In my quest for the perfect villa rentail on Virgin Gorda this summer on another travel forum, a villa owner approached me and offered me his villa at a substantially reduced rate booked directly through him.

It's a *gorgeous* villa that otherwise would never have been in our price range. I would consider myself fortunate indeed to be able to stay there. I'm just not sure of how to go about insuring that if I send payment that it's going to the actual owner and not some guy posing as the owner. Any ideas?

Thanks!

Ask for some references from past guests, first of all, to help verify his identity. Communicate your concerns and apprehensions to him and he should be able to provide enough evidence to prove himself owner of the property. If he rents his villa on a regular basis, there should be a rental contract between parties that can be executed. I would definitely encourage this.

EJ - it should be easy enough to find out if he is the real owner. Does he have a website for the house? Does the contact info. match what he gave you? And as suggested get some references. If you google him and the villa name and look also at any companies who rep. this villa you might get something also. GL

I appreciate your concern -- I would also be tempted but hesitant to jump at the offer. Is the property listed with various rental agencies? If so, I don't understand the offer of "substantially" lower rent -- I can't imagine the commission paid to rental agencies is "substantial." Also, would you receive the same level of service (pre and post rental cleaning - a place to call if there is a problem, etc.)

Definitely check it out thoroughly -- often things that sound too good to be true are exactly that.

I'll be following this tread -- since I've been following your search for a great villa in Virgin Gorda. We'll be headed to Virgin Gorda summer '08 -- and I'll already checking out options.

Good luck & keep us posted.

Carol

EJ, sounds pretty tempting, however, I can understand your hesitancy. I would make sure to get a contract and look it over carefully before forking over a down payment. There is a certain amount of security renting from an agency vs. private owner. We have only been burned once on a private deal but I did manage to get my deposit back. Fortunately, it was before our trip and I managed to find even better accomodations on short notice. But I wouldn't let that scare me away from future similar arrangements. Most owners are honest since their reputation is at stake.

Thanks for all of the replies, folks. These are all reasonable things to do. Yesterday I couldn't get the owner's website to load but last night after I posted here I was able to load it. The owner posts lower rates on his website than any other rental agency does and it said that he takes credit cards for a 4% surcharge. I already feel more comfortable knowing about my credit card company's fraud protection and such.

Maybe I'm gullible, but I figure that with this guy's postings over on Travel Talk Online (he has nearly 2000 posts) that he's at least legitimately connected to the BVI and I'm willing to believe at this point that he is who he says he is. I will want a little more proof before sending any money, but for right now, I'm happy enough. I think.

As far as normal services, he did mention that the low rate does not cover daily maid service, and that if we wanted any we would have to contract that directly with the maid at $10/hr.

So unless something big raises its ugly head, as far as I'm concerned, look out Mahoe Bay, here we come!

Congratulations! And I imagine you'll be fine. Would appreciate if you'd post when you return. You will LOVE the Mahoe Bay community and its superb beach. (And I'll bet your guy is Gordaguy/Brian?! By the way, if I'm right, we saw the inside of his villa when we were there two years ago. It is AWESOME!)

If it is GordaGuy, I think you will be allright. We met Diane (diverdi) from TTOL on Jost. She had spent some time with Gordaguy and friends at the villa. She also said how beautiful it was! I would go for it.

It sounds like you'll be fine. And to address one of the earlier posts, in my experience, I've seen many agencies that do charge a VERY substantial fee (usually, plus various taxes and surcharges as well) over booking directly with the owner.

Have fun!

well, i've now had it confirmed here twice and once over on TTOL that Gordaguy aka Brian is A-OK as my go-to guy.

Thank you so much for confirming this for me, as it makes me feel very good about accepting his offer. As far as I'm concerned, I'd be a fool not to at this point.

Could you forward the link to his website? As I mentioned before -- we're planning on traveling to VG in '08 -- but I love gathering information in advance. You can send it to me directly at - [email protected]

Thanks.

Carol

I would contact the BVI Tourism Board or BVI Hotel Association.

They can check this "private villa" out easily.

www.bvitourism.com

Ask for "Harmony"......she can help.

ej,
I am a lurker on that other forum and I have read many of your posts while searching for the "perfect" place that would fit your needs and price range. I am so excited for you to have found what would seem to be the perfect spot. Go with it, you are going to have a great time.Those BVI'ers (is that a word?) are a great bunch.

cm318, I just posted an email to you.

brenandg, I agree. The BVI folks on the TTOL forum are a tight-knit group but enthusiastically embrace outsiders (unlike many travel sites where "newbies" are treated rather poorly). I hope to meet a few when there in July. Where will you be headed next? Isn't it back to Jost and St. John for you?

ej,
We seem to be hopelessly addicted to the Caribbean and have just recently booked STJ again for June 2nd-9th. We like the low season prices much better. I also got pretty good airfare considering we have to travel Sat-Sat. Jost Van Dyke will definitely be on the agenda.

ej: Do you have any reviews on this villa from previous renters? I had the worst experience renting a gorgeous villa for apparently cheap prices directly from an owner in STJ. I was so overjoyed, thought I had a great deal and didn't look for other reviews. We found out afterwards that none of the rental agents wanted to represent this guy and people had had terrible experiences dealing with him (even though the villa was beautiful). Not to be a curmudgeon, but as a board buddy, I felt I had to tell you of our bad experience. I mean, this guy was so bad, I bet Marbleheadguy would know about him too. Did you find any reviews on this villa?

Brenda, hope you have another fabulous time on your next trip. We prefer the low season prices, too, and the lack of crowds is the icing on the cake!

Tux, I appreciate your words of caution and take them to heart--how awful for you! I will certainly scour the internet to find reviews from other renters.

Hi there! My family is planning our 4th return trip to VG. Can you send me the info/e-mail or url link to the owner of the villa you mentioned. The rates go up about 10% each year and it's getting quite unaffordable. If we can get a break going direct with a good villa, I'd like to get more info. Thanks for your help! my e-mail is [email protected]

ksharell, since the villa owner has not yet given me "permission" to spread that kind of information around, I'd suggest that you go to www.traveltalkonline.com, (TTOL), select the forum for British Virgin Islands and do a search there. The owner mentioned to me that during slow times he will occasionally make an offer directly to TTOLers. So I'd suggest going there to register if you're not already a member. Make some inquiries, and maybe he'll contact you.

Thanks for the feedback. I will do just that. Mahoe Bay is gorgeous. I'm sure you'll have a great time. We just booked SandCastle for Jan 2008. I can't wait to go - a year is so long to wait. Sounds like you will be going in the Summer if that's considered an "off-time". Do you dive? If so, have you had any good experiences with one of the dive shops or at a particular dive site? We've done Coral Gardens a couple times, but have been dissapointed in the amount of life we saw.