WhereToStay.com's Review
This Caribbean villa has a huge pool and cabana with its own sand nearby. Inside, decorative stone walls are lit with candlelight, creating a romantic feeling across a long, dark wood dining table that moves into a comfortable living room, perfect for groups of people to meet and enjoy each other's company. The formal dining room is nice, but a fun kitchen allows for friendly chatter with whoever wants to cook. Spacious bedrooms with classic palm-leaf ceiling fans are great for relaxing after a long day with friends. Visitors to A La Mer are sure to appreciate its architecture.
Villa Description
Situated on over one acre of waterfront land behind an electronic gate landscaped with tropical flowers, foxtail, and coconut palm trees, À La Mer's large-scale design is a combination of both colonial West Indies and classic St. John. It incorporates French antique terra cotta roof tiles, St. John shell- and stonework, and aged brick, to create the exteriors, and inside, a well-designed floor plan flows well, providing lots of space for everyone's comfort. Every custom detail, mahogany cabinetry hand-carved in Honduras, lovely tile design throughout, cypress ceilings, designer island decor, artisan lighting, botanical art prints, and a bounty of features and amenities for guests' enjoyment make this a luxurious yet beach-casual villa. À La Mer is a unique Caribbean villa experience for family and friends. This estate resides within several stately palm trees and offers what is, arguably, the largest private pool on St. John.
Within of