Weadles

Six of us would like to try something new around the holidays next year in Nevis. Long ago, my husband and I stayed at The Four Seasons, but I would prefer something less formal preferably on or close to the beach. Proximity to the amazing golf course at The Four Seasons and not far from town would be a big plus. I'm used to holiday pricing in the Caribbean, but hope not to be totally shocked!! Thanks so much for your help!!

RoamsAround

There are precious few "true" beach front homes on Nevis and only a couple (maybe 2 or 3) of those are available for rent. Seafields and Pelican Point come to mind - available through Sugar Mill Realty (see link and comments below).

There are, however, plenty of vacation rental villas that are a short drive from the beach. Nevis is a small island and no place on the island is very far from any other place. To put things in perspective - the main island road that circumvents the entire island is only 18 miles long. That means once you go 9 miles in any direction from your starting point you'll begin getting closer to where you began.

Based on your wish list you should check out Paradise Beach Villas (https://paradisebeachnevis.com) - it a "private" complex of about 6 or 8 upscale villas with full resort amenities, all of which are just a 100' or so from the beach. The complex is located just 1/4 mile or so north of the Four Seasons Resort and about a mile or so from the center of Charlestown. These units come closest to what you described.

If that doesn't fit your needs check out the websites for Sugar Mill Realty (www.nevishouses.com), Nevis Style Realty (www.nevisstylerealty.com) and Coldwell Banker Realty (www.coldwellbankerstkittsnevis.com) - between the three you'll find listing for 99% of the rental villas on Nevis.

Sugar Mill realty has some very nice waterfront and water view units at Cliffdwellers and at Seaside by Cliffdwellers. There's a very small "postage stamp size beach on the property but several other beaches are within a few minutes walk or drive. Cliffdwellers is located about 2 miles north of the Four seasons Golf Course and 3 miles from the center of Charlestown.

Coldwell Banker has several rental villas that are on the hillside across the road from Oualie Beach and perhaps just a mile or so further from the golf course than Cliffdwellers.

You'll find a lot of rental villas in Jones Estate and Fern Hill (lots of spectacular views here since you'd be high up the mountain side) but these will all be a 5 to 10 minute drive from the beach and the Four Seasons Golf Course and the center of Charlestown.

If you don't mind staying in a condo complex look at Hamilton Condos and Nelson Springs Condos - these two complexes are located on the same stretch of beach about 1/4 mile from each other near the village of Cotton Ground. The each have beachfront and beach access units. You should know that both properties market themselves as "resorts" but make no mistake while they have some "amenities" they are residential condos and not full service resorts. They are only a short drive (4 or 5 minutes) from the Four Seasons Golf Course and about a 6 or 7 minute drive from Charlestown.

There are some properties that are available only through VRBO so you might also check that website.

There are some rental villas in the Newcastle area near Nisbet Plantation Resort, a couple of which are considered beachfront (on the Atlantic side of the island). If you stay in this area you'll be about 5 to 7 miles from the Four Seasons Golf Course and the center of Charlestown.

There's also an "old" website (www.nevis1.com) that hasn't been updated in several years but it does have listings for a significant number of the rental villas on the island. It's in a very user friendly format and easy to navigate so a good place to do some initial screening - the rental rates you see quoted, however, are probably very outdated.

That pretty much covers rental properties on or near the Four Seasons Golf Course and Charlestown. Most other properties will be on the Atlantic side of the island or up on the slopes of Nevis Peak.

RoamsAround

Oh, forgot to mention, if you'd rather stay in a resort environment and one that is less formal than the Four Seasons check out Oualie Beach Resort (www.oualiebeach.com). All units there are either beachfront or what they call "beach access" which at most other resorts would qualify at beachfront. Visualize a checker board with the black square on the first row being "beachfront units. The black squares on the second row would be the "beach access units". So the only real difference is the beach access units are about 50" further back from the water.

The beach at the resort has the calmest water of all the beaches on the island. The resort is only a mile or so further away from the Four Season Golf Course and Charlestown than Cliffdwellers is.

Weadles

RoamsAround,

Thank you very much for the great information! I really appreciate it. What is the best way to travel to Nevis from the New York area? Last time we flew from San Juan to St. Kitts, then took a boat?

