USVI-On-Line

My family of four recently stayed at the Fair Winds cottages, we were very excited for the trip as we love St. John. Typically we stay in Cruz Bay at the Grande Bay condos, we wanted to try something a little different this year and our friends who also love STJ suggested renting a villa. I found Fair Winds and was taken aback by the view, it was BEAUTIFUL! WOW! (Even better in person!) So without any hesitation we booked it. Plus my boyfriend and I were traveling with my mom and her boyfriend so the privacy between the two cottages seemed perfect. We met Bryan at Pickles in Coral Bay and he took us up the hill to the villa. The first ride up was not so bad, as it rained all week it got progressively worse, the road became much more washed out and rocky- you NEED 4WD!!! The ride really did get annoying after a while, we got into the routine of making sure we only had ½ a drink before leaving because if your cup was full it’d be down the front of you due to all the bumps. The views were just as expected, absolutely beautiful! The cottages were spaced out nicely and the furnishings were appropriate. I’m glad I did my research on the Villa however, the first night before getting into bed we pulled the covers back to check for bugs, I had read in another review someone had a scorpion in their cottage, to our surprise a baby scorpion was under the sheets right by the pillows! I was NOT thrilled with this, and better yet, where is momma bear?! This was not a good way to start the week, the nights following both my boyfriend and I slept with one eye open. We did wake up every morning to “new” bugs in our cottage which was rather uncomforting. I did find a hole in one of the windows and stuffed a shirt into it. I guess I was not expecting there to be SO many bugs, we camp in northern Michigan in the summer (yes real camping, in a tent, have to clarify now days!) so we are not “whimps” when it comes to bugs, however on my “relaxing” island vacation this is NOT what I had signed up for. There was also a fairly large gap between the bathroom door and the doorway into the main house; I’m thinking bugs were getting in and out through here also. I just want to put this in perspective for future renters, had I realized it was so “buggy” we would have chosen somewhere else. I recall a moment where we made dinner and were going to sit down on the couch to eat and I picked up a pillow, off ran a bug under another pillow, appetite gone. There was a great deal of rain the week that we were at the cottages which could have contributed to the following issues; we were sitting around the patio table taking in the view and when my boyfriend sat down his chair legs went through the deck, thankfully he caught himself and didn’t go overboard. The deck was obviously dry rotting, again not sure if all the rain caused this issue or the cottages are just in need of maintenance. I’ve been trying to think of the best way to write this review and this is what I have come up with; If you can say yes to the following questions this Villa is for you;

-You are an outdoorsy type, you can handle bugs and the thought of sleeping with critters does not bother you

-being away from it all is what you are looking for—seriously!

-You don’t mind a 20-30+ minute drive into town/beaches, etc.

-You are not a huge socializer- making it to happy hour or mingling with others isn’t a huge priority for you.

The last thing that I wasn’t thrilled about with the cottage that actually really bothered me was we had received an email from Bryan a few days after arriving to the cottages stating that one of the neighbors had called the owner of the villa to complain about us being too “loud” and music playing all night and morning long.. I was honestly shocked. We are pretty considerate renters, we like to drink but I certainly wouldn’t consider us “party animals”. Apparently the neighbors were complaining about us yelling across the property- I can think of maybe once or twice my mom would ask loudly if we were up yet, this would happen at maybe 7-8am, not a time I would consider inappropriate? I guess I didn’t realize that noise traveled downhill so loudly, and that something so small would be such an inconvenience to someone, it was pretty disappointing, fortunately my boyfriend pulled me out of my rut and didn’t let that cake topper ruin our trip. Just a few things to keep in mind if you choose this villa, I wish there had been more recent reviews prior to us booking, I hope this helps anyone looking to stay at the Fair Winds Cottages! We can say we stayed in Coral Bay, and we learned a lot, we will stick with Cruz Bay from now on.

Thanks for the heads up.
We have always stayed on the Cruz Bay side of the island as it works best for us. Gallows Point was great, not one bug or spider the whole week.
If I stayed in Coral Bay I would've been at Skinny Legs every day!