We were the only occupants of the Villa for a four-night stay during what seemed to be a slow November in St. Croix. We had made the reservation via email with Jeff who told us that he was stateside for an extended period due to a family emergency. We were told that Joe would be managing in his stead.
Unfortunately Joe was also having some family problems stateside, and was understandably somewhat preoccupied and distracted. Further, he said he had recently suffered a concussion and was having difficulty remembering things.
So, how did Joe's condition affect our stay....1) the breakfasts were repetitive and not as described in the website or other reviews. 2) one day no one made up our room, because Joe (according to the housekeeper) "forgot" to make arrangements for cleaning on a day she was not available and 3) our satellite TV went on the blink...not an outage but a loss of all programming except infomercial and preview channels. This would seem to imply a billing problem rather than a technical problem. Joe made some attempt to call for service, but then responded to us that "he didn't watch TV himself", and that "there were a lot of menus that he didn't understand", and that the no one was available to fix the problem for the remainder of our stay. 4) there was no "happy hour" with drinks and appetizers as described in the website - though we were indeed offered a rum punch on arrival.
These are admittedly minor quibbles but prevent us from giving a full 5 star recommendation. We feel that an establishment's level of service should be the same regardless of whether the owner is present and the number of guests.
On the positive side, Joe was helpful with dining and activity recommendations. Marilyn, who also seemed to do much of the breakfast cooking, was charming. The room was clean and spacious, and the screened porch was excellent. Coffee was available through one of those one cup at a time machines.
The location is very central for exploring all the island, and Judi's car rental, recommended by Jeff, was perfect.
