My wife and I are planning a trip to the Carribean first week of August.

We are open to any of the islands but want the following: private villa with its own pool... lots of privacy.

reasonable travel from NYC

Jamaica has many, mostly staffed with cook, cleaning person, landscaper/security, some more expensive villas also have bartender, etc.

jamaicavillas.com
jamaicaescapes.com
villasinjamaica.com
sunvillas.com

...for an idea of what's out there. You'd want to fly into Montego Bay for most of them, and there are tons of nonstops from NYC to MoBay.

There are literally hundreds upon hundreds of villas for rent throughout the Caribbean. You really should try to pick an island that suits your particular desires (all islands are different). Once you do that it should be easy to narrow down your villa choice.

FYI - islands that are easily reached (non-stop by air) from NYC include Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Grand Cayman, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas (St. John is a short ferry ride from St. thomas and has a great selection of villas), St. Martin, Barbados, St. Lucia and Aruba.

If you do a google search with such topics as "Villas Rentals NAME OF ISLAND" you'll find links to almost every villa available. The sites will have complete descriptions, photos, list of amenities, rates and other helpful information. My experience shows that the descriptions, etc. are usually very accurate.

It's not that difficult to head to St. Barths from NY. We rented a wonderful private villa for our 20th anniversary.
There's a very active St. Barths board if you have specific questions-
sbhonline.com

If you are looking for a villa that is still in a resort setting which I recommend because then you have full acess to the beach and other activities. Try Windjammer Landing in st. Lucia it has plung pools/ full pools in the rooms and is very private. An0ther option is to rent a villa in the Casa de Campo in the DM. There are other resorts which only have five or so villas and give a very private holiday but unfortunatly I have not stayed at any. Good Luck and have a nice holiday!

St. Barts was our favorite for a villa rental also. It is a wonderful island for an anniversary trip with great restaurants and lots of nice villas in almost every price category. Just Google St. Barts villas and you will come up with a lot. We rented through Wimco and were very pleased.

St. John USVI.Try a villa called Kallaloo.

It's on the north shore, within the national park. 3 br,3 ba, pool,wirless,and faces the ocean.

Go to www.cateredto.com and search through their site. I believe their home page has a photo of part of the pool.

This is a great location---5 min from town and 5-10 minutes from the best beaches. You can walk down the driveway across the road a down another short public drive way to Oppenheimer Beach. This one of the most secluded and beautiful beaches on the island. And clear water with great snorkling.

Hubby and I just went to Turks & Caicos and stayed at this villa this past February and it was perfect. Quaint, romantic and secluded. The owners have several properties on the island and are really great to work with.

http://www.sandstonevilla.com/coriander_cottage/