My husband and I arrived at Villa Margarita after a less than perfect stay at another cottage on St. Croix. We were so thrilled with Villa Margarita, from our drive out along the Salt River Bay to our entrance into the home through a large and spacious foyer, that we wished we had booked our 8 nights at Villa Margarita instead of only 4 nights!!! Villa Margarita has a gorgeous location on a small cliff above the Caribbean Sea, which catches the most delicious breezes and affords both sunrise/moonrise and sunset views. On the multi-tiered decks below, a refreshing pool overlooks the lushly landscaped grounds and the beautiful reef.

Our warm and inviting welcome from both Adele and John, the husband and wife team who own and operate Villa Margarita, and their beautiful dog Blade, set the tone for the rest of our stay. An island cocktail hour hosted each evening by Adele and John gave us the opportunity to relax and meet the guests staying in the 2 other guest suites. As an aside, John makes the most delicious and potent Margaritas I have tasted in quite sometime!

We stayed in the East Suite, which is located on the second floor of the house and contained a small kitchen with everything you could possibly need to make a meal or a frozen island concoction and a lovely bath with a sliding door onto a small balcony with great views. A large sitting area with a dining table, chairs, couch, cable TV and DVD/CD player had sliding doors opening onto a long balcony. The balcony, shared with the West Suite yet extremely private, provided stunning views of the Caribbean Sea. With a small table and chairs for lounging, it was the perfect spot for a sunrise coffee or some late afternoon reading. The bedroom was off the sitting area, with plenty of space and its own set of sliding doors to the balcony and gorgeous views. Ceiling fans took advantage of the constant ocean breezes and kept the entire suite cool. If it felt warm at all we had a very quiet air conditioner, which would cool the suite down in a matter of moments.

Each suite (and the house as well) was immaculately clean and beautifully decorated in a different color and theme. Our suite had colorful parrots as the motif and our rooms were comfortably furnished in soothing tones of sea green and accented with bright tropical flower prints and wall hangings. We even had a colorful parrot hanging over our bed , which swayed back and forth in the wonderful breezes. Our bath was supplied with an abundance of extra fluffy towels and an exceptional line of bath soaps and lotions. We were also provided with high quality beach towels, chairs and coolers if we needed them.

Adele and John were the absolute perfect hosts, as they offered wonderful insight on St. Croix, where to go for entertainment, what local restaurants to dine at, beaches to visit, etc. They even invited us on several evenings to share in some island entertainment. We accompanied Adele and John to the Rainbow Beach Bar outside Fredericksted one evening, to hear Kurt Briggs Schindler who put on a fabulous one-man show! A perfect evening with a lovely sunset, great music, dancing on the sand and meeting some other wonderful residents of St. Croix, courtesy of Adele and John, who themselves, are a most interesting and fun couple.

Villa Margarita was the perfect ending to our adventurous and amazing 2 week visit to St. Croix. We would come back to both St. Croix and Villa Margarita in a heartbeat. You will not find more gracious hosts than Adele & John anywhere and Villa Margarita is hard to beat for value and amenities and its' beautiful location. We would say it is "Pure Perfection"!

Sheila & Ted from NJ

I highly recommend staying at the Villa Margarita. I meant to write the review some time back, but life gets so busy when you're not on an island. Yes we were tourists, but staying at the Villa Margarita did not feel touristy like some of the huge resorts do. The studio we stayed in had a beatiful view of the pool and ocean. We lucked out when we stayed there and had the pool all to ourselves! The Margarita hour was the icing on the cake when Adele would server us our choice of island drinks. Adele chatted with us especially during margarita hour and suggested some of the most worthwhile locals and restaurants on the island. You don't get the kind of personal touch from the front desk at a hotel. We hope to go back again some day! Viva la Villa!
Warm regards, Randy & Andie

I have been to St. Croix many times but just discovered this wonderful gem! This is a secluded property with such a relaxed atmosphere. John and Adele have truly made this a grand escape. The decorating is very tasteful. The rooms are spotless. The generosity they show their guests is heartfelt. The niceties and little extras really make it that much better. The view of the ocean is breathtaking. I could go on and on. Suffice it to say, I'm sure that Villa Margarita will have a lot of loyal repeat guests, myself included!!