RoamsAround

You have three viable options:

1. American Airlines non-stop on Sundays and Wednesdays from JFK to St. Kitts then either ferry or water to Nevis.

2. Any day - Fly from your NYC area airport of choice to San Juan then take Seaborne or Tradewinds Aviation flight into Nevis.

3. Any day - Fly from your NYC area of choice to Miami then get American Airlines daily flight to St. Kitts then either ferry or water taxi to Nevis.

Weadles

Thank you very much once again! I will be back in touch once I narrow down possibilities to ask which you think are best. I hope you don't mind!

Weadles

RoamsAround,

A few questions:

Have you ever flown Tradewinds? Flying to Nevis from San Juan seems like the best option for most of my family, but reviews online are mixed about safety, pilot training, etc., which makes this nervous on small planes flier NERVOUS.

I have found some amazing villas on the grounds of The Four Seasons, but would have to rob a bank to afford them. Any chance that you know whether these are worth the $$ or are ever offered with any kind of special offers/discounts?

Lastly: Weather in January? One of the main reasons we may decamp from our usual haunt, Turks and Caicos, is that the weather has been miserable on the last three trips. I realize one can never predict, especially with global warming added to the mix, but generally speaking, is January a good month for a visit?

Thanks very much for your help!!

RoamsAround

Flown on Tradewinds several times with no problems and always found them to be more service oriented than Seaborne (which is only other option when flying from SKU. I wouldn’t hesitate to fly with them. FYI - They are usually a bit more pricey than Seaborne.

Four Seasons is the most expensive resort on the island and people renting villas on the resort get access to all resort amenities which is one of the reasons why they are more costly. Other reasons are that Four Seasons villa owners whose units are in the rental program are required to kept homes maintained to a certain prescribed level, there is on site management to provide assistance if problems arise during your stay. All of that and more is reflected in the price. Rates are lower in summer vs. winter. Don’t expect any discounts from the Four Seasons - they have a very high occupancy rate (usually in excess of 90%) year round so not much need to offer discounts to attract customers especially this coming year with the severe hurricane damage sustained by many other islands that resulted in temporary closing of many other high end resorts.

Sorry, without knowing your financial tolerances I’m unable to tell you if price and amenities of a Four Season Villa will be “worth it”. That’s something only YOU can can determine. All I can tell you is if you want to be on the Four Seasons property and use their amenities (from your earlier post being near the golf course seems important to you) than you’ll have to pay the piper.

In January you can expect daytime temps in the low to mid-80’s F. with plenty of sun. All day rains are rare and mostly in the form of very brief widely scatter showers lasting minutes rather than hours. Rarely does it rain enough to spoil anyone's Vacation.

Weadles

Thanks very much, RoamsAround. I was interested in Four Seasons because of the golf course which is of great interest to my SIL and husband. But I remember from our last visit that we found the resort itself a bit too stuffy for our tastes, and it looks like it will give us sticker shock, anyway.

I will wait to hear back from Paradise Beach.

Again, I really appreciate your

Weadles

excellent advice and information!

RoamsAround

By the way, you don’t have to be a guest at the 4S to play the golf course. Except for prime holidays periods like between Christmas and New Years (when the resort amenities are restricted to just resort guests or when the course is hosting a special tournament anyone get a tee time to play simply by call the golf pro shop.

Jimmie

It may not be the right fit for you, but I think any discussion of nice places to stay on Nevis needs to include Nisbet Plantation. It's on the beach on the north shore of the island, so water is not as calm as by the Four Seasons and it's not that close to town. But it's a very special place -- look at recent reviews on TripAdvisor.

Weadles

Thanks so much, Jimmie! I think we'd all prefer the more casual and friendlier (?) atmosphere at Nisbet Plantation, but alas, there are no TVS in the rooms, and that's a deal breaker for my husband and kids. GRRR. I would find it a relief!!

Weadles

Hello again RoamsAround,

I have found some villas at Four Seasons offered for slightly reduced rates on the VBRO site. I've never booked through that site before, and wondered if there's any reason to worry about doing so? Thanks so much for your help!

RoamsAround

I've never rented a villa through VRBO so can't offer any advice other than make sure you do your due diligence.

Weadles

Thank you, RoamsAround!