Property ID 993523, “Turquoise Waters”:
Booking the unit was simple and effective. I am skeptical of the need to pay the entire price two months in advance and will look for options in the future.
Pro’s:
•The entrance has easy access to the parking and the pool.
•The owner responded promptly to messages and acknowledged previous damage that we communicated shortly after arriving.
•Maintenance of the unit is adequate.
Con’s:
•There was significant / annoying traffic noise.
•The orientation of the building is such that there was virtually no breeze through the unit despite having all the windows open.The only window that would likely provide airflow was sealed off with plastic sheeting which always made noise.
•The AC in the master bedroom is extremely noisy.
We usually left the AC off during the day. However it was necessary at night (little/no breeze inside).
•The binder for guests, “User’s Guide”, seems out of date which was only a problem when trying to establish Internet access.
The appropriate Internet access was only discovered after a couple of days when we decided to spend some time sleuthing rather than vacationing.
•Internet access, after discovering the proper SSID / password to use, was intermittent.
Other routers (parking lot; poolside) gave us more consistent results.
•Maintenance of the unit is adequate.
However, certain things were not maintained or done so incorrectly. Unfortunately, after being informed of these things and acknowledging (as mentioned, above) the owner echoed them back as reasons to withhold the security deposit.
•My wife and I inspected the unit upon initial entry and again immediately before leaving to return home.
I can say with confidence that one thing mentioned as a reason for keeping our security deposit (the only item we didn’t report to the owner very early on) did not exist when we entered or vacated the condo. I'm omitting specifics because all the items are simple and should be repaired in short order. Unfortunately, due to their nature and the response, thus far, from the owner and VRBO the only thing I can recommend is to take detailed photos of EVERYTHING including every wall.
•4 days after our return I still have no response from the owner regarding the damage claims and only the standard menu-driven help from a VRBO chat. Unfortunately, as it stands now I would recommend finding another nice place (of many) to stay while visiting St Croix.