Reviews

on Apr 06, 2016
Great view!

The Windwardise Main House owned by Susan Brierley was perfect for us. The view overlooked Johnson Bay and was spectacular from both the house and the separate bedroom. Even though a couple was staying at the smaller cottage on the property, it was separated enough that we hardly knew they were there. The absolute privacy was just what we wanted.

The property was clean and ready for us when we arrived and could not have provided a better venue for our vacation. Even the view from the hot tub was amazing!

We can't wait to come back!

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5/5
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on Apr 06, 2016
Perfect Villa/ Exactly as Advertised

If you love to drive around in a Jeep and spend your days in the water snorkeling and swimming, you will love St. John and Windwardside could not have been more perfect. The description is very accurate and it is even more spacious and has more amenities than we expected. The property was clean and has a nicely stocked kitchen. The hot tub is great for relaxing with a drink after a long day of swimming and it has a great view of Coral Bay. Also, there is a gas grill so you can cut back on restaurant expenses (typical price for dinner for two with 1-2 drinks easily exceeds 60 bucks). The owner's customer service was flawless and extremely quick with communication. The island intro with Brian was completely on-point and he provided great insight into how to get the most out of your stay for what type of vacation you are seeking. He probably chatted with us for an hour or more with a map and helped guide us to more casually local type restaurants and great snorkeling spots that aren't overhyped (instead of Trunk Bay, go to Jumbie). He also put us into contact with the boat Pirate's Penny for the obligatory boat trip to BVI and snorkeling (great trip and great crew... 10 person boat instead of the 50 person hoards on the booze cruise). Also, there were several great guidebooks in the living room for trails and snorkeling. We cannot wait to refer our friends and family to Windwardside and hopefully they will be bringing us back with them. best beaches for snorkeling: Salt Pond Bay/ Waterlemon Key/ Brown's Bay/ Jumbie Beach best beaches for swimming/ playing in water: Francis Bay/ Jumbie Beach favorite hike: Ram's Head favorite restaurants: Hercule's (Cruz Bay Carribbean/ Curried Chicken platter and pates are good... most affordable restaurant of the trip) Pink Corner (Coral Bay Carribbean/ great local food) Skinny Legs (Coral Bay Burgers/ yeah, it's burgers, but they are good ones and this is the place if you want to party in Coral Bay) Donkey Diner (breakfast food is good/ never tried pizza) Aqua Bistro (good food at reasonable (for St. John) prices Miss Lucy's (Coral Bay... only had the conch fritters as meal, but they are easily the best on the island... we had them at several places that were not great) Rhumb Lines in Cruz Bay if you're craving Thai really, the food on most of the island is above average and there is no fast food, so at least you can see where restaurants are so expensive

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on Apr 06, 2016
Wonderful

My wife and I spent two wonderful weeks at Winwardside, and were completely in love with the house and its landscape. Photos are quite accurate...I was sold on the beautiful brickwork of the patio...and this quality carries through the cottage's ceilings, finishes, and furnishings.
Spent many mornings and evenings in the hot tub and showered outside with the fantastic view. Breakfast on the porch, dinner on the patio...there are so many places to sit with a book that we only used lounge chairs on the patio in our second week!
St John is exquisite. Period. We can not recommend Coral Bay (and the east side) enough for its out-of-the-way, intimate feel, friendly locals, great beaches and snorkeling...Fresh fish for the grill directly from the fishermen, live music, killer BBQ. Driving to any other location on the island is no big deal.
Excellent customer service from initial booking, jeep rental, pickup, recommendations, follow-up calls to see if all was going well. We are considering renting again and including the guest cottage for a full-family trip on St John.

Owner's Response:

We were very happy to read your review. Nice to know how much you enjoyed your stay. We look forward to hosting you and your family in the future. Thank you for writing!

