lbw14

Hi! We're considering renting a villa for a week in St. Thomas -- we've never been to the U.S. Virgin Islands. Which would be the best area, i.e. near the best beaches? We want to avoid the crowds of cruise ship daytrippers... Also, is the nightlife in St. Thomas significantly better than in St. John's, Tortola, or Virgin Gorda? (haven't been to any of those, either!) Because that's part of the reason we're thinking of St. Thomas as our destination. Thanks in advance for your help!

virginia

i have not done a villa on st. t but would suggest you look on the east end. charlotte amalie is on southwest and gets very crowded when ships are in, but is also where alot of the nightlife is. suggest you taxi into town when you want to party. i like driving on the left but the roads are hilly & windy and would not be fun at night after any cocktails.
not much nightlife to speak of on tortolla or vg. some on st.john but st.t is def where to be for nightlife.
norht side of island near magens bay also would be quiet and those villas have stunning views.

peggy744

Get on a ferry and rent in St. John. There are so many advantages. We have found nightlife to be ample on St. John. I can't speak of nightlife on St. Thomas, we took the kids on that one. I've rarely heard of anyone being bored on St. John. Good luck.

J62

Here's a note I wrote last year about our 3/05 trip to St. Thomas

We just returned from a week on St. Thomas with kids and had a great time. We stayed at Crystal Cove condos at Sapphire Beach, booked through bestbeach.com. Dave (the owner) was really helpful and even found us a condo from another owner when he was fully booked. For 4Adults + 2kids your best option there may be 2 units. A 1BR (4 bed/2 bath) unit upstairs and a studio (2 fold down bed) downstairs. You could probably squeeze 6 in a 1 br unit but it would be too tight in my mind.

Bldg A is right on the beach. There's a pool on the grounds but we only used it once since the beach was so handy and a lot more fun anyway.

Sapphire Beach is beautiful, great snorkeling right off the beach (without the snorkel to head combat of Trunk Bay St John.

For me, the advantage of being right on the beach with the kids outweighed any need for private villa, being on St. John, etc. If you want further info from our trip, post a reply and I'll be glad to add another 2c.

lbw14

The crystal cove condos do look very nice, but alas we are 2 couples and we are hoping to share a 2-bed, 2-bath arrangement, which they don't seem to offer...

J62

The Crystel cove condos are all privately owned. Dave (bestbeach.com) is the owner of several. We stayed in one that had 1 master br w/ bath, 2 fold down beds in the living room, and 2 bathrooms. The fold down beds were side by side making a king sized bed, and the master br had a king as well.

It would definitely sleep 4, with 2 bathrooms. The downside would be less privacy for the 'living room' couple. Could easily be worked but not as private as a real 2br place.

You can email him and see if they have any other options they can recommend - he often works with other owners to let their properties as well.

Schultz

To answer your original question, the two areas I would look into for villa rental on STT would be Estate Nazareth which is on the east end near Secret Harbour and the Ritz and Peterborg out on the north side which overlooks Magens Bay. Both are very nice areas with great views, but not on the beach. There is at least one place for rent right on the beach at Secret Harbour just past the end of the resort. That one gives you good location and beachfront location.

Schultz

BumpSetSpike

lbw14, I noticed the post about villas at Sapphire Beach. My parents have a 3-bedroom unit there and I believe they will not be using it this year. It's only available for certain weeks(weeks 16,17,21-35,44-50), but you can e-mail them to find out rates if you'd like. They're at [email protected]

By the way, Sapphire Beach is very nice and has great snorkeling. It's also nearby to Red Hook where there is some fun nightlife and restaurants (plus the ferry to St. John).

virginia

if you are considering a condo -
www.secretharbourvi.com has some very nice 2 bedroom each with bath condos. full kitchen, good sized living/dining area. large patio/balcony. condos step directly secret harbour beach nice restaurant/bar on site.

TravelFamily4

You should stay on the east end. Charlotte Amalie has more to do, but that is where the cruise ships dock. On the east end you can also hop a short ferry ride to St. John. Nightlife in St. Thomas is better than St. John for sure. Tortola was our favorite. Cane Garden Bay is amazing and in season there is a nice casual nightlife. Great for kids too. For more information on all the islands you mentioned, try picking up Travel With Kids Caribbean. It's a DVD on Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Great travel scenes and information on all the islands you are talking about. You can get it on IslandTots.com or Amazon.