Air Conditioning Needed? - St. John in Jan
 

I'm from Wisconsin and heading to St. John for the first time in January. I'm trying to find a rental and not sure how much I should care about A/C. I'm looking at somewhere near Coral Bay/St. John's Folly. Most of the villa's or cottages I'm looking at don't have A/C at all but say they get great winds. I will be fine with this but I'm worried about my husband. We don't keep our house overly cool in the summer, 77 during the day and 75 at night. We typically only run the air when the humidity is too high in WI (which seems to be 2/3 of the summer). Would love some thoughts from anyone on if you think we're going to struggle with not having air at night?

Without looking at temperature history for St John I suspect that January is one of the cooler months. We stayed in the Coral Bay area twice ( March and October ) without air and were very comfortable. Based on the temps that you cool your home, I don't see you struggling at night.

I think it totally depends on the person. I don't care how great the winds are, if I go (anywhere) in the tropics, I need AC. This is just a must have (for me). Everyone has different tolerances for heat, and as much as I love the hot weather, I need to be able to escape it and take a break....especially to sleep. Not having AC is a total deal breaker for me.

I have a home in the Caribbean (on an island similar to and not far from St. John - we generally have the same type of weather conditions). I can tell you that while there are often "cooling breezes we often need A/C, especially at night.

Another thing about a/c, it keeps the bugs out! that's enough for me.....

AC in the room you are sleeping in is a very nice thing and worth the money. Even in January. I don't think you need it anywhere else in the villa.

It depends on a person. I always need AC. It keeps both the temperature and humidity down.

Another vote for A/C.

Thanks for all the great replies, ok so I found a place with AC in the bedroom but it does not have screens on any of the windows or doors. Would this be a deal breaker for you? I'm worried about it myself but thought I'd double check. It has everything else I'm looking for.

One thing that I should note is that this property is high up on a hill and faces east so tends to be pretty windy from the reviews.

No window screens is a deal breaker for me. As soon as the breeze stops, the mosquitoes come in.

Why would they not have screens? That seems odd.

I've rented places with no screens and no AC, but I think this is a personal choice and knowing what YOU are comfortable with.