Renting house/condo at Virgin Islands
 

Hello everyone,

I have a separate thread going on regarding various questions about our trip to US and British virgin islands but thought I would start a new thread for a specific question.

We are family of four (2 adults and 2 kids) planning a week long trip to USVI and/or BVI in mid Feb 2016. I looked for accommodation/lodging options at expedia.com which is the only site I looked at. However the options there are pretty limited that fit our budget (< $400 per night).

I have heard of people renting condo/houses but am not sure if they are listed at expedia.com. Could someone please guide me towards gathering information on renting house or condo? Any options on the one of following islands would be helpful: St Thomas, St Johns, Tortola, Virgin Gorda, We would like to avoid staying at St Thomas if possible however.

VRBO (vacation rental by owners) and Homeaway are international companies that handle house and villa rentals. I have also used Airbnb with great success, but like anything, you must do your research thoroughly and follow the rules to the letter. I have also used VRBO, but you must look carefully at the pictures and not be mislead by flowers on the tables, etc. also, look at maps and be sure of locations.

If you Google vacation rentals in any of the islands, you will get both listings by owners and the local rental agencies. Local agencies should be able to give you first hand information about each property.

I just googled "vacation rentals St Johns" then picked a couple of agencies that popped up. There were dozens of beautiful properties. You should have no trouble finding something you like.

Agree with Sassafrass - whenever we want to rent a Caribbean (or any other location for that matter) villa or condo we simply google "Villa Rentals + NAME OF ISLAND" and you get lots of links. We generally then pick a "local agent" to handle the booking.

For what it is worth, most rental villa/condo owners list their properties with a number of different agents (think of it as a multiple listing service for vacation rentals) so if you see a property that interests you it doesn't really matter too much who you rent through. When you arrive on island you'll me met by the "local property manager" who will take care of any inquiries or matters that arise during your stay.

Another thing to consider, most villas require minimum nights, unlike hotels, so pick 1 island and stay put. St. John and Virgin Gorda were made for villa rentals.

See my other post about hopping around hotels anyway--stay in 1 place and either ferry or excursion for the days

Just be careful what you Google. If you search for "vacation rentals St Johns" you may be redirected to vacation rentals in St. John's, Antigua. "St. John" (not plural) is the island in the USVI.

There's no doubt that a house or condo rental is the best bet on St. John and very likely in Tortola, but Expedia is definitely not the place to begin your search. In my opinion, the best place to find a good rental is to start with an on-island management agency, who can match you with the right place and offer some basic services you won't get if you go simply with VRBO. To me, this is worth any extra small premium you might have to pay.

Two such agencies are caribbeanvilla.com and starvillas.com. Both are St. John-based. Our Virgin Islands travel guide also has an extensive list of companies, as do other travel guides.

I'm no expert but Expedia is not the place for vacation rentals (anywhere not just on USVI). You want VRBO, aiaBnB, or island specific agencies.

We've used both VRBO and a small family owned, on-island rental agency, www.privatehomesvi.com, to rent villas on St. John and both options worked out really well. We loved the convenience of having a villa for the space and and comfort.

Whether you go through an agency or rent directly from the owner, they'll be able to help you with local information, car rentals, etc.

St John on-island rental agencies:

www.cateredto.com
www.destinationstjohn.com
www.vivavacations.com
www.seaviewhomes.com
www.vacationvistas.com
www.islandgetawaysinc.com
www.carefreegetaways.com