Has anyone had good or bad experiences w/caribbean villas and restorts rental agency? (www.caribbeanvilla.com) <BR>thanks in adnvace.

Gina: My husband and I rented a condo on St. John through them several years ago. They are located right on the island of St. John and they were very helpful. They picked us up at the ferry with the rental jeep we booked in advance, took us to our place, explained everything and left us their contact numbers just in case along with useful info on the island. Our experience was very good and we wouldn't hesitate to use them again.

I rented a villa from them last July..They were very helpful and extremely friendly. <BR> We unfortunately were not very happy with the villa..we actually left a day before we were scheduled to leave and they refunded me for the one night. The problems we had with the house were beyond their control...mosquitos,roaches and rats .But they did all they could (they sprayed mid week) and were very nice about the whole thing..What villa were you thinking of renting..Just want to make sure it;s not the one we had.

I am renting Caribe Villa. Please tell me what villa you rented. I will not mail my deposit until I know! <BR>thank you.

To Kate: <BR>We have booked thru them. We have reserved Cliffside Terrace -- I'm hoping that's not the one you had problems with. Please let me know!

Kate, <BR>Please let me know which villa you rented that was so awful. I'm booked at Villa Serenity in April ---- hope it's not that one!!!! Please let me know. Thanks.

I hope Kate will answer on the villa question, but here's my $.02 RE: rats, mosquitoes and roaches. Some Caribbean villas have a real open-air concept. Because there is no A/C, they are as open to the breezes as possible, including some that don't even have screens. The trade-off to this openness is having to worry more about ouside critters coming in. The villa we stayed in (also through Caribbean Villas) had good screens on all the windows and we had no problems. I would also try to choose a newer villa, as these seem less likely to have rodent problems. Newer window screens are generally less likely to be bent or ill-fitting (which can be a major cause of mosquito problems). You can't always tell from the pictures, so ask your rental agent when the property was built. <BR> <BR>Kate--I'm sorry to hear that you had such a bad experience. I have a serious phobia of rats/mice and could NEVER, NEVER stay as long as you did in a villa with rats (shudder). Hope you have *much* better luck on your next vacation.

Kate: I really hope you reply to our messages.....you have us all pretty worried at the moment. I would like to know what villa you rented. <BR>Julie, thanks for your input.

Sorry for the worry..It was Jungle Stone that we rented...So you are all safe..Also I would just like to add that I have rented many villas in the Caribbean and had never had any problems so please do not think this is a normal occurence.

Just my $.02 about the aforementioned critters. I grew up living in various islands in the southern Caribbean in homes with open windows without screens. We had some mosquitos, and birds and lizards would come into the house all the time. But I NEVER saw a rat or a roach in the 11 yrs I lived down there.

For the record, I have rented 5 villas in the last 5 years and never did I see a roach or rat in any of them either..birds, geckos even mosquitos I could handle but this was unlike anything I had ever seen and this was not an open air villa.

Kate, I didn't mean to imply that I doubted your story, in fact I hear the same thing frequently in the USVI forum on another network. I was just wondering if that particular island or region had a problem, because in the southern Caribbean I never had those problems.

Kate, thank you for getting back to us. <BR>I'm so surprised- Jungle Stone looks like a gorgeous villa. That must have been horrible. <BR>since you seem to have some st. john experience, i was wondering what you thought of Caribe Villa? It is in Gift Hill. Do you thik it is a nice location/villa? <BR>thanks in advance.

Wow--just took a look at their web site and this looks like a gorgeous villa! I wonder why it had such a problem??

I have never rented a villa in the caribe...but just got back from one in Italy and just wanted folks to know that they NEVER look like the ones in the pictures. The one I rented and the one that I saw on the internet were two entirely different villas on the same property. I figured this out when the other couple invited over for drinks and I said that this was the villa I thought I had rented and then we dicussed rates etc.and we both came to the conclusion that 1. The Parker companys sucks and 2. The rentals never look like the picture. Bring a can of raid, a hungry cat and fifth of whatever you like to drink so you can at least try to enjoy your vacation. At least the cat will....

MH, either I'm luckier than you or the Caribbean villas are different! I've rented five villas, in Tortola (two), eleuthera (2), and St. Lucia. Every single one was **better** than the pictures. My only (minor) disappointment was that one villa in Eleuthera was across the sand road from the beach rather than directly on it(this detail was included in the listing but I missed it).

Did you ever see those McDonalds commercials where the burger looks like it's stacked 4 inches high? But then the burger you get is smashed flat? It's called advertising. But the fact remains that McDonalds outsells its competition. And many people are happy eating them, and probably really believe the burger they get is **better** than the pictures. How lucky not to be able to know the diff!

Karen, what a haughty and condescending response. You can really be nasty sometimes, without contributing a whit of useful info. But you're right about one thing: I'm lucky. I count my blessings every day, now I'll just have to add **ignorance** to my list of blessings, huh?

Joan - How do you know what "Karen" it was that posted on this thread? If you're thinking of the same "Karen" that I am, the info she usually posts on this forum is very helpful, not sarcastic, and she usually posts her e-mail address.

Lyn, I just had the feeling it was her. But you may be right. After all, her characteristic "lol" is missing. Well, do we have 2 Karens?