TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Must Have Amenities when renting Private Villa?

Does the thread count matter?
Air-conditioned or ceiling fans?
Internet access?
Ocean view from a hill?
Number of bedrooms?
King-size beds or Queen?
Bathtub or Showers?
Maid service daily or every other day?

Please add to the list....

Please help me in deciding to rent or not to rent? Thanks!

TV, Pool and BBQ

TV Pool BBQ charcoal or propane?

Propane is a lot easier and less messy.

Thanks! I agree safer and less messy. I do think food taste better on a charcoal grill but will consider a propane grill.

Does the thread count matter? No
Air-conditioned or ceiling fans? a/c
Internet access? yes
Ocean view from a hill? yes
Number of bedrooms? two+
King-size beds or Queen? King
Bathtub or Showers? showers
Maid service daily or every other day? every other

Bathrooms 2+
Outdoor sitting area
Outdoor dining area
Privacy
Pool
Dishwasher
Icemaker
Well-equipped kitchen

Ice Maker? Don't have? Everything else I can check off. will lots of ice cube trays work for you?

Good sheets, pillows, towels
water view/access,
good kitchen (gas preferred) and decent selection of cookware (I love to cook but not every meal)
blender & a pitcher for lemonade etc.
coffee filters (forgot to bring some last trip)
wine bottle opener
pool
Hubby says big TV but I say no TV (lol)
a selection of books

actually, in March Beachside Villas had all we could want and more.

We make ice every day and put the cubes in a bowl in the freezer, sometimes twice a day for freezer drinks!

Ceiling fans and AC, sometimes the fan is enough

Washing machine - dryer rack can work if no dryer - cuts down on clothes we take, nice to refresh bathing suits during the wk or some shirts or? - not really any trouble, quick load in the am, dry when home from beach - probably depends how long you are staying

We take a kitchen knife, but are picky on knives

J&B

Oh yes John & Bev---forgot ceiling fans. And washer/ dryer would be great

Need to buy new coffee maker, five burner stove with griddle is new, actually everything in the kitchen cabinets was not damaged. No selection of books but I find most people use kindles or don't like my selection of authors... haha. Wine bottle opener? I think I have a few

Knives no problem but actually I never had a clothes dryer. The clothes line was huge and held three loads of wash and the sun/ breeze dried the clothes unless it rained.
Still thinking on a clothes dryer?

If you are buying ceiling fans, get Fanelite Ceiling Fans. They are great! Get them in Hope Estates.

Fanelite Ceiling Fans? I will check them out. I really don't like air condition and find the ceiling fans are fine. Considering a big air condition unit in Living room but really I feel the other rooms don't need a/c.

I'd prefer no maid service or once weekly....hubby needs be in touch with the office in the mornings and we find that the maid is distracting

I think if the maid arrived after 10 AM it would give the guests time for coffee and their morning routine... Pack for the beach and let the maid change the bedding and clean up the kitchen and bathrooms. Once a week is OK if it is a studio but a three bedroom, four bathroom villa would need a little more attention.

Internet access is an absolute must
King sized beds
A/C in the bedroom, a must. A/C in the living room is very nice.
Ice maker is not a must, so long as there are lots of ice cube trays.
Showers, for sure, no bathtubs.
Dishwasher is very nice
Don't have to have daily housekeeping, but at least every other day is a must.
Washing machine AND a dryer would be a LOVELY amenity
Grill is a MUST, propane is easier.

I was thinking two twin beds that can be connected to make a king in two bedrooms and a King in the Master of course.
The clothes dryer is becoming a reality if I were to rent. Propane BBQ instead of my smokey joe and A/C in the bedrooms is not something I considered because the breeze and the ceiling fans are very comfortable. Internet access is not available at the moment so I would have to bring in wifi... Lots to think about.

Yes, I could live without an icemaker. I actually rarely use ice here at home, but it seems more important on vacation

For me, personally, a/c in the bedroom is an absolute necessity. You are talking about what will make people BOOK and what will make them not. Perhaps there is a wonderful breeze and a/c may not be necessary for most people, but there is a good percentage of people that would not book anywhere that a/c is not available. Same is true with internet. I think you will find that internet is pretty much a requirement for rentals these days, almost anywhere.

That would be a deal breaker for me. Three couples go together to rent the place. Who gets the King? All three should have a king bed.

"For me, personally, a/c in the bedroom is an absolute necessity. You are talking about what will make people BOOK and what will make them not."
Correct. An absolute must.

Does the thread count matter? Not to me, as long as the quality is good.
Air-conditioned or ceiling fans? A/C in the bedroom is a must. Anywhere else is a bonus.
Internet access? A must.
Ocean view from a hill? Definitely, unless you plan to slash your rental price to match the lack of view.
Number of bedrooms? 2 is good.
King-size beds or Queen? I prefer a king, but I can live with a true queen, but not a full/double masquerading as a queen. Stuffing two singles together? Just no.
Bathtub or Showers? Shower. A bathtub is a waste of water.
Maid service daily or every other day? Daily, with Sundays and Holidays off works. I can get by just fine with every other day when renting as a 1BR.

