Splendore Reviews

October 2009

We spent 8 glorius days at Splendore and it exceeded our expectations! The house is extremely well maintained and a wonderful set up for two couples traveling together. Everyone gets their own master suite with very beautiful garden shower. The kitchen is so well appointed, that cooking a few meals in was actually a treat, as we enjoyed dining on the verandah. Lisa is a gem, she fills you in on where everything is located in town that you will need for your stay.

During our stay we hired Capt. Bob to take us snorkeling and had a great day! Capt Bob has been on St. John for a long time and showed us a different view of the island along with some magnificant reefs. Lisa has all the contact information on Capt. Bob...would highly recommend him for a new view of St. John.
Everything was so great for our stay, we cannot wait to get back and would definately stay at Splendore again.
LD

9/25/09-10/3/09

We spent 8 wonderful days in Splendore. There were 5 of us for 5 days and 4 for 3 days. We were greeted with a spread of fruits, wine, cheeses, and crackers, we did not have to scurry to the grocery store! Lisa knows all the scoop on how to navigate the needs of the St John tourist (grocery stores, resteraunts, guides, rental cars, etc., etc., etc.). She's the best!

The 2 master suites are really great for 2 couples traveling together. No one has to have the kids room! The garden showers are really nice. The bedrooms have air conditioning, though we never needed it. There is an office with a sleeper sofa that accomodated our 5th person quite well.

The villa is a great spot to call home while you explore all the wonderful sights on St John. We visited perfect beaches, hiked trails, and saw all the local wildlife above and below the water.

I highly recommend hiring Capt. Bob (Tropic Powerboat Rentals) to explore St John by water. We snorkled beautiful spots we would never have been able to on our own, plus we had a private guide on all the island folklore. Bob has lived on St John for close to 35 years and is a wealth of information.

The people living on St John are great. They were very forgiving of the tourists we are.

S.D.

August 2009

This was our fourth trip and our friends second to St. John. We would not have changed 1 second of our visit to Splendore. Lisa did a beautiful job of answering our many questions in order to book Splendore. I am a property manager in Florida and am quite picky about the places I stay (and book for our friends)- so my questions were extensive. Our first visit put the bar very high, but Splendore was everything and more. First of all this was the best stocked villa we've
ever stayed in. There were paper products, dish and dishwasher detergent,
laundry detergent, brooms of various sizes, trash can liners, spices, even
liquor left from previous guests. This made it very easy for us to keep the house clean and neat from the start. And the welcome goodies from Vacation Vistas were extensive and good! The view was beautiful (may want to trim the trees in front of pool down a bit for a better view) and the view of St. Thomas at night was so pretty. There were ceiling fans in every room and multiple ones in the LR/DR area as well as the kitchen and balcony. I was always frustrated that we could not see the kitchen from the web pictures, but it was great. Fully, fully equipped. 2 stoves - top one microwave/convection combo. Cooktop in the island - which is large enough for people to stand around and visit with people cooking at the same time. There were often times 4 of us were milling around the kitchen without any problem. The dishes, pots/pans, electrical equipment were all there and in good condition.

The privacy offered by the split floor plan and the wonderful garden showers made for a great haven from everybody and everything. The A/C units in the BRs were a welcome retreat from the August heat. We loved having the 1/2 bath to run to from the pool and the hot tub was hot! Loved the waterfall into the pool and watching the hummingbirds. There was so much to love this trip and so much to be thankful for!

We appreciate the eye for detail that Splendore's owners have - every part of the house, pool and gardens reflects their love of St. John. Vacation Vistas is the 3rd property management company we've worked with and they did a great job for us. Thanks to Lisa, Steve and Vikki for making this much needed trip our best yet. Your suggestion to contact Basil in advance for the taxi made our trip because our luggage did not make our flight and he took great care of us while we waited for the next flight. He got us to the ferry on time or it would have been another hour wait before arriving on SJ. We had Judy stock the house for us so we did not have to leave the house until the next evening! It was perfect and so
was this trip. We hope all the guests about to arrive will have as much joy and relaxation as we did.
- Dee and Davis, Lisa and Mark

Splendore 03/06/2007
Reviewers Rating: ****Excellent
For the last week of February 2007, we rented Splendore from Lisa at Vacation Vistas. A little background so you can take (or leave!) my opinions with a grain of salt.
1. This was our 6th trip to St. John, third time in a private rental. Prior rentals were on the North Shore. Pre-villa trips were to Caneel.
2. Two adult couples. Grandma and boyfriend in their 50s, mom (me) and dad in mid-30s, toddler son on his second trip to St. John.
3. We (mom/dad/toddler) eat out most meals. Grandma and friend cooked in all meals.
4. We have visited a number of different Caribbean islands as well as Florida, the Outer Banks, and several New England destinations. To put it mildly, we like the beach. I am not bragging, just letting the forum know that this is not our first house rental and we have experience in other markets.
Overall, we were very pleased with the villa.

