My husband and I just returned from our trip to St John. We stayed in the Villa at House of Open Arms and it was fabulous!! Just as I expected! Loved the pool!! Everything that you may read about here on the website is absolutely true! Catherine is wonderful...very warm and welcoming and there to assist you in any way if need be. We had a very relaxing vacation and really enjoyed the villa...from the pool to just relaxing on the fabulous porch..enjoying the view. As others have stated, the meal Catherine prepares for you on your first night is fabulous! My husband was crazy over the potatoes! And just the setting of being out on the porch and the ocean breeze blowing..it just doesn't get any better!

My wife and I stayed at A House of Open Arms for the second week of our honeymoon. For the first week, we stayed in a much more expensive, all-inclusive resort. That was nice, but A House of Open Arms is truly special! It is much prettier than the pictures on the website and decorated very well. It is also very clean and well kept. My wife and I both agree that it is much more worthwhile to spend more time at a place like A House of Open Arms than spend less time at a more expensive all-inclusive.

Let's start at the beginning. Catherine met us at the ferry and took us to the grocery store. This was a great way to begin our trip because we were a little lost when we first got to St John and she helped us find our way. She was an extremely knowledgable and gracious host. She even helped push our Jeep up the driveway after I almost drove it off the driveway into the bushes.

We stayed in the villa, which is absolutely beautiful. Also note that the house is completely solar powered so you are also doing something good for the environment when staying here.

The road to her house is a long and a bit bumpy as it is not paved, but its worth it to enjoy the beautiful view and seclusion that the house provides. We also enjoyed the pool in the villa, which was excellent. At one point, no one was staying in the cottage and we got to use the outdoor shower, which, is one of the greatest outdoor showers ever built by mankind (or in this case womankind since Catherine basically built the whole house). When we return it will be very difficult to decide which unit to stay in because both are so beautiful and offer so much.

While staying in the Coral Bay side of the island we went to miss lucy's for the best grouper sandwich ever, sweet plaintains for a great dinner, and shipwrecked (which I would skip if we did it again).

Anyway, we fully recommend A House of Open Arms and can't wait to return.

We spent our honeymoon at the House of Open Arms, and could not have asked for a more peaceful, beautiful, fun, or more relaxing vacation. The Villa and the Cottage are both kept pristine and Catherine has done an amazing job making it a 5-star experience for her guests. The best part of everyday was coming back to the beautiful porch of the Villa to enjoy the calm, breezy evenings. Catherine was so helpful to us after having a canceled flight and lost luggage, by guiding us to buy some extra bathing suits for the first day and she had lovely organic shampoo and soap waiting for us at the Villa, so we didn't have to worry too much about when the bags would arrive. She also went above and beyond and offered an extra night in her house to make up for our lost day, because both the Villa and Cottage were booked! We actually booked our last night near the airport in St. Thomas which made for a less hectic return trip, but she really made the whole experience so much less stressful!! It was great to have someone who really knows and loves the island there to help you figure out where to visit or where to eat, and all her recommendations were great! Some of our best days were just hanging around the villa, listening to the eclectic CD collection, and enjoying the pool and beautiful breeze! I can't say enough about the Welcome dinner, or the delicious granola and coffee. This really is the ONLY place we would stay on the island and are certainly going to make a return anniversary trip to the House of Open Arms!!! Our words and pictures cannot do justice to the peacefulness and natural beauty of Catherine's creation!!

My family had a lovely stay. Catherine took good care of us and we certainly appreciated it.