USVI-On-Line

My husband and I are planning a trip to St. John next May. We've been once before with our girls but this will be our first solo trip in 20 years. We like this Ajax Peak area due to its location near the north shore beaches as well as easy access to both sides of the island.
I am wondering if anyone can give me a direct comparison of these two villas. Aria has consistantly good reviews and a/c in the bedrooms. Bayview would be nice because it has views of both sides of the island. But I am concerned about lack of a/c and possibly lack of screens.
Our last trip to St. John was in June and we did not have a/c. It wasn't a problem because all of the windows in the villa we stayed in were screened, so we had excellent cross breezes without mosquitoes. Would that be the case with Bayview?
Thanks for any info.

We stayed at Bayview in 2009. We loved it especially the views. The master bedroom has screens and plenty of windows. We were very comfortable sleeping. The kitchen/dining/living room has screened doors and windows almost all the way around. Plenty of breezes but the eastern exposure (the balcony looking over Coral Bay) has very few of the windows or doors with screens. It only became a problem the night we were packing to leave. We had the lights on to gather and pack and all of the screened windows and doors open. The day we arrived on the island we had a torrential storm that was the culmination of about 5 days of rain. That meant that the mosquito bloom hit the last day of our visit. The pests found there way into the living area. It wasn't terrible but A/C would've been nice that night.
Bottom line is that I DO recommend Bayview for a anyone who needs a one bedroom villa. I would not recommend use of the second bedroom. It was downstairs below the Master Bedroom and seemed dark and damp.

We have actually stayed at both as we love that area of the island. We stayed in Aria about 5? years ago and did not care for it due to the furniture and spiral staircase, as well as the somewhat overgrown vegetation that made a type of tunnel effect in the back.

The next year we went to Bayview and have never looked back - staying there three times I think, with another trip planned in February.

The only time we left Bayview was for a larger place when we had 5 people.

We love the location, the house is pretty basis w/o bells and whistles - no granite etc. But is fits in the surroundings and the access to the North Shore can't be beat.

You might also look at Apito, although not Ajax peak it is close and has some great attributes. It's on our short list if we move from Bayview.

Thanks for the info. I think it probably is just luck of the draw whether mosquitoes are out or not. All depends on the rain. We're coming in late May, so who knows.
Apito does look nice but is already booked for the dates we need. That is probably how we will end up deciding where to stay--which ever one is available when we finally get all of our other details worked out and are ready to book.
Like everyone says, as long as we are on St. John...

another possible option in immediate area is viewtiful. http://www.privatehomesvi.com/viewtiful.htm
has views over coral bay and to north but is on maggie peak off cline rd just before intersection with northshore rd. thus drives to everyplace about same as bayview & shorter than aria. has one bedroom with ac but both brm are on lower pool level with coral bay views. very roomy great room with upper deck with dual views.

never stayed there but toured in aug 09 and rented nautilus (no longer handle) 3 times from private homes and very pleasant experiences. probably not as private (except pool deck) as other 2 but views are fantastic.

papabou

Thanks for the other option. I'm not sure how I missed Viewtiful. Our primary consideration is privacy and ease of getting to the north shore beaches. It certainly looks to be a similar drive.

We have only stayed at Bayview, never at Aria, but I thought I would throw in my 2 cents. I mostly agree with the others who have stayed at Bayview. We loved the location - just a few minutes to pop into Coral Bay and close to some of the North Shore beaches. Also close to the Smoothie Truck yum

The views from both sides of the house were very nice. The patio was a nice place to chill out and the porch had a beautiful view out to Coral Bay. As the OP said, its very basic, especially the kitchen. We had very strong cross breezes and no need for A/C. Plenty of screens in the living area. The villa greeter lived nearby and was helpful when we had plumbing issues.

The things we didn't like were:
- The toilet backed up in the upper BR late one night. Fortunately, the other BR has a bathroom that we could use since it was just the two of us. The villa's guest book had comments about the toilet issues, so it seemed to have happened before. This was a couple years ago, so perhaps its been fixed now.
- The porch furniture (on the side overlooking Coral Bay) was not nice looking or comfortable. We like to eat and spend time outside, so this was a bit disappointing.
- The lower BR was definitely dark and dank with little ventilation. I wouldn't want to sleep there.
- The pool was very cold. It was probably because we had so much rain and so little sun.

This trip was in April several years ago and it was rainy and foggy for a week. For the second week, we had more sun, but there was a major bloom of mosquitos so we just could not sit outside on the porches. It was torture just to run out of the house and get into the car while being totally swarmed. It was such a bummer, so it probably biased us about the house. Over the years, there have been a couple reviews with lots of pictures from forumites Bob and Anita. They have some good pictures of the house, and they loved it there.

Happy Villa Hunting

Here are a few other villas that have good access to the Northshore beaches. Apito, Bay Rum Breeze, Bordeaux Breeze, Summerwind, and Casa Bueno.

Thanks for the additional info on Bayview and for the other villa suggestions. I think I keep looking because what I really want is a $3000+ per week villa for under $2000!
One of these years we are going to splurge on a villa with all the bells and whistles, but that will have to wait til our kids are finished with college.
That is the great thing about St. John. There really does seem to be something wonderful in every price range.

If you want to consider the Gifft Hill part of the island, take a look at Coconuts Villa on Gifft Hill. Its in the $2000 range. We like this location because we can pop down into Cruz Bay in a short drive, and we can quickly get onto Centerline Rd to get to various other locations on the island. Depending upon which beach you are headed to, its not a long drive. Coconuts isn't fancy, but its comfortable and nice. You get wonderful sunset views from the deck, the pool is very private for the two of you, and the gazebo has comfy furniture. When we eat at the villa, we eat outside in the gazebo and enjoy the views. I see from the website that they have done some improvements to it since we last stayed there 2 years ago. The living room has nice comfy furniture if you end spending time inside. The backyard has huge bougainvillea bushes which are fabulous when they are in bloom. There are other villas in the Gifft Hill area that forumites have stayed in and posted reviews.

Wow. The patio at Coconuts looks amazing. I've wondered about the Gift Hill area. It looks like you have to go through Cruz Bay to get to the northshore beaches. Is that correct?

Sorry about the delayed response. That pesky job got in the way of getting on the forum.
To respond to your question about getting to the Northshore Beaches from Gifft Hill...
If we are going to the Hawksnest or Trunk, then we go up Gifft Hill Rd to Centerline and take a left towards Cruz Bay. When you get into town, there is a right hand turn you can take (I think its right after Lumberyard?), which cuts off a corner of going through town. It saves a few minutes from going all the way in to town. If we are going to Leinster, Frances or Maho, we take a right onto Centerline. There is a left turn, which takes you down to the north shore. I'm not sure about the route number, but someone on the forum can chime in. As you are going down this road to the north shore, there is a fork in the road. If you go to the right, it takes you to Leinster (Waterlemon). If you go to the left, you hit Maho. If you look at a map online, you can see that its shorter to get to Maho, Frances and Leinster if you take Centerline Rd from Gifft Hill.
Have you decided upon a villa yet?

Thanks for the response. Summerwind on Bordeaux Mountain was recommended by another TAer, and that is looking real good right now. I think we are going to wait until we finalize our plans in another month or so, and see what is still available. There are so many good choices!