Chocolate Hole Villas - how's the Pond Bay noise?

alw1977 · Post by **alw1977** » Fri May 30, 2008 10:39 am

We're very close to booking Calypso Del Sol for our trip. This villa is located in the Chocolate Hole area. I know it doesn't overlook the Pond Bay development, but it's not too far away. Can anyone who has stayed in this area recently tell me what the noise is like? I know that no one can predict October, but I'm curious about what it's been like recently. Thanks.

waterguy · Post by **waterguy** » Fri May 30, 2008 10:44 am

I was at Alesandra in april nothing much going on then

theshopper3 · Post by **theshopper3** » Fri May 30, 2008 11:14 am

We were at Sundance in Early May & looked over the Pond bay construction.

We would maybe hear a truck start up, but that is it. No issue with the construction at all.

The Shopper

Pianogrl · Post by **Pianogrl** » Fri May 30, 2008 12:25 pm

We were at Time Out Villa May 6-16.....I was amazed at the peace & quiet as there were a couple of villas being built very close to us. I think we heard one hammer noise one morning & that was it the entire time! We saw men working there but it was wonderfully quiet!!! Heard nothing from Pond Bay; saw activity but no noise.

DiverDrew · Post by **DiverDrew** » Fri May 30, 2008 12:37 pm

We stayed at Andante 2 weeks ago. We drove past the Pond Bay site every day. It looks like they are at an interim stage of development, in between clearing the land for building and actually starting to build.

Not sure what the time horizon for construction is, but when it starts there will probably be some noise.

liamsaunt · Post by **liamsaunt** » Fri May 30, 2008 12:52 pm

Well, I have to report differently. We were staying in Chocolate Hole when they had the "grand opening" of the construction site (April 29, I think?), and that day, and for the days remaining, there was definitely noise. They were grading the site and had trackhoes, earthmovers, etc. working. They were also doing some sort of drilling. It was not horrible, and we got used to it quickly, but it was definitely there. I think the most annoying thing was the "beep, beep, beep" when the vehicles would back up. Work started around 7:30 AM and ended by 3ish.

Here are some photos of the site from when we were at Orchid Hill:

"grand opening" ceremony:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519961738/" title="Pond Bay grand opening by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2201/251 ... 8aa781.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Pond Bay grand opening"></a>

the site after people went home for the day:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28539958@N00/2519142271/" title="pond bay site close up by liamsaunt, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2406/251 ... 7e2478.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="pond bay site close up"></a>

Our routine had us back to the villa for lunch most days, which might be why we noticed the noise more than some others.

alw1977 · Post by **alw1977** » Fri May 30, 2008 1:17 pm

Thanks for those pics - very informative. I'll send these to our friends and let them make the call.

CariBert · Post by **CariBert** » Fri May 30, 2008 1:22 pm

When we stayed at Calypso del Sol, we could not see the Pond Bay development from the house. Those pictures were taken from the other side of Chocolate Hole, CdS is on the opposite side from there. We passed by the construction site going to and from CdS, but we didn't hear any noise from the house.

-Bert

CalypsoDelSolOwner · Post by **CalypsoDelSolOwner** » Fri May 30, 2008 6:18 pm

Was at Calypso del Sol for 5 days just last week. Indeed you do drive past construction to get there, but happily you cannot see any of the Pond Bay construction from the villa...even leaning waaaayyy out over the balconies. We also heard only one "thump" that we thought might be construction noise, but nothing else -- and we are talking about working days and working hours. So far, so good: views are unaffected and ears are "unassaulted". I did notice, however, that there were A LOT of birds including hummingbirds and doves and quite a number of young (green) iguanas. It is a great season for St. John wildlife! Ya'll come!

CariBert · Post by **CariBert** » Fri May 30, 2008 6:37 pm

That is what we found, Owner. The only way we knew there was construction is because we passed it on the in or out. CdS is an extremely nice villa, and we will rent it again, when we get our parties all together.

And those small iguanas are a hoot!

-Bert

lovelybetbet · Post by **lovelybetbet** » Fri May 30, 2008 11:01 pm

Just read this last night which made me a little nervous. http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... php?t=7386
Sounds like there is some loud noise and the real construction hasn't started yet. We will be there in November and hope for some quiet construction. Is there such a thing with something that big??? We'll try to be optimistic!

alw1977 · Post by **alw1977** » Sat May 31, 2008 10:55 am

lovelybetbet - which villa are you staying in? I think the noise will depend so much on where you're villa is located. My group is still pondering the issue. I can say that last year we stayed at the Westin for a really inexpensive Hotwire rate (our room was practically free). Naturally, we got placed in a building right in front of the new timeshare construction. We couldn't really see it (our front door faced a tree line and behind that was the site), and I honestly didn't hear much. This experience makes me think that if you have any kind of buffer, it does lessen the noise.

Apparently, no blasting is going on at this site, so that's one good thing.

dark & diet · Post by **dark & diet** » Sat May 31, 2008 1:38 pm

stayed at la papaya may 10-17 overlooking pond. we could hear a few trucks running but that's pretty much it. even on our villa gravity day there wasn't to much ativity or noise. good luck hope you have the same luck!

cliffnchristi · Post by **cliffnchristi** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 12:23 pm

Hi!
Just returned from Calypso DelSol. You do pass by the construction site on the way to the villa, but you can't see it and we never heard any noise. There is a villa next door that is almost complete and we heard hammering a couple of times, but it didn't bother us at all.

Bill in Va · Post by **Bill in Va** » Mon Jun 23, 2008 8:32 pm

Yo...We stayed at Southern Cross through seaviewhomes.com from June 15th -21st. It is out on the point area of Choc Hole left side from the sea in. Not too much noise for us but we saw a lot of dust going towards the villas on our side in the back area for the bay.....God bless...Bill

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