I've rented many, many villas since I sold my place on the French side. "Thinking" my way through a few of my favorites, here are some of the things which I found to be either Must Haves, Nice To Haves, or just Nice Touches:

A decent sound system with outside speakers and a Sonos box (internet radio, smartphone app, stream your own music) is nice to have (but cranking the volume and rocking the 'hood isn't cool).
A hammock is very nice to have.
An icemaker is nice to have, but only if the filters are changed on a regular basis.
A shady place to read - I read a lot when I'm on vacation.
A safe large enough to store an iPad Pro or a laptop.
Adapter plugs so that both European and US guests can plug into outlets. Most (all?) "power bricks" and "wall worts" are multi-voltage these days, so a transformer shouldn't be necessary for guests.
Access to a washer and dryer is a major plus, but not a requirement.
If there is satellite TV, which I would rarely watch, US satellite TV such as Dish Network.
A reasonable selection of cookware/utensils/glassware/dinner ware/basic spices (I'll settle for salt and cheap pepper grinder) such that I can do basic cooking/entertaining for 6 people (I once rented a villa on St Barth which had no corkscrew!) Plan on breakage, so buy for more than 6.
Toaster, coffeemaker
A hairdryer which actually dries hair
A list of important phone numbers such as villa manager, emergency numbers such as fire/police, perhaps a list of favorite restaurants
Kleenex!
I'm reaching here, but a wi-fi printer which I could use to print boarding passes, including from an iOS device
A makeup mirror.
A "leftovers" drawer, for leftover sunscreen and bug stuff - invaluable when you forget to pack one your own.
Another drawer for reusable shopping bags.
Sufficient hangers in the closet. Even better, more than sufficient so that I don't have to borrow from the 2nd bedroom.

Thanks! Everyone's feed back is so helpful... keep it coming please. There is so many amenities I did not even think of.
I had kept it very simple for my husband and myself. My At&t service gives me enough data for my usage but I can understand
when renting how important in house internet would be. I do everything on an ipad and wifi printer in New York.

Pool with nice deck area.
Safe
Washer
Grill- prefer charcoal
Coffee maker
Blender
No smoking
Parking
Walk to beach

Enjoy!

I forgot about smokers! I hate ashtrays and smoke in the villa. How in the world would I control that?.
I would have to have the maid report the violation and impose some warning and tell the villa manager who by the way smokes cigars!

Safe is a must, for sure. As far as smoke, many places have rules about no smoking inside.

I would add secure off street parking.
And screens on all windows and doors. An odd thing but not all properties have them in the islands.
Without screens you can't enjoy the topical breezes without the bugs.

I think I've got all that covered at my place, except no dishwasher or clothes dryer. Also, I have screens which are rare indeed.

We once had Dish but everything was in French.... 10 days of English CNN.

Sounds like your all set... I decided to go with air conditioning in all rooms, internet for sure, dishwasher and clothes dryer. Our Brunswick billiard table survived the hurricane so it will be fun for guests, still thinking about a hammock on the roof terrace and storage for repeat renters.


Got an ocean view too!

Not sure why a villa would need storage for repeat renters. What would they store? Many people store cooking utensils, knives, umbrellas, coolers, chairs, that kind of thing. To me, those things should already be provided in a properly furnished villa.

I agree chairs, umbrellas, coolers etc. would be available but I have friends for the past 28 years that have stored stuff in my storage room. What they leave behind runs the gamut. They were not renting the villa but had timeshares mostly at Pelican and Oyster Bay Beach Resort. Snorkel equipment, golf clubs and things they did not want to pack for airline travel. Projection for availability is 2019. Lots of work to be done!

Is there a covered and shaded area for outdoor dining? One of my favorite villas in Anguilla has a large terrace with plants, couches, a hammock, and dining table. All outside.

Shade is a must... plenty of shade to sit outside for dining. I actually never sit inside for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Miss the place so much but will be back in May 2018.

OK, why is that your problem?? Sounds like something that friends expect you to do for free. Not sure how it is related to renting out the villa.

Wow Martini! You are wayyyyy too nice. I would be charging per square foot for storage of their crap! Hopefully these are VERY good friends! If you aren't staying at my place, have a timeshare, and are just "using" me for a place to put your things? Yikes! uh uh...ain't happening.

You are a better person than I! Family might get that treatment, or EXCELLENT friends that things are reciprocal with me. JMO

I don't see why you and Carol ar questioning sxmmartini for his generosity of storing things for friends he has known for over 28 years. I would do the same for my friends if asked to or would actually volunteer to do it for them. I have kept a box on island with friends for many years. I have to force them to take any thing for their trouble. Friends are friends and I admire sxmmartini for being such a good friend to others. Great example for others to follow.

Real king bed
AC
Washer
Pool with privacy
Safe
Internet

OK the point was that SHE said that she needed to provide space for her friends, and I assume for free. And yes, martini is a lady...