It is located in the Maria Bluff area of Chocolate Hole, just past the Westin. Paved roads all the way to town and not a rooster to be seen or heard! (Not that I have anything against birds but the North Shore roasters like everyone to start their day at 3 am.) The neighborhood seemed to be a mix of year-round and vacation home uses. We saw lots of walkers each morning. We could do a nice 45 minute loop in either direction. The views from the house are very open, mostly water with St. Thomas off to the right.

The water side of the house can be as open to the water/outside as you would like it to be. The living area has large glass and screen sliders, the kind that disappear into the walls. Both bedrooms have sliders (both glass and screens) flanked by crank out windows. As a result, you have excellent views of the water from the KING beds. The king beds were a pleasant feature of the house as I noticed many rentals have queens.

Each bedroom had a full bath with double sinks and lovely garden showers. The showers had plantings around the tiled shower area and screening around the top to let in breezes. These are not open showers; the sides are walls just like the rest of the house. Privacy is not an issue.

In our opinion, both bedrooms are equal. The bedroom to the right (facing the water) had a private balcony with table and chairs. The left bedroom opened to the pool deck. Both have ample storage areas for both clothing and luggage. There is a large half-bath off the entry area.

There is a third room on the second floor, which is access via a spiral staircase, furnished with a pull-out sofa. It is a lovely area that appears to be used as a study by the owners. It would be a good sleeping area for an older child or teenage.

Speaking of the owners, it is obvious they love this home. We have rented at least 15 villas/vacation homes (not all on STJ) and Splendore ranks at the top in terms of cleanliness and maintenance.

The furniture and soft fixtures (sheets, towels, etc.) were of good quality and in good condition.

The kitchen was large and well-equipment with a 5 burner flat surface cook top, double-oven including convection and microwave, and dishwasher. Appliances were GE Profile and appeared to be just a few years old. The quality of the dish and cookware was what I expected in this price range.

The house was well-stocked with trash bags, detergent, and paper products. There is a panty closet in the kitchen, which is a feature I really liked as it was great for storing water and beverages out of the way. The washer and dryer were newer and worked well. The laundry area is looked off of the kitchen, in the pass-through to the bedroom.

The layout of the house makes it nice for two couples as the bedrooms are removed from each other and private. The outside patio has table seating for six, lounge chairs for four, and a Weber gas grill that appears to be nearly brand new.

The pool gets lots of sun; the water was quite warm for our entire stay. We were charmed by the waterfall feature. The lot and exterior were well-maintained. Lovely plantings along the driveway and entry area.

The house exceeded our expectations. We wanted for nothing...
Some of the “little” things that appealed to me:
* Ample storage in bedrooms and kitchen. It was nice to be able to settle in and not be tripping over baggage, cases of water, beach gear, etc. The half-bath served as our snorkel gear storage area.
* A first floor laundry area. Traveling with a toddler resulted in a need to do more laundry than usual. Having a laundry area right off the kitchen was so convenient.
* One floor layout. Good for keeping an eye on an active toddler.
* Large kitchen. Four adults could prepare their own breakfasts without too much trouble.
* King beds, as previously mentioned.
PA Girl

Splendore 10/18/2004
Reviewers Rating: ****Excellent
My new wife & I rented Splendore (Oct 9th - 17th) through Lisa Durgin at Vacation Vistas. I looked at just about every villa, settling on Splendore for the view, the privacy, and the pool.

I am very happy to report that Splendore lived up to it's esteemed reputation! Highlights were 100% privacy (nice for honeymooners), a fantastic pool/hot-tub, and of course the spectacular view!

I am glad I rented a Jeep, as the road to Splendore gets a bit steep. No problem at all when it's dry; a little slippery when it's wet. The four-wheel drive came in handy a couple times.

I can't say enough about this villa. It's well maintained, clean.....just a great place to stay. I would definitely stay there again!
CG

Proudly serving our guests for over 20 years
Lisa K. Durgin Owner/Operator
St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands
Lisa@VacationVistas.com