USVI-On-Line

I am in the process of having a website created for our new vacation rental house on St. John. While I know what kind of information I find helpful when choosing a rental house. I ask you, what kind of information do you want to know about or is sometimes left off websites that should be added?

Great questions.
Here are the things that I like to see:

Availability (#1 most important to me)
Lots of pictures
Types of beds (King, Queen, etc)
Good description of price and policies.
Mention of any high end ammentities, high thread count sheets, nice kitchen appliances, etc.
Information about the neighborhood and road and driveway access(helpful to newbies)

Hi Bart, it's nice of you to ask!

In addition to what X mentioned above, I love to see floor plans, even if they are sketches and not to scale. (This is because families with kids have different set up needs than groups of couples, and the location of bedrooms and bathrooms can make a difference. Proximity vs. privacy and all that.)

I also like to see a map with the villa location marked on it.

I like to know if there are outside showers too. # Parking spots is always good - especially if it's a larger villa.

I think Chicagoans hit the nail on the head.....

A MAP!!!

With the Villa location.

Be it satellite (copyright??)

Or just a simple road map.

I like to know the exact location regarding sunset views; year round, summer/winter only, over water, etc. Photos help.
Pool temperature. Photos help here too.

All the above but especially the floor plan, location (with map is great), size of the beds, A/C, availability calendar, number of parking spaces, condition of access roads and driveway. Notable extras like - wifi, water treatment/filtration system, ibod-ready stereo, frequency of maid service are a plus and contribute to villa decision for my family. I'd like to see owners give discounts regular clients who book vilas for 3 weeks or more.

I agree with the map, and the sunset/sunrise view information. Also agree with the nice plushy extra stuff. It could be the deciding factor when someone is torn between 2, 4, or a million(!) different villas on their "short list"!

Good Luck!

Bart,

I agree with all the above.

What is the name of your villa and where is it located? You must be very excited.
Congratulations!

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Always hard to follow Jorge...

Some pet peeves that I will ask about if it is not listed:

- Dates on photos (can be in JPEG EXIF format)

- Parking - how many vehicles?

- Decent knives (not serrated), sharpening stone, steel

- Coffee mill - burr grinder

- Curtains/shades on windows

- Type of grill and location

- Ice maker?

- Clothing optional privacy?

- Toilet in common area?

- Shared outdoor shower?

- Outdoor speaker?

Cheers, RickG

I think the availability calendar is key. There are a couple of agencies that don't use them, and I don't rent those houses, even though I like the look of some of them, because I find the back and forth to inquire about dates and so on with the agent to be bothersome. I would rather be able to investigate the availability of a house without making contact with the agency, so I can determine on my own whether the house will work for me in the window I am thinking about.

The other important thing is to have someone with good skills take pictures of your home. I hate to see washed out photos, or the photos that are taken with that weird round lens that distorts the shape of the rooms--that type of photo makes me think that the room must be very small. I also like it when there are photos of every room in the house, not just a couple of token shots. You should also update your photos once a year or so. So many villas have outdated photos, and it makes the houses look less nice than they are.

Good luck with your new house! I too am curious as to the name of your villa, and when it will be on the rental market.

The ladies in my group made me call last time to find out if our villa had hair dryers...

Robin