USVI-On-Line

Well I was all set to book Tennis Villa until my Brother and his wife and 3 daughters had to back out due to the Prom. Has anyone heard of or stayed at http://www.destinationstjohn.com/viridiangarden.htm I would apprediate any input. Thanks bunch!

This is what I remember of the house from over 5 years ago: It is a nice house but the pool is nothing more than a large bathtub and it is right on Great Cruz Bay, so depending on the Westin ferry and the Westin watersports it can be busy.

Wow Barb, I like that view. I'd probably sit in those chairs and just watch the views all day.

This is a review I found on trip Advisor when I was looking at the Villa I think these folks travelled in the summer 2006, You might want to check with the Villa Compnay on some of these issues:

"Update on Viridian Gardens:
I just stayed at this villa (returned on Friday night). We rented it for 9 nights. I have many pros and cons for you...
Pros: Location. I thought the location was great. It was close to the Westin (where we eventually used for scuba diving). Low Key was NOT that great; the Westin group (Cruz Bay Watersports) was wonderful. The dives were so much better with them and their attitude was more relaxed. But also, Viridian was close to Cruz Bay which we really liked. We got over to Coral Bay and it felt a bit like a ghost town over there and it was definitely the drier side of the island. I enjoyed Cruz Bay more.
Pros: View. The view was spectacular, even at night. It was a REALLY great view.
Pros: Little Beach. There is a little beach there perfect for kids. I think this was the best thing (along with the pool) for our kids, ages: 4, 3, 18 mos and 12 mos. (We were two couples.)
Pros: Non-wooden deck. In the early evenings, my 12 mos. old could crawl on the deck without worries of splinters. It was quite hot to step on during the day, however.
Cons: The villa was HOT. Okay, that's being nice. It was oppressively hot, unfortunately. While it is a 4 bedroom, one bedroom is just not usable. It doesn't have AC and we couldn't have even put any of the kids in there it was so hot. I really would consider this a three bedroom unless someone likes sleeping in a sauna--or you are staying here in the winter. During the day, two of the remaining three bedrooms could not maintain cool air. We ended up putting our smallest children in the rooms with us (one couple had an 18 mos. old and we had the 12 mos old). It was what we were trying to avoid, but there was no way we could put any of our kids in that 4th bedroom.
Cons: Mosquitos: Bring deet. It certainly works, and the mosquitos are BAD. They had a way of getting into the bathrooms and you can imagine the stress as they are attacking you while you brush your teeth or go to the bathroom! My kids and myself were feasted on the entire week. Also, they got into the bedrooms, even though we were being careful about that, and that is when my kids and I got bitten most.
Cons: Refrigerator: It was just struggling too hard to stay cold. We ended up putting stuff in the freezer, but remember to take it out at night, because the freezer does really freeze things at night (not completely during the day).
Overall: My overall impression was that I would rather stay at this villa in the winter. I didn't mind at all that the place was quite dated; I just really couldn't take the heat during the day. I like heat, but the sun beats in the back windows all day long and we just couldn't get cool. I think the fact it is so low in elevation and the position it faces made it worse. That being said, if there are just two couples or one family with somewhat older kids, it would be great. The pool was small but nice, and we even had beach visitors (large iguanas, a black dog from next store). I don't think I would stay in this villa again, however. If I can make one recommendation, it would be to ensure you are high up on the island or have AC throughout..."

Haven't stayed there but I've had my eye on it for awhile. I love the location.Especially for kids, I think being on the water, and being on a bay with a fair amount of activity to see, is a plus. There are several positive reviews on Tripadvisor. The main complaint seemed to be it occasionally got hot. Note that all 4 of the bedrooms now have A/C---perhaps there have been some recent improvements here.

Thanks all for the input. I think we may pass this one up as my sister from NJ is a first timer and was a hard sell because she thinks it is going to be too hot on STJ. Sounds as this property may be warm and all my convincing may go out the window. Thanks again! I think we are going to shoot for Tennis Villa our original pick but without the Cottage. Have a great day everyone!