed a minor medical issue, which kept me awake most of the night. After that I didn't have a good night's sleep for nearly a week. Fortunately, we were on a two-week vacation on the island, and I was back to myself completely for the second half of our stay.
Around 2 a.m. in the morning the very first night on St. John, I got out of bed in discomfort and looked at myself in the mirror as insects and frogs chirped and peeped peacefully in the background. I said to myself "Why is this happening NOW?" I just barely got to St. John for our long-awaited vacation. It wasn't anything contagious, so my husband was fine (he enjoyed his drinks, books, hot tub, sleep, etc. at the villa while he didn't forget to show his sympathy for me once in a while). I figured the condition was not serious and I would be okay eventually, but at the time, "eventually" was weighing on me. I wanted to be okay right then and would gladly have suffered the condition later when we got home – but of course, it doesn't work that way. It didn't keep me from one of our favorite activities on St. John, snorkeling, but I had a rather scary experience for the first time on St. John during one of our snorkels - I'll tell you about it later. I was feeling tired and unsettled for most of our first week. As a result, I didn't make clear or enough notes to write trip reports in a chronological order. Things are all blended together, particularly for the first week.
So, it seems that the only way I can write reports is by categories. I'll start with the wonderful villas that we had a privilege to stay at - Cinnamon Tarn in Catherineberg for our first week and Reef Madness on Seagrape Hill for our second. After that, a lot of snorkeling to follow, but it may be in a while...
----- Cinnamon Tarn -----
It was a shame that I didn't get to truly relax at the place due to my condition. This is a beautiful villa with probably the best views we've ever had on the island. What's best is an objective thing, but I can't imagine anyone not being impressed by the views from Cinnamon Tarn. I guess I better take you there first before getting into that subject.
We met Lisa (Vacation Vistas) at the ferry dock and followed her to Cinnamon Tarn. It took about 10 minutes from Cruz Bay via Centerline and then John's Head Road. John's Head is essentially a dirt road that connects Centerline and North Shore Road, and is rougher on the North Shore side. It really isn't so bad between Centerline and Cinnamon Tarn, which is about a 2-minute drive.
John's Head Road towards Cinnamon Tarn
You drive past the Catherineberg ruins on the way.
Welcome to Cinnamon Tarn.
The driveway from the road is narrow and uphill, but once you get up there, it is very easy parking around the fishpond in the middle - no backing up needed.
The great room is bright and airy. It gets great breezes through the screened sliding doors that open up the whole back side (or is it the front side?) of the house to fabulous views of the North Shore. Prior to our stay at Cinnamon Tarn, we were a little worried about not having a/c in the house. It turned out that we really didn't need it. The combination of breezes and the ceiling fans made us feel very comfortable there. My husband sweats easily but even he was happy and kept saying "Ahhh, the breeze...", "Ahhh, so comfortable..." or often just "Ahhh.......".
The kitchen is well equipped. If allowed to be picky, I would've liked to have had a deeper frying pan. All the pans were shallow so I had a rather messy time making fried rice, sauteed vegetables, etc.
We thought the breezeway was a nice feature of the house. Lisa told us that it used to be a porch but it was so windy that they made it into a breezeway. Since there aren't really shady areas on the deck during the day, we hung out in the breezeway enjoying the breezes (of course) and the wonderful views with no pesky mosquitoes to worry about. It works kind of like a screened porch.
Master bedroom where we slept - I mean where my husband slept and I tried.
One morning we had our first scorpion encounter on St. John. It wasn't small, I may add. Luckily, it was expired, possibly from old age considering its size. I love sea creatures and reptiles, but some critters tend to raise my blood pressure. I didn't find out if scorpions are one of them since it was flopped dead. I observed its creepily cool body closely as I went "Hmmm..."
Now, we go outside...
...to the stunning views. Actually, you really don't need to go or stay outside to soak in these views if the sun or mosquitoes are too much for you. From inside the house you still get to enjoy them.
One late afternoon, my husband told me that he'd heard a squall warning (?) or something like that on the radio. About an hour later, it did come through. All the views completely vanished and not even the faintest outlines could be seen - it was just plain white.
There is a great hot tub on the deck, but the cover was in pathetic shape and rather falling apart. I never got to enjoy the tub but my husband did. Opening the cover was okay but closing it was a bit of a hassle. At one point he started opening only half of it, and then one fourth of it... just enough for him to get in. Lisa mentioned that a new cover was on its way.
