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Westin St John [Master Thread] - Part 2 (June 2014 and forward)

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DavidnRobin

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My Pool Villas MF went down slightly. I like the comment form the non Vistana board members about the reduction being small but that's always better than an increase.

From 2012 to 2017 - WSJ-VGV MFs have stayed pretty much flat, and have actually dropped by ~6% since then, and SOs have been increased (in some cases substantially)
 
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Hello there,
We are Vistana owners. Our home resort in Kauai. We have never been to St. John. We are going in a month! (yay!) Me, DH, DD (15) and DS (13). Advice for newcomers welcome please!! Take the Westin ferry or not? Rent a car in St. Thomas to bring to St. John? Bear in mind we are taking a red eye from the west coast, so maybe not having to hassle with anything might be a plus. We will be there for 4 full days. Must sees? Places to eat?? Best beaches? My kids and DH love to snorkle, me, not so much....LOL.
Thanks in advance!!!
 

DavidnRobin

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Hello there,
We are Vistana owners. Our home resort in Kauai. We have never been to St. John. We are going in a month! (yay!) Me, DH, DD (15) and DS (13). Advice for newcomers welcome please!! Take the Westin ferry or not? Rent a car in St. Thomas to bring to St. John? Bear in mind we are taking a red eye from the west coast, so maybe not having to hassle with anything might be a plus. We will be there for 4 full days. Must sees? Places to eat?? Best beaches? My kids and DH love to snorkle, me, not so much....LOL.
Thanks in advance!!!

Hi @malibuboatmama - answers to these questions are somewhat involved. I would suggest perusing this thread - and check out trip reports at beginning (and throughout). It will help answer these questions as each vacation party usually has different needs (not a 1 size fits all).

My personal advice (YMMV):
Rent 4Dr 4WD on STT (Amalie Rentals) - especially with 2 Adults/2 Teens - and only 4 days (all the way from west coast? ouch) UNLESS, you just plan to just hang out at resort, and cannot deal with driving on left side of road. Amalie will pick you up at STT, and you're on your way - drive to RedHook (not that difficult...) and take car barge across (pre-reserve for discount - Love City Ferries). The WSJ ferry will cost ~$480RT and convenient, but cost is likely more than car rental price. You can rent on STJ as well - either onsite (OConnor) or in Cruz Bay. If CB - at some agencies you can park on their lot (parking in CB is a hassle).

Added - be aware that WSJ has multiple phases, but can be broken down to being uphill from the Main resort (VGV phase), or on the resort (BV, CV, SB phases) - they all have three pluses/minuses - and also have different villa layouts.
If at VGV (Hillside) - a car is really nice as you can park right outside villa - and be on your way (Trunk Bay ~17 minutes). This is where we stay. We go for 2 weeks - 4 days (assume 5 nites) is really short. Be aware that compared to CA (or west-coast) that it is very hot/humid - much more than HI - and can take a while to get used to.

Also, prepare for mosquitoes, and for no-seeums (on beach at sunset...). There are no no-seeums (biting gnats really...) on best-coast or in HI - thankfully. Make sure if you are on sand during sunrise/sunset - stand on a beach blanket - and use spray up to knees. (do not lay on sand during these times). You do not want to get bit by these little f-ers.

As to beaches... too many to see in 4 days (another reason not to hang at resort...) - get on-line info for these. Just along the north-side there are plenty of beaches to visit (Solon=man, Honeymoon, Caneel, Hawksnest, Jumbie, Trunk Cay, Cinnamon, Maho, Francis, Leister (Watermelon Cay) - and really depends on what activities you guys like to do. Definitely, Trunk bay. Maho for turtles (please do not touch). On other side of island (Coral Bay area) - need car - there is Salt Pond and Little Lameshur (need 4WD). If full-moon - walk from Salt Pond to Ram Head (bring water, and flashlight - we use iPhone). Overall - StJ is not very exciting action-wise.