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on Apr 06, 2016
Just As We Imagined

My girlfriend and I booked this trip several months in advance, knowing that come September, we'd be ready for a vacation. If we only knew how true this would be.
After a miserable travel experience from New York to St. Thomas, all of our frustration and contempt for a certain airline and rental car agency melted away once we were greeted by Bruce at the ferry dock on St. John. Upon arrival, Bruce arranged for a local (and reputable) car rental agency to open after they had closed for the day to rent us a car for the week. Since we arrived a little later in the evening than originally planned, Bruce suggested we stop at the market to do a quick provision to hold us over for the night. He guided us there, patiently waited as we scrambled to pick up some essentials, and showed us to the house. After giving us a quick tour, he answered all of our questions about the best places to snorkel, good restaurants to try, and beach suggestions. Words cannot express how grateful we were for this experience - certainly a welcomed and relaxed way to begin our vacation, and something that Bruce went out of his way to do for us. It was truly appreciated.
The house and grounds are just as pictured and described - absolutely lovely and perfect. Those unfamiliar with St. John (I had been several times before this trip) should note that the island is very hilly (as seen in the pictures). The road up to the house takes a relatively confident driver if you're used to driving on flat roads and highways as I am, but a few trips up and down and it becomes almost second nature (like driving on the left).
Some suggestions for those thinking about renting Windwardside:
1. A lot of people probably think a hot tub is useless in a tropical climate. Incorrect. We used the hot tub every night to watch the stars, drink some wine, and relax. It's definitely a perk.
2. Although you share a parking area with a nearby cottage, this place is absolutely private in every sense of the word. It was nice to be here and just be by ourselves.
3. Coral Bay is far less busy than Cruz Bay. We found many of the restaurants and shops closed while we were there. This was fine with us, as we had to get adventurous and creative a few times for meals. One night, we stopped at a local fish stand and bought some filets and conch that was pulled out of the ocean earlier that day and grilled it back at the house. It was delicious!
Thank you Susan, Diane, and Bruce! We hope to be back soon!

Owner's Response:

Thank you so much for your detailed review. I am so glad to hear that you enjoyed your stay. I will pass on your comments to Bruce. I am sure he will be happy to hear them. September is a mixed bag on St. John. Half of the restaurants are closed but it is an even more relaxed time on the island when we all get a chance to slow down and talk to each other and the visitors. The beaches are quieter than ay other time of the year. We hope to see you again soon- Susan

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on Apr 06, 2016
This is the real deal

Windwardside Main House is a good example of truth in advertising. The beautiful pictures on the Calabash Cottages Website are accurate images of what you will see when you arrive. This is a peaceful spot, without road or neighbor noise, where you can read on the porch overlooking Coral Bay. The beauty of this place relieves you of any pressure to hurry off and do stuff. Not that there's not plenty to do. But we found that we were content to spend part of every day right there.
The property has been landscaped beautifully with tropical plants, totally private, which broadens the options for hot tub attire. Incidentally, the hot tub is new and in perfect working condition, as are beach chairs and snorkle equipment. We found that the owners want to know immediately if something is not in working order so that they can replace it. Which leads us to what made us know that this place was legit. after our first contact with owner, Susan Brierley. You will quickly notice fastidious attention to detail, anticipation of what you want to know next, and her immediate response to every communication. We suggest you follow her advice, and you will be grateful. Susan will check with you frequently to know if everything is OK. This owner gets an a+ on communication.
We chose to eat in most of the time, buying what we needed for the first couple of days in Cruz Bay after we arrived by ferry, where we were met by David (the nicest guy in the world, who led us patiently to the rental car place, grocery, and then to the house at the other end of the island). During the week, we got whatever we needed at Lily's Market in Coral Bay and also bought fresh fish at the roadside. The yellow-tail snapper was fantastic. Our favorite place to snorkel was South Haulover Bay, where you can park right at the beach and there is a good coral reef to the right and the left without a long swim.
We hope to return to Winwardside Main House next year.

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5/5
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on Apr 06, 2016
Loved Windwarside

My wife and I stayed at the Windwardside e for two weeks. We had a fabulous time. The villa was almost exactly as depicted in the pictures. Everything was spotless and freshly made up for us. The cottage was very spacious which we greatly appreciated. The separate bedroom/bathroom was a bit odd at first, but we easily got used to it and actually liked it. The main house has everything you could possibly want and was so relaxing. We enjoyed the hot tub on a daily basis just after we came back from the beach for the day. Having not one but two outdoor showers available was luxurious. We made our breakfast each morning and ate it in the roomy and airy dining room and sat on the outside patio each night talking and star gazing. The views from almost anywhere on the property were gorgeous. Susan and Diane were wonderful to deal with before we arrived and were in contact with us during our stay to see if we needed anything. They had someone waiting for us when we got off the ferry in Cruz Bay who escorted us to pick up our rental car, go to the supermarket for a quick shopping, and then take us to the cottage. Simply great service. BTW, the folks at Courtesy Car Rental are wonderful to deal with and the discount that Susan arranges with them is not trivial. The road up to the cottage was a bit challenging at first - perhaps because we arrived at night. But by the light of day it became just part of the fun of staying at the cottage. Staying in Coral Bay was divine. There are more than enough very good restaurants to keep you happy for several days. The cottage is just a short drive to all of them, as well as to Salt Pond Bay which is a wonderful beach to visit and has some good snorkeling. The cottage is also a 10-15 minute drive to several other East End beaches, Hanover, Haulover, Vies that are wonderful, not crowded and also have good snorkeling. Staying close to Coral Bay is absolutely the best decision we made. Driving to the famous North Shore beaches, such as Maho and Trunk was easy and not too far away. Susan also helped arrange our pick-up at and return to the St. Thomas airport by Dynamic Tours. It went very smoothly. All in all I cannot recommend Windwardside highly enough. We have a place to return to on St. John.

