USVI-On-Line

I'm thrilled to say that I've sent in our deposit check for Ixora for next 8 Tuff trip! Woo hoo! (Thank you to those who responded to my earlier Coral Bay or not thread... this one is near the smoothie stand and I think will be a great locale for us. DD says we're going to get smoothies every day. Works for me.)

Now to help friends also doing 8 Tuff: this couple has flights for a 10 day stay. Possibility of 2 or 3 other couples joining them but those folks have not committed, and those couples will probably only do 5 days in the middle of the 10 day stay (surrounding the 8 Tuff weekend.) My friends would like to book soon.

So couple #1 is trying to decide:
- book their own house for 10 days and encourage the others to find houses nearby?
- book a big house and stay there alone for half the trip? (most likely too much $)
- move mid trip to a bigger house?

I don't think they're interested in a place like Gallows or Grande Bay; Caneel probably too pricey plus they like having a house.

Any advice? I'm thinking maybe a place that will let them pay for 1 BR for awhile, then pay for more BR when their friends are there. Might be a tough thing to find tho. (And I wouldn't blame the villa owner for not wanting to do this during high season.)

It is a very comon practice we have done it. But both times the villa rep came and checked on us when it was just the 2 of us to make sure there wasn't anyone else.

I have rented a house and paid the two-person rate for the week John and I were staying alone, and then the four-person rate for the week that my parents joined us. I don't think it is so uncommon.

chicagoans wrote: Any advice? I'm thinking maybe a place that will let them pay for 1 BR for awhile, then pay for more BR when their friends are there. Might be a tough thing to find tho. (And I wouldn't blame the villa owner for not wanting to do this during high season.)

One time we booked at the lowest rate and then upgraded once our friends committed, no problem at all. If the owner offers a two person rate, I would think they would be happy to take additional money later on if the party sized increased.

Chicagoans - we were very close to your location in February and really enjoyed it, a good spot that provided easy access to North Shore and Coral Bay. I would definately stay in that area again.

It sounds like there could be up to a total of 3 couples, with 1 couple staying the entire time (10 days) and the other 2 couples only 5 days. The only issue I see is that although many villa owners will rent just the 1 bedroom part of the time, the cost overall of a 3 bedroom is higher than if just a one bedroom was rented. Usually the more bedrooms rented, the lower the average rent per bedroom is. For example, Alta Vista's rate in high season for 2 is $3495, for 6 is $4395. For me that price difference would be an issue and I would discuss with the other couples and probably get my own 1 bedroom with other villa's close by that could be rented.

I think due to the non commitment and the different length of stay, I would book my own place and then have them book their own...less stress on your part...

Thanks everyone for your quick responses! (I love this forum.)

Multiple times we have paid one rate for part of our stay and a different rate for the other part of our stay, in the same villa.

The increased cost to the owner is cleaning the additional bedroom(s), water, and electricity.

I've never had a problem with an owner working with me to make this happen.

Regarding a 5 day stay or a mid-trip move, in the high season many villas only rent for stays of 7 days or longer, so you'll have to take that into consideration.

We have rented a large house before that slept 10, yet it had rates for 2, 4, 6, ... It started out just being the two of us and we kept getting friends to come along, then calling the villa company and adding more and more. We did not have any problems doing this, and I'd say they were probably thrilled to be getting more money out of us. Ixora has always looked interesting to me. I'd love that location! I'll be curious to hear all about it when you get back!