NPS tour of the Reef Bay Trail.

Consider a day charter - we use Island Roots (Capt Jason Sitka), but here are plenty of others.
 
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December 22, 2016

Dear Fellow Virgin Grand Villas Owner:

This is not our regular report, but a special announcement. Mike Ryan, the wonderful General Manager of our resort, is retiring; his last day is January 17. He has improved the property year after year as well as responded tirelessly and cheerfully to the special needs and requests of owners and guests. We will miss him.

If you would like to send him a note of appreciation, his e-mail is mike.ryan@westinstjohnvillas.com.

Here’s the good news: his replacement as General Manager will be Sam Hugli, who has served as the Director of Operations (essentially Mike’s deputy) for about two years. Sam has had long professional experience in hotel and resort management. We have had many conversations with him and are certain that like Mike he will provide excellent service to the resort.

We hope that you are having a good holiday season. You will hear from us again after the February 27 annual meeting of owners.

Sincerely, your owner-elected members of the Board of Directors,

Philip G. Schrag
phil.schrag@gmail.com
Robert H. Werbel
robert.werbel@yahoo.com



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SandyPGravel

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Sleeper Sofa

Can anyone attest to the comfort level of the sleeper sofas for an adult in BV, CV or SB sections? (Kids seem to be able to sleep anywhere! :D) I might have an additional guest that would be using the sofa. I know I tried out our VGV sleeper and it was horrible. We are trading in to a different week so we won't be in VGV. I have already suggested to the guest to bring along an air mattress/pool float to place on top of the sleeper. Wondering if this will be sufficient?

TIA, Gina
 

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New subject... I am little confused, are the Virgin Grand Pool Villas (buildings 41-44) considered mandatory?
 
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New subject... I am little confused, are the Virgin Grand Pool Villas (buildings 41-44) considered mandatory?

Yes. All VGV are Mandatory - and no ROFR.
VGV is called 'Hillside', but the pool villas are not on hillside.

The pool villas have a MF of ~$2900 (does not include PropTax) with an associated 257K SOs for Plat+ season.
(iirc)
 
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I have yet to get my property tax bill! My friends who own Bay Vista only got theirs recently. I remembered paying in January last year and see that my dues are actually late!

I went online and checked and my address is correct. I'll be calling tomorrow to pay and try to figure out why I didn't get the bill. When did other VG owners get their bill?
 

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I have yet to get my property tax bill! My friends who own Bay Vista only got theirs recently. I remembered paying in January last year and see that my dues are actually late!

I went online and checked and my address is correct. I'll be calling tomorrow to pay and try to figure out why I didn't get the bill. When did other VG owners get their bill?

Hi - I always post when VGV PropTax mailings go out and due dates - so look back in this thread around July (?). There are links to the USVI Property Tax listed - this is where you pay your bill. Really has nothing to do with WSJ - they just work as middleman. They sent letter about this a while ago (also discussed here at some point).

I do not think it is correct that BV pays Property Tax separately - it is part of their MF. Pretty sure that only VGV that pays separately. Therefore, that may be why they just paid - they paid their MFs. btw - VGV MFs were due about 2 weeks ago.
 

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I paid my VGV MF in December, but received a statement in January "due to a computer error the statements were not mailed out in December" and my MF were not actually due until sometime in February. (Don't remember the exact date the MF was due, since I had already paid it.)
 

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I paid my VGV MF in December, but received a statement in January "due to a computer error the statements were not mailed out in December" and my MF were not actually due until sometime in February. (Don't remember the exact date the MF was due, since I had already paid it.)

I pay MF online (and I pat PropTax online directly to USVI). I thought you were talking about PropTax Bill?
BV (and CV and SB) - pay their PropTax thru their MFs. btw, VGV Owners get screwed on Property Taxes (meaning: pay an unfair proportion as compared to other WSJ phases).
 

