Does anyone know if it is possible to book a vacation at a place like Young Island, Petit St. Vincent or Biras Creek at a discount? The only place the travel agents book are for the big hotels and chains.

Petit St. Vincent is a very small private island that is owned by an individual I understand and, to my knowledge, Biras Creek is not part of any big hotel or chain. I do not know any way to get dicounted rates although there can be excellent summer and package rates. Both places are very small. With Young Island, which is larger, if you are a big producer for Amway Corp, which I believe owns the island, I am certain that you can get better rates and even a free ride. Otherwise there is not much of a corporate motivation to give others discounts since they can fill the place with their workers and the operation, I would expect, is tax deductable if it does not break even. To give them a plus, due to hurricane damage they have had to mostly rebuild everything. It does offer what many want in a Caribbean resort. The island has a lot going for it. It all depends on what you are seeking. <BR> <BR>At all places the mostly likely commission to an agent is 10%. The agent has little to give to anybody and is lucky if they break even considerint their time and overhead. <BR> <BR>

Peter Island is owned by one of the co-owners of the Amway Corp. Young Island is in the Grendadines. The "high end" luxury resorts seldom offer discounts but some, such as Biras, you can occassionally find wholesalers who do offer a good package with some good airfares with upgrades and extra amenities. Your best bet to taste them, is to go "off season" or during the "shoulder season." They don't need "specials" to fill their rooms but will often offer "packages" with some amenities added.

The previous message mentions wholesalers that deal with the high end resorts. I have not had any luck finding any and have found that they mostly deal with the chain and mid to low range hotels. Any names or numbers you could provide? Specifically interested in Point Grace, Cuisinart, Cove Castles. <BR>Thank you.

You might check www.luxurylink.com for their auctions. I think that they have both CuisinArt and Little Dix Bay at auction now and just recently had both Point Grace and Cove Castles. Of course, it depends on "availablity" but I have "talked" to several people who were thrilled with the results and were able to go when they wanted in "high season."

Steve: <BR>I have seen every resort imaginable in the catalog of TourScan, an agency located in Connecticut that specializes in consolidating ALL Caribbean packages (including air) into one catalog, printed on newsprint (I think there are 2 or 4 per year) and organized by price and by island. I have booked through them at least four times, once to Young Island, Tortola, Anse Chastanet. etc. They are a great way to cover all the packages at once...and now they have a website: www.tourscan.com or telephone (800) 962-2080 (I have not used them in the past couple of years, as my husband and I have taken to renting villas and they don't offer villas). Good luck!

Joan, thanks for posting the site. It looks very interesting! Sure had a lot of "super specials."

Dear Joan- Do you know of some good resources for villa? We are looking for a villa, preferable with the amenties of a resort, but without them will do for our family of six. I have not been able to find any particularly high end villas. <BR>I am looking on Anguilla especially but am open to other islands.

The best site for villas is www.wimco.com. Plenty of very nice choices.

Angela: the two best sources for villas that I have found are: the ads in the back of Caribbean Travel & Life Magazine; and www.vacationspot.com. This website is very user-friendly and has properties both owner-rented and agency-rented (in fact, I have seend mclaughlin-anderson and (I think) wimco properties. You can search by island, and some properties have reviews posted where you can email the writer. Also, do a search on your browser for something like "villa caribbean" or "home rental anguilla" or some combination and check out the other websites. Good Luck!

Thank you all for the leads on the villas. I am going to check them out now. I have one more concern that I wonder if anyone might have ever had. <BR>I am feeling hesitant about going with a rental villa versus a villa within a resort for fear the place may have something wrong with it, and then there is no where to go, or be sent. For instance, if I'm in a resort then at least I can ask for another villa. Do you think its over cautious or irrational to worry about this?

It is a surprise to most people that many of the very best hotels in the Caribbean DO work with the tour operators. That means we can get bulk, pacakge airafre and a good value "package" at these hotels. Visit www.tourscan.com and view the best priced vacation at every Deluxe rated hotel.

Angela, try CVOA.com; Carribean Villa Owners Assoc. great villas great prices; most are 800 or less for full week in low season... <BR> <BR>Cecilia