Do you rent to more than one group at a time?

No. While our open floor plan looks like we could rent to individual couples or small groups, that is not how we rent Great Expectations. We rent to only one group at a time and only charge for the number of rooms utilized. If only 3 couples are coming and you use 3 rooms, you are only charged for those 3 rooms and the rest of the villa is yours to use.

As the property manager owners, we reside in the Owner’s Suite (off to the side of the compound with its private driveway, patio and pool area) but will vacate for groups that want all 8 bedrooms and aren’t willing to overflow to one of our neighbors.

Is the pool kid friendly?

Great Expectations actually has 3 pools. The Guest House has a small white pool that is 4’ deep and has large steps on one end. The original pool is actually 2 connected triangle pools: one is 1’ deep for small children (or super ‘relaxed’ adults) and the other larger one is 3’ deep for children (or again, relaxed adults). The newest and largest ‘infinity’ type pool is 4’ deep and has a 1’ deep bench along the closest-to-villa edge.

Do I need to bring my hair dryer with me?

Negative. We have electric hair dryers in the bathroom off each bedroom for you to use while staying at Great Expectations as well as many other amenities.

Can we host a dinner at Great Expectations for our friends or family staying elsewhere?

We strongly advise against doing that; Great Expectations, or whatever villa you choose to rent, should be your home for the week and not the site of a party for folks not staying there. We know of no villa on St. John with indoor seating, dining, parking or bathrooms to accommodate comfortably more than the people staying at the villa. Case in point: with 8 bedrooms, Great Expectations is one of the largest rental vacation villas on St. John and while we have 8 ½ bathrooms, all the bathrooms except for the half-bath off the Great Room are accessed by going through someone’s bedroom (many villas insist upon renting porta-potties for parties which you definitely do not want to do in the tropics!). Even if you are okay about lots of people going through your bedroom to use your bathroom, there is the challenge of having sufficient indoor space to accommodate everyone comfortably; while it is romantic to think of a beautiful outdoor dinner with guests sitting around rented round tables with soft candlelight under a starlight sky, even if no one minded spraying themselves with bug repellent, what will you do if a sudden Caribbean rain squall joins your dinner party?

We do however allow for special events (rehearsal dinner, wedding reception, corporate dinner, brunch) with up to 1 outside guest per person staying at the villa for a maximum of 32 people. We charge an event fee of $1750 for this and require that all plans be reviewed and approved by us 1 month prior to the event.

Are chefs available to provide dinners at the Villa if we feel like spoiling ourselves?

Yes. There are many chefs and catering services on island that have and will prepare meals at Great Expectations. We have a couple of favorites who have been pleasing our guests for years.

What is the Time Zone in the US Virgin Islands?

Atlantic Standard Time. During the spring and summer months we are on the same time as the U.S. East Coast. When the clocks fall back in the autumn and winter, the USVI remains an hour ahead. However, you are on vacation so the unofficial time while on St John is definitely 'island time'!

Will we need to bring supplies such as toilet paper, beach towels, etc.?

We have tried to anticipate having waiting for you all the amenities you could possibly need to enjoy your Caribbean vacation. All you definitely need to bring is your spouse, kids (maybe), parents (be nice to them), friends and any well-behaved family. Great Expectations is equipped and stocked with everything else you will need except for your clothes and personal toiletries. We try to have waiting for you plenty of toilet paper, soap, towels (including beach towels), linens, plates, glasses, utensils, pots and pans. We have washers and dryers available for your use with, assuming the previous guests have not used all our supplies up, laundry detergent and dryer sheets. We have dishwashers (with soap), outdoor BBQs (with propane) and a private basketball and tennis court (with basket balls, tennis balls and tennis rackets). We do not provide snorkeling equipment which can be rented by the day or week from one of the dive shops in town which have a much larger variety of sizes, than we could provide (and we have arranged for a discount for our guests). We do have free WiFi (Internet) but you will need to bring your own laptop computer (or there are a number of Internet cafes in-town where you can use their computers for a fee). We also provide complementary Netflix video streaming. Mother Nature will provide plenty of sun and the most gorgeous stars at night!

What don't you provide for your guests?

Not much. We do not supply toothpaste, body lotion, beer, wine, liquor, coffee, tea or food. There may or may not be any coffee or tea as well as suntan lotion but it depends on the largesse of the previous guests. We do not have a Keurig or other individual cup coffee-maker. We do not supply bottled water (the water from all the Villa faucets is filtered and purified by an EPA-approved UV system and probably cleaner than your water at home). We do not supply a car for you to use. What else? We do not provide telephones or TVs in the 4 Main Villa bedrooms (but there is a 65” LED HDTV in the Great Room and a smaller TV in the Denis and Jumbie rooms). We do not provide air-conditioning in the Great Room (all the other rooms are air-conditioned) because it is designed to be open, encouraging the flow of people from outside to inside with tiled patios on both sides (the Great Room does have a Big Ass fan -- seriously that is what it is called). We do not have a piano, billiard or ping-pong tables (we do have lots of outdoor toys including 3 swimming pools, hot tub and a basketball/tennis court).