USVI-On-Line

Long time lurker, rare poster here. We are in the beginning stages of planning our second trip to St John. Went the villa route the first time now exploring a different (and less expensive) alternative. We are campers and don't mind a more rustic experience. We are considering Maho Camps, Harmony Studios specifically. Is there a site map for the resort that shows the general layout? Does anyone have any insight as to preferred units? Mr. psufan and I will be traveling with our 18 and 22 year old "kids". Oh and by the way, I really get it!!!!!

We stayed in a Studio back in 2005 and found it very nice and WAY bigger than we expected. UPDATE: It was Studio 5A.

This was the view



We had a LOT A LOT of stairs. Over 100. We only stayed there for 2 nights in advance of the rest of our group joining us at our rented house, but it was a nice experience. One tip, don't forget a flashlight. By the time we got there, checked in and had dinner it was DARK and we had to feel our way to the studio. Not fun with a 3 year old.

Here's a snippet from my trip report from then:

Our first two nights are going to be at Maho in a harmony studio. Maho is quite the hike (though we laughed later in the week when we realized its truly only maybe 6 miles from Cruz bay). We follow the north shore road all the way out to the split and turn left where you see the sign for Francis. Quite a road getting up there! We find registration, register & decide to hit the restaurant before we miss dinner completely. Our intention was to stop at Uncle Joe’s in town and get take out but we got distracted. Hey we’d been on the go for a long time. Dinner at the Maho Pavilion was ok – a bit expensive but nourishing enough. The view was great, but I don’t think I’d dine there again. Very summer camp like experience. Hubby definitely was less than pleased. I was just glad to have some food!

Ok, so tummies full and we are off to find our studio in the dark.

Tip #5 – uh, if they tell you to bring a flashlight, bring a flashlight.

We kind of neglected to do so and finding/feeling our way to Studio 5A was an adventure. But 100 stairs later we find the door, manage to get the key in and find a light.

The Studio is very nice. Extremely spacious. Nice and clean. No A/C but 2 ceiling fans and a big floor fan. Kitchenette & bathroom are up to my discriminating standards. There are 2 HUGE sliding doors and a nice size deck facing the water which we can barely make out as it is now DARK! 5A has a king size bed, a fold out sofa and two more twin sized beds that you could roll out of the closet if you needed to. The real shower and potty were the clencher for me. It’s a bit (ok a lot) more expensive, but it was worth it to me. Later in the week when I realize the studio cost us exactly what our split of the house was per night, I decide I’ll probably not be back to Maho.

Thanks flip-flop. Love the view!! Do you think we should be concerned about space with 2 adults and 2 grown kids?

Plenty of space but no privacy. If that is an issue. It is one giant room.

Privacy isn't really an issue. We have done our fair share of camping over the years. No privacy what-so-ever. Last St. John trip we stayed in a villa and loved the experience but my active son wants to stay closer to the beaches where he can meet other people and take better advantage of the water activities other than snorkeling. As he put it he wanted to stay somewhere that would give him the activity of an all-inclusive resort (went to Riviera Maya, Mexico in 2005) but the natural beauty of St John. Difficult request to fill because the 2 don't go hand-in-hand but he seems to like the idea of the Maho Camps.

The bathroom is private but otherwise our unit was just one room. The kitchenette ran along one wall, big bed, sofa and then two rollaways in the closet. There was a great deck too.

We've stayed in 6A past 2 summers. Right above flip-flop, maybe we were neighbors last summer?? 6A has the same gorgeous view only no tree tops looking at Maho and Francis. Harmony is expensive if you aren't splitting cost with another couple vs the upgrade of a villa with more comfort level. That's why we chose villa this summer. We've stayed with another couple and two fifteen year old girls and 18 year old son at different times. Son did the work program last summer. It is spacious but very much like camping. Very basic kitchen. Little larger than dorm size fridge sitting on counter. It keeps contents "cool" but never cold. Small gas stove, tiny area to wash/drain dishes. Fans are great in early am and at night. Just don't plan to be in the studio from about 2:00-5:00 every day, unbelievably hot. With all that said, it's worth it to be at Maho, experience nightly glass blowing demos and studio with beautiful glass that they'll ship home for you. Our girls both took the glass blowing class, made 4 items and had a blast. I believe it was $65.00 each last summer. If you like camping, you'll love Maho!

Jan

I have a map of Maho camps with me.You can call them like I did and they will send you one.It helps.I thought this place was huge when looking at the map,but it's not all the big.Love that place!Parafins