I can't speak about owning there, but my family stayed there about 1 1/2 years ago, and we really enjoyed it.
We rented a beachfront 1 BR villa. It was in a building near the pool, but all the "beach" buildings are beachfront. It was on 2 floors, with the living room (with sofa bed), small kitchen, eating area and full bath on first floor and upstairs was the bedroom with king bed, another sofa bed, and another full bath. It was plenty of room for the 5 of us. We happened to have a corner unit, so both balconies wrapped around and we had incredible views of the ocean and St. John and the British Virgin islands in the distance. The beach there is nice, and you can snorkel from shore. We visited other beaches on the island and really felt Sapphire Beach was one of the nicest. The pool area was nice and well kept.
There is a little inlet where the marina is, and the Marina villas surround that, so I'm not sure how the views are from there.
The exterior of the resort was clean, the landscaping was well-kept, and everything looked to be in good condition. The interior of the unit seemed maintained and was very clean, although the decor was a little dated. (That doesn't really bother me as long as everything is clean and works!) There seemed to be normal wear and tear, but again, all was clean.
I was at the resort for one day in Jan. 05 while on a cruise and everything seemed as nice as when we stayed there.
To me, some of the best features of this resort are beach and location. We prefer the east end of the island, and you are about 1 mile from Red Hook.
We tried to trade into this resort for this summer. I had to put in an ongoing search with II and they asked me to list another resort request. I requested the Westin St. John, because I figured I would never get it so they would definitely find Sapphire Beach for me. Well, we will be at the Westin St. John this summer. I have to admit I was a little disappointed when I first saw they confirmed our trade!
In looking at some listings for sales and rentals, I have seen the listing as "Sapphire Beach Resort" only to find that it is actually Sapphire Village, which is another set of buildings up the hill from Sapphire Beach Resort. So just make sure you know which it actually is.
Hope that helps. Sorry I can't help with the maint. fees etc. Good luck to you. This is one place I wouldn't mind going to every year!!