I must begin by expressing my regret in the delay in posting this review. As a medical student and an army reservist my time after our vacation has been “busy” to say the least. Nevertheless, I have found the time required to truly articulate the marvelous experience my girlfriend Blair and I had while vacationing on St. Croix. After spending any amount of time reading reviews, one quickly realizes that the destination seems to have minimal bearing on the quality of the experience. In fact for any given travel destination there are vacationers who walk away happy and those who walk away unhappy. So what determines one’s level of satisfaction? Although there’s a lot that’s factored into a successful vacation, I submit to you now that there is none more important than the accommodations.

With that I will review our experience at Villa Margarita and its impact on our vacation. Our arrival rolling down the short but picturesque incline was heralded by the soft crunching of gravel that tipped of Blade (the gentle but ever vigilant head of security) and Adele. The lack of development, noise, commercialism, and population made our arrival at the “hotel” seem more like a first visit to a friend’s new house. The impromptu introductions and tour of the house and property seemed relaxed and unrehearsed. In fact, John (Adele’s husband and co-owner of Villa Margarita) temporarily suspended some cosmetic yard work to have a Heineken and shoot the breeze. This reinforced the theme of familiarity as it reminded me more of my house on a Sunday then a place of business. That being said the folksy feel did not preclude a commitment to professionalism.

Within seconds of entering The East Suite, I felt I was walking into brand new accommodations. The degree of cleanliness was especially impressive when considering the amenities included kitchen appliances such as stove, microwave, refrigerator, and blender. If I had been told that we were the first guests to stay in the suite it would not have surprised me, it was that new looking. We were advised that due to our late arrival that “Happy Hour” would be extended accordingly. After settling in, our arrival at the “tiki-style” pool-side bar marked the beginning of many experimental Crucian Rum based drinks that were typically chosen by flipping through one of Adele’s handy island-drink guides. Nevertheless, anonymity can be maintained if one were so inclined (as evidenced by the neighboring suite’s guests who slipped quietly into their room after a simple “goodnight” was issued from the balcony overlooking the pool deck).

The flexibility and friendliness of our hosts was no more obvious than the first night when they invited us to join them for dinner on the other side of the island. They even drove allowing us to “ENJOY” the night even more as we danced and drank the night away listening to some local six-string talent on an open beach bar that was close enough to the water to hear the small tide roll in and out.

Although Blair and I had a long week of activities planned including diving, hiking, and some strenuous on-beaching napping, each day we benefited from John and Adele’s recommendations on everything from safe places to park, cheap dive shops, beach food, and the best place on the island to watch a pig drink a beer.

Our final night on the island probably sums our experience the best. Due to a late (barely late) arrival at the airport, we were not allowed to board our plane. This resulted in a boat-load of contingency headaches not the least of which was that we were stuck on the island with no place to stay! We called Villa Margarita to see if they had any availability for one night. I should preface the following lines with a caution that this is probably not Villa Margarita policy and one should not go there demanding this degree of generosity and attention and this should more likely be viewed as a commentary on the types of people one would be doing business with. Adele picked up the phone, apologized for our misfortune, assured us we had a place to stay, and then (after learning that we had already returned our rental car) sent John out to pick us up reassuring us that John would have us at the airport (on-time) the following day! Shortly there after John arrived at the airport packing a “first-aid” kit consisting of chilled domestics ready to restart our vacation and lessen the blow of missing our flight. That evening John and Adele insisted on taking us with them as they dined at a local favorite Italian pizza joint. Needless to say, there were many things that added to or detracted from our fun, but Blair and I can honestly say that our vacation was a great success thanks to our choosing to stay with Villa Margarita. And finally, it is no exaggeration when I say that our vacation left us with not only many memories but two new friends (Oh, sorry Blade…three new friends.) Robb and Blair