Views from the master bedroom. I got up first every morning, made coffee, and then woke up my husband. Sometimes he was awake but didn't come out of the bedroom. He was just lying on the bed looking at the views.
Outside
If you would like to stay at a villa in the area of Catherineberg but don't wish to spend a fortune, I would definitely recommend Cinnamon Tarn. It may not be an upscale villa, but it is private, very well maintained, and relatively easy to get to compared to some other Catherineberg villas that are located further along into John's Head Road. We had no complaints except maybe we wished the new cover for the tub had been there for us. We were there in May and the breezes were very soothing (in winter months it seems to get windier). The highlight of our stay at Cinnamon Tarn was, no doubt, the views. Even if it's a hazy day, you still get wonderful views. If the day is clear, you see stunning shades of blue and green from high above.
One note for those who are light sleepers - there is no a/c in the house, which means you are most likely sleeping with the windows open especially in summer. The serenade of insects and frogs at night is pretty loud. Whether you find it soothing or distracting, it may affect your sleep.
By the time we left Cinnamon Tarn, I was feeling much better. It was great that I felt better, but it sure seemed that I'd missed the opportunity to thoroughly enjoy this beautiful villa. Maybe someday... we will be back!
We checked out of the villa at 10 a.m. Since we couldn't check in at Reef Madness until 2:30 p.m. Lisa graciously let us leave our luggage at Cinnamon Tarn and come back for it before the cleaning crew left. It was so helpful. We drove over to Cruz Bay, shopped, and had lunch without caring about the luggage. If we had rented our second villa from her, she could've let us drop our luggage at a villa by 11 a.m. Now we know for the future. We really appreciated her personal services and like the way she does her business. We would love to rent from her again (we only wish she managed villas on the Coral Bay side).
Cruz Bay
As I've mentioned, we spent some time in Cruz Bay before checking in at Reef Madness. We were walking towards Mongoose Junction and saw a "little" ballgame being played. We stood and watched for a while. It was just so cute. We had such good happy chuckles on a hot clear midday on St. John.
"Wonderful Villas" continued... Reef Madness is up next.
That night we went to sleep on St. John for the first time in a long time, I developed a minor medical issue, which kept me awake most of the night. After that I didn't have a good night's sleep for nearly a week. Fortunately, we were on a two-week vacation on the island, and I was back to myself completely for the second half of our stay.
Around 2 a.m. in the morning the very first night on St. John, I got out of bed in discomfort and looked at myself in the mirror as insects and frogs chirped and peeped peacefully in the background. I said to myself "Why is this happening NOW?" I just barely got to St. John for our long-awaited vacation. It wasn't anything contagious, so my husband was fine (he enjoyed his drinks, books, hot tub, sleep, etc. at the villa while he didn't forget to show his sympathy for me once in a while). I figured the condition was not serious and I would be okay eventually, but at the time, "eventually" was weighing on me. I wanted to be okay right then and would gladly have suffered the condition later when we got home – but of course, it doesn't work that way. It didn't keep me from one of our favorite activities on St. John, snorkeling, but I had a rather scary experience for the first time on St. John during one of our snorkels - I'll tell you about it later. I was feeling tired and unsettled for most of our first week. As a result, I didn't make clear or enough notes to write trip reports in a chronological order. Things are all blended together, particularly for the first week.
So, it seems that the only way I can write reports is by categories. I'll start with the wonderful villas that we had a privilege to stay at - Cinnamon Tarn in Catherineberg for our first week and Reef Madness on Seagrape Hill for our second. After that, a lot of snorkeling to follow, but it may be in a while...
----- Cinnamon Tarn -----
It was a shame that I didn't get to truly relax at the place due to my condition. This is a beautiful villa with probably the best views we've ever had on the island. What's best is an objective thing, but I can't imagine anyone not being impressed by the views from Cinnamon Tarn. I guess I better take you there first before getting into that subject.
We met Lisa (Vacation Vistas) at the ferry dock and followed her to Cinnamon Tarn. It took about 10 minutes from Cruz Bay via Centerline and then John's Head Road. John's Head is essentially a dirt road that connects Centerline and North Shore Road, and is rougher on the North Shore side. It really isn't so bad between Centerline and Cinnamon Tarn, which is about a 2-minute drive.
John's Head Road towards Cinnamon Tarn
You drive past the Catherineberg ruins on the way.
Welcome to Cinnamon Tarn.
The driveway from the road is narrow and uphill, but once you get up there, it is very easy parking around the fishpond in the middle - no backing up needed.
The great room is bright and airy. It gets great breezes through the screened sliding doors that open up the whole back side (or is it the front side?) of the house to fabulous views of the North Shore. Prior to our stay at Cinnamon Tarn, we were a little worried about not having a/c in the house. It turned out that we really didn't need it. The combination of breezes and the ceiling fans made us feel very comfortable there. My husband sweats easily but even he was happy and kept saying "Ahhh, the breeze...", "Ahhh, so comfortable..." or often just "Ahhh.......".
The kitchen is well equipped. If allowed to be picky, I would've liked to have had a deeper frying pan. All the pans were shallow so I had a rather messy time making fried rice, sauteed vegetables, etc.
We thought the breezeway was a nice feature of the house. Lisa told us that it used to be a porch but it was so windy that they made it into a breezeway. Since there aren't really shady areas on the deck during the day, we hung out in the breezeway enjoying the breezes (of course) and the wonderful views with no pesky mosquitoes to worry about. It works kind of like a screened porch.
Master bedroom where we slept - I mean where my husband slept and I tried.
One morning we had our first scorpion encounter on St. John. It wasn't small, I may add. Luckily, it was expired, possibly from old age considering its size. I love sea creatures and reptiles, but some critters tend to raise my blood pressure. I didn't find out if scorpions are one of them since it was flopped dead. I observed its creepily cool body closely as I went "Hmmm..."
Now, we go outside...
...to the stunning views. Actually, you really don't need to go or stay outside to soak in these views if the sun or mosquitoes are too much for you. From inside the house you still get to enjoy them.
One late afternoon, my husband told me that he'd heard a squall warning (?) or something like that on the radio. About an hour later, it did come through. All the views completely vanished and not even the faintest outlines could be seen - it was just plain white.
There is a great hot tub on the deck, but the cover was in pathetic shape and rather falling apart. I never got to enjoy the tub but my husband did. Opening the cover was okay but closing it was a bit of a hassle. At one point he started opening only half of it, and then one fourth of it... just enough for him to get in. Lisa mentioned that a new cover was on its way.
Views from the master bedroom. I got up first every morning, made coffee, and then woke up my husband. Sometimes he was awake but didn't come out of the bedroom. He was just lying on the bed looking at the views.
Outside
If you would like to stay at a villa in the area of Catherineberg but don't wish to spend a fortune, I would definitely recommend Cinnamon Tarn. It may not be an upscale villa, but it is private, very well maintained, and relatively easy to get to compared to some other Catherineberg villas that are located further along into John's Head Road. We had no complaints except maybe we wished the new cover for the tub had been there for us. We were there in May and the breezes were very soothing (in winter months it seems to get windier). The highlight of our stay at Cinnamon Tarn was, no doubt, the views. Even if it's a hazy day, you still get wonderful views. If the day is clear, you see stunning shades of blue and green from high above.
One note for those who are light sleepers - there is no a/c in the house, which means you are most likely sleeping with the windows open especially in summer. The serenade of insects and frogs at night is pretty loud. Whether you find it soothing or distracting, it may affect your sleep.
By the time we left Cinnamon Tarn, I was feeling much better. It was great that I felt better, but it sure seemed that I'd missed the opportunity to thoroughly enjoy this beautiful villa. Maybe someday... we will be back!
We checked out of the villa at 10 a.m. Since we couldn't check in at Reef Madness until 2:30 p.m. Lisa graciously let us leave our luggage at Cinnamon Tarn and come back for it before the cleaning crew left. It was so helpful. We drove over to Cruz Bay, shopped, and had lunch without caring about the luggage. If we had rented our second villa from her, she could've let us drop our luggage at a villa by 11 a.m. Now we know for the future. We really appreciated her personal services and like the way she does her business. We would love to rent from her again (we only wish she managed villas on the Coral Bay side).
Cruz Bay
As I've mentioned, we spent some time in Cruz Bay before checking in at Reef Madness. We were walking towards Mongoose Junction and saw a "little" ballgame being played. We stood and watched for a while. It was just so cute. We had such good happy chuckles on a hot clear midday on St. John.
"Wonderful Villas" continued... Reef Madness is up next.
