USVI-On-Line

We may have to switch villas. I'm a little nervous about it, but what can you do?

We've narrowed it down to three choices, and I want to see if anyone has any feedback on any of them.

1. Starlit Escape -- we love this villa, and it seems to get good reviews. We're not really sure why we decided not to stay there in the first place.

2. Tesseract -- folks recommend it here a lot, but I haven't seen any reviews. Anyone stayed there? Anything we should know?

3. La Barracuda -- also saw someone recommend it here and it looks good too. Anyone stayed there?

I know we'd planned to stay in Coral Bay, but I wouldn't be devastated to go back to the south side of the island. I loved Hale Lani last year -- it was close to everything, and the views and tradewinds were amazing... I don't know. I'm torn. I'm not really wanting to switch, but in case we have to, I am glad to have some other choices.

Hi Lulu,

I stayed at La Barracuda a few years ago on a last minute trip (it was the only 4 bedroom available!!). The villa worked out okay for us, but I probably wouldn't stay there again. While the villa had some lovely views from the large deck off the main pod and a hot tub on a separate deck, I didn't like that the pool was up a flight of outdoor stairs - although we did enjoy the speakers they had out there! Also, there is no overhang on the deck so it got REALLY hot by mid morning.

The house itself is older and a few things really didn't work for us. The kitchen was a little scary - we didn't cook in at all and we had to wash all glasses before we used them because they were very musty smelling and tasting (yuk!). One bedroom has an outdoor bathroom with a stall shower and toilet on a deck. The poor gal that used this room was assaulted daily by a thrush that was building a nest in the shower and then found 2 frogs in the toilet in the middle of the night. Ahhhh!!!! The "master" bedroom was infested with mosquitos, although it had a lovely deck off of it, it did not have it's own bath - you use the main bath across the hall.

Again, we had a great vacation (as always) that year, but would probably not return to La Barracuda.

Consider Villa Villakula - another well priced villa but one that in my opinion offers a better experience.

I'll have to re-look at Villa Villekula. Having a good kitchen is important to me, because I like to cook and would prefer to make my own food rather than eat out, when possible.

lulu,

never been in but know la bar is on upper tamarind just above sundance & moonsong where i've stayed several times. good location. did note on last stay dec 07 the west view is directly onto the pond bay devel and acres of cleared land. will be a major distraction for a while for most choc hole villas.

we enjoyed treasure ridge on upper rockridge that gives great views of hart and gr cruz bays as well as back toward klien and ditliff (sp) point so choc hole distraction is less obvious and too far for noise pollution. very nice and well eqipped kitchen, large dining areas and a full covered porch to enjoy views.
didn't like pool on lower level or lack of views from bedrooms on main level. from a security viewpoint though the 2 equal masters open to an entrance foyer and doors are all solid wooden at entrance and french doors on view side which i believe are securer than sliders. no security system in dec 06.

papabou

ps lulu, one of the great things about tr is the covered porch and water views from kit/dining area. we too dined on the porch most evenings. can't remeber if grill on that level or down stairs on pool level.

pswlrw wrote: One bedroom has an outdoor bathroom with a stall shower and toilet on a deck. The poor gal that used this room was assaulted daily by a thrush that was building a nest in the shower and then found 2 frogs in the toilet in the middle of the night. Ahhhh!!!!

Wow...I should stay there next time. Sounds like someplace I need to experience.

Rob,

The scariest part was that she closed the toilet seat on them and when she got up in the a.m. ... the frogs were GONE!! WHERE DID THEY GO????

Well, I really wanted to stay at Villa Callaloo and was outvoted, but Rick G had already warned me to close the seat when the bathroom wasn't in use because of the frogs!

As a now former owner, I guess I'm free to say this without being guilty of self-promotion, so, check out Morningside Villa. (http://www.morningsidevilla.com)

Having stayed at a number of villas over the years, Morningside has a combination of view, privacy and proximity to Cruz Bay that's hard to beat.

That looks nice, but it is booked when we need it. It's definitely on the list for another time, though.

Hi Lulu,

How many are in your group?

We stayed at Starlit Escape in January and it worked out well for our group (6 adults, 4 kids). The owner is extremely accomodating and made sure that we had everything we needed.

I did a villa review and tried to describe the layout and some of the pros and cons. If you're looking for a view, this villa has one from the 'happy hour tower' but not the main level deck or pool. Here's a shot of the view:
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/23 ... 7924HQArUc

The pool is small, and is accessed by a path that goes around the house (not directly from the main level deck.) This and the lack of a view would get it crossed off some people's lists. But we really enjoyed it there and the owner was very responsive when we needed something.

Feel free to PM me if you want some more information or have any questions.

If you like being within a reasonable distance to Cruz Bay and are looking for a nice kitchen, how is this?

[/img]http://www.flickr.com/photos/13981985@N08/1423289519/

[img] http://www.flickr.com/photos/13981985@N08/1414976341/

[img]http://www.flickr.com/photos/13981985@N08/1424061784/

From our stay at the South Shore Villa

[/img]

BTW, I'm headed back to the St John and the Villa Sep 19-Oct 1. Will try submitting my first trip report.

Chicagoans,

There are four in our group, maybe five. So, I know we'd have plenty of room. I talked to Jared yesterday, and I can tell right now that it would be super-awesome to have such a responsive villa owner right there. I was really worried about the kitchen because I cook a lot, and he told me his wife cooks and she stocked the kitchen but if there's something I need that's not there, she will either lend it to me or go buy it for me. That's guest service, right there.

I think it was the lack of views that was the reason we hadn't booked it before, but it just seems like a great house, and the view from the Happy Hour Tower rocks it! I'm so spoiled by views after last year, but you don't get South Shore views in Coral Bay. What you do get is the very laid back Coral Bay vibe and being closer to my favorite beaches.

Did you use the Internet there? Jared says it's wireless DSL... I'm not bringing my computer but one of the girls has a paper due for her Master's program the following week, so I told her I would ask.

I can recommend a great villa on Bordeaux Mtn with a fabulous view over Coral Bay and the east end down the chain of the BVI. The villa is Summerwind and it's a hidden gem. Ten minutes to the northshore and Coral Bay and 15-ish minutes to Cruz Bay. We were there in May and loved this villa and the location. Very peaceful and no roof tops to look at like on the 'other side'.

Shoot! Just when I thought I had seen all of them! Diana2 - Summer Wind looks likes a nice cozy villa! I added it to my short list, which has now become the long list again.