Owner's Response:

Dear Allen and Helen, I am so glad that you enjoyed your stay at Windwardside Main House. We appreciate the detail in the review. It means a lot for guests to hear about the experiences of past visitors. Enjoy your safai next year and we know we will see you in the future. Warm regards, Susan

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on Apr 06, 2016
The Perfect Retreat!

My wife and I rented Windwardside Main House back in 2007 and enjoyed it so much that we went back again this year for a winter getaway! It is the perfect retreat with fantastic views and lots of privacy. The great house is perfect for dining and the covered porch is a wonderful place to sit, relax, watch the birds feeding, and enjoy the view of Coral Bay! The bedroom is perfect and the outdoor shower is a real treat! I particularly enjoyed the courtyard and hot tub to unwind after a day of hiking and snorkeling.

We highly recommend Windwardside for anyone looking to stay on the 'quiet side' of the island. Susan and Diane are great to work with and I am certain we will be back again in the near future!

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5/5
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on Apr 06, 2016
Wonderful last-minute getaway

We rented Windwardside cottage with five days notice after finding their discounted rate on Home Away. Diane did everything possible to help us get to the house. We were met by Bruce who gave us a thorough introduction to the island and escorted us to this great house atop a rough but fun dirt road.
If you're confused about the "two house" thing, don't be. This is just like renting a two-story house -- with bedroom/bath upstairs and livingroom/bath/kitchen/dining room downstairs. It's just that the stairs are open and the floors aren't directly on top of each other.
The house has everything one could think of - we cooked in breakfast and dinner and packed lunch to take as we explored the island in our 4x4. The kitchen lacked for nothing and the dining room was stacked with a great library of books and DVDs. Reading years of guest comments and perusing the St. John books helped us decide what to do each day.
The views from the porch and hot-tub are as described. The place is extremely private - we could occasionally hear but not see the couple staying at the guest house next door.
I would recommend following the owner's recommendations regarding transportation to the island and auto-rental on-island. We were picked up by a Warren of the transport company (holding our name when we got off the plane) and within 45 minutes of landing we were on the Red Hook Ferry. 20 minutes later, we were met in St. John by Bruce, who took us the car rental place, explained the three-road town, took us to the grocery store, and led us across island to the house. He gave detailed 4x4 instructions and made sure we knew the "must see" places on the island map. Really amazing service! The couple staying that the guest cottage next door went their own way, using taxis, renting on St. Thomas and taking the car ferry -- all were mistakes and, though they landed on St. Thomas at the same time as us, they arrived at the house seven hours later.
We didn't eat much food on the restaurant, but do recommend Coral Bay standby's The Tourist Trap (lobster rolls) and Vie's (conch fritters).
For beaches, we recommend Little Lameshur (gorgeous and private), Salt Pond (hike the Ram's Head trail and snorkel) and Maho - shallow, and easy for learning to snorkel. We swam with sea turtles there.

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5/5
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on Apr 06, 2016
We had a wonderful Honeymoon!

We LOVED our stay at the Windwardside main house. The pictures are very accurate and it is a wonderful place to get away from it all. The location on the east side of the island by Coral Bay is great for those who want to get away from the more "tourist" focused scene in Cruz Bay. We found the people in Coral Bay to be extremely friendly and the restaurants were the best on the island. Plus, the proximity to Salt Pond and Little Lameshur beaches was great since we like less of a crowd. I highly recommend this villa and hope to stay there again in the future. We're hoping to rent both the main house and guest cottage sometime in the future with friends. It's a perfect set up for two couples to share.

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