Our first trip to St. John was a bit of a disappointment, to say the least.
First off, the positives:
Great location close to beaches and Coral Bay
Beautiful view of Coral Bay
Stocked fridge upon arrival
Now, onto the negatives:
While I understand that this is a Caribbean island and bugs and insects are everywhere, there is an obvious insect infestation in the house. Upon arriving (and before unpacking anything), we noticed dozens of ants around one of the sinks. Upon further inspection, we found dozens more just above the oven, at the other sink, on the counters, and near the trash (open trash can with so many insects on the island is probably not the smartest idea). Again, I realize where we are, and that is why I could overlook some small bugs on the walls in the bathrooms and other places, but this is a different issue. Needless to say, we were wiping down the surfaces and washing all dishes within 5 minutes of eating and taking out the trash twice a day, and they were still everywhere. I informed property management through email immediately (It was late and I also decided that I'd rather not waste my vacation on the phone, and email was the only method we had used in our numerous prior communications). The response was slow to start, but ultimately I called the owner of St John Properties halfway through the stay (as the ants had spread throughout the entire villa), and we were moved to another villa. We did appreciate the flexibility of SJP.
Other issues with the villa:
Upon arrival, there was a big noticeable tear in the living room lamp shade.
Multiple hairs on the master bathroom wall.
Missing panel in second bedroom window.
Kitchen window levers are messed up. One window can barely open and close, while the other one can't be closed once it's open. I had to go around outside and push it closed.
The middle of the 3 sets of living room doors are difficult to open. Seems like the doors are off the tracks. I could barely close it properly.
All in all, a very disappointing stay for our 4th VRBO experience.