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From the News of St John blog:

"We received an email from a friend yesterday morning, which included a link to the Governor’s proposed “Virgin Islands Revenue Enhancement and Economic Recovery Act of 2017.” The proposal includes a pretty hefty increase on beer, wine and other alcohol among other things.

Currently, domestic beers are taxed at $1.55 a case. They Governor wants that to jump to $11.55 a case. Foreign beers are currently taxed at $2.08 a case. The Governor wants that to jump to a whopping $14.08 a case.

Another huge item in this Act pertains to timeshares, which we know many of you own here on St. John. The Governor is proposing a $30 per day tax on every timeshare unit for each day of occupancy in the Territory."

So another $210/week to stay in our timeshares.

I didn't copy the entire article, here's a link:

http://newsofstjohn.com/2017/01/27/is-the-future-of-happy-hour-in-jeopardy/
 

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I was just going to post this !!!

I suggest everyone that owns a TS in the USVI - write to the Governor.

This is ridiculous - we already pay high Property Tax.

Pass this on...


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I was just going to post this !!!

I suggest everyone that owns a TS in the USVI - write to the Governor.

This is ridiculous - we already pay high Property Tax.

Pass this on...


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If you have a good email, can you please share? Want to make sure it makes it to an account that is monitored.
 

DavidnRobin

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If you have a good email, can you please share? Want to make sure it makes it to an account that is monitored.

I could only find email for Mapp's underling. I will post once I get more info, or hopefully someone will.
All WSJ Owners (and Management) need to ban together and fight this.
Seriously, if this happens - we will consider walking away - I have always considered our TSs as lost money anyway.
We already spend a lot of $ in the USVI. $210/week plus they have been trying raise PropTax on Timeshares and STJ Property Owners for quite a while.
 

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I could only find email for Mapp's underling. I will post once I get more info, or hopefully someone will.
All WSJ Owners (and Management) need to ban together and fight this.
Seriously, if this happens - we will consider walking away - I have always considered our TSs as lost money anyway.
We already spend a lot of $ in the USVI. $210/week plus they have been trying raise PropTax on Timeshares and STJ Property Owners for quite a while.
Thanks. I'll post it if I find it.
 

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Sleeper Sofa

Can anyone attest to the comfort level of the sleeper sofas for an adult in BV, CV or SB sections? (Kids seem to be able to sleep anywhere! :D) I might have an additional guest that would be using the sofa. I know I tried out our VGV sleeper and it was horrible. We are trading in to a different week so we won't be in VGV. I have already suggested to the guest to bring along an air mattress/pool float to place on top of the sleeper. Wondering if this will be sufficient?

TIA, Gina

In 2016 we stayed in an updated VG villa (Bldg. 33) and the sleeper sofa pullout was so nice. The year before they updated, we used the sleeper sofa and it was horrible... we ended up putting the mattress from the sleeper on the floor - that was a great option as the sleeper sofa frame was the thing making it uncomfortable. So, depending on if the "soft goods" have been updated in BV, you might chose to put mattress on floor too. SB and CV should, I would think, still be in good shape. I guess the only problems with putting it on the floor is if someone has mobility issues and also the hassle of putting it back on the couch every day, but it is an option.
 

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In 2016 we stayed in an updated VG villa (Bldg. 33) and the sleeper sofa pullout was so nice. The year before they updated, we used the sleeper sofa and it was horrible... we ended up putting the mattress from the sleeper on the floor - that was a great option as the sleeper sofa frame was the thing making it uncomfortable. So, depending on if the "soft goods" have been updated in BV, you might chose to put mattress on floor too. SB and CV should, I would think, still be in good shape. I guess the only problems with putting it on the floor is if someone has mobility issues and also the hassle of putting it back on the couch every day, but it is an option.
Thanks for the reply. :thumbup: It's great to hear the new sofa sleepers are an improvement. As of now, the extra guest is not joining us, but in case they change their mind again, I will have some info to share.
 
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