: We stayed at the Gecko House when we were in St. John in the Spring of 2009. The location is a little out of the way. You need to rent a car to go around the island and go into town. The room is a bit small with a little dining table. There is also an arm chair by the window. The bathroom was clean, but they don't clean the bathroom nor the bedroom until after you leave, so don't expect fresh towels and bedding during your stay. The shower has good water pressure, but it may run out of hot water if you take a shower that's longer than 5 minutes. There's a hot tub that you can use. It's nice to enjoy the hot tub in the evening watching the stars. The apartment has a great view of the Fish Bay area. The balcony is decent size and a great place to enjoy the sunset with a drink. It has an efficiency kitchen and a refrigerator in the apartment and an outdoor grill you can use. If you plan on staying in making your own meals some of the nights, it's a perfect retreat away from the busier downtown area. The drive to go downtown takes about 15mins, but the roads are windy and steep in places. It has small rocky beach for snorkelling and swimming near by (15 mins walking). If you want a classic Caribbean white sand beach experience, you will have to go to other beaches around the island. Overall, it's a peaceful stay if you are not looking for a lot of night life.

We enjoyed our stay at Gecko House. The view was beautiful and our host was very helpful. My kids loved having their own "separate apartment" -- so did I for that matter. The location was convenient to Cruz Bay and beaches. We loved the July 4th Festival and hope we can return for another visit.

The Gecko House Villa in St. John is so comfortable with an awesome view of Fish Bay and constant caribbean breezes. The
house is close to Cruz Bay which has many great restaurants and the National Park. There are numerous hikes to go on of old 18th century sugar mills and the views are magnificent everywhere you go on that small island. The people are very friendly. The owner of the house visits sometimes and is an instructor for documentary productions and filmworkshops and has made award winning films about the Caribbean. More information on this is at zemicaribbeanworkshops.com. The ocean is so clean and cool and the fish are beautiful. The cost to stay in St. John is much less in a villa like this especially with your family. I would give this experience an excellent rating.

Gecko House was, although smaller than we had anticipated, pleasant, with a nice view of Fish Bay. We were relatively close to Cruz Bay, good restaurants and the North Shore Beaches. Alas, Detliff Point is becoming a gated community and certainly is no longer welcoming to the general public. Should you go, inquire about construction noise. When we were there construction of a very large house was underway not far below our balcony. Andrea did her best to intervene, but not to much avail. Workers came early and stayed late. We felt we should have been warned. The lot next door is also for sale, so more construction may be anticipated. Otherwise, a nice stay.