TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Villas on Great Bay

This is my first time posting to this site but I have been reading all of the great reviews for some time. We stayed at Ocean Point for 2 weeks in April and decided we we were coming back but staying in a villa. We checked out the Villas of Great Bay and are planning on staying there next year. Is there anything I should be aware of or be asking prior to booking? I have read some comments on this site about fees but I am not really sure what they mean. On the web site for the villas they list the cost and the tax only (no additional fees) as well as the owners name. I want to book sooner than later as the Canadian $ keeps dropping <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" /> thanks for all of your help on this site we are planning on bringing most of our food including frozen meats.

I have been an owner there for six years and am on their board and am currently treasurer. There are no fees except for Villa #1 who charges a cleaning fee when you leave. In the other villas you pay for maid service if you require it while you are there. The only other cost I am aware is to do laundry in the common washers and dryers in the laundry which I believe is $5 for one load.

Kathryn,

I can't speak specifically to the VIllas on Great Bay but we know someone who used to stay there and loved the place.

Regarding bringing your own food - you might want to rethink that IF you have to pay extra for shipping luggage. I would not hesitate to bring frozen meat in a good carry-on cooler, but groceries are readily available in major groceries similar to those from home, and there is also a condo-apartment provisioning service, Shop and Drop SXM, whom many of us use. The owner, Jeannie, does a great job and her site is very easy to navigate. Can't tell you how nice it is to arrive at your place, drop your luggage and go straight to the fridge for a cold libation of your choice. She is listed on this website under the advertiser heading above and you might want to check out her ad and service.

Enjoy your time however you decide to manage the food thing. SXM is an incredible island well worth exploring. Renting a car is a huge asset even if only for part of your trip, but remember NOT to leave anything you value in it, not even locked in the trunk. Explore and enjoy, and as in visiting anywhere as a relative island newbie, keep your head about you and have an awesome good trip.

I think perhaps the original poster was asking about VBRO fees? Just a guess, as I don't know whether it is a VBRO rental or not.

Apparently if you e-mail the owner directly from the VRBO site, there are no VRBO fees. However, if you reserve directly through VRBO and they contact the owner for confirmation and pay directly through them, there are fees. They claim they are guaranteeing the confirmation so are charging fees for that. Some VRBO owners advertise there, but do not participate and you contact the owner directly by e-mail to avoid any extra fees.It really depends on the route the owner has chosen for contact.

OK, the whole VBRO thing seems very confusing to me. Not sure how others feel but right now, I would be leery to even look at VBRO because I would be worried about a bunch of extra fees popping up at the last minute.

I reserved at Blue Marine for November via VRBO. I did pay the newly instituted fee, but it was clearly spelled out before I made my payment. I could have cancelled at that point but really wanted to stay at that unit so paid the fee.

OP:
One thing you have to consider is the definition of "villa". On SXM it can mean anything the person writing the description wants it to mean. I can be anything from a Trump mansion to a studio apartment. I would think that any one in the U.S. would call the Great Bay units condos.

Thanks everyone for your advice. We went and visited the villas when we went to St. Martin in April and knew this was exactly where we wanted to stay. I am just trying to now coordinate the flight with the villa dates.

No extra fees at the last minute as any fees charged by VRBO are listed BEFORE you pay.If you are not happy with the amount quoted, you just don't pay through them.Many villas and condos are requesting you deal directly through them and avoid the extra fees. I have always only done business directly with the owners so I will continue to do that through e-mail or phone calls. Beachside Villas are now listing on VRBO which seems to be something new for them.

We just got back from staying 2 weeks at the Villas on Great Bay. This is the second time we have stayed there. We love it . We just email their web site and they emailed us back with the amount. We paid, by credit card, half of the amount , then the other half when we got there.Never had a problem.Very easy to deal with. The only extra charge we had was for 2 extra people which was 25.oo per person, per day. There is a property manager on site who is very helpful with anything u might need. Also, at night, they have a security guard. We've stayed at villas 2 and 4 and loved them both. They also have a wine, cheese, and cracker welcome basket waiting for you.

This works (we also rent this way) with KNOWN rentals. For first time trips you are again defeating the protection that Homeaway/VRBO site booking affords.

If I was renting a new place i would use the booking site and then transition to direct bookings.

Phone is available but email contact is blocked with the new procedure. Email only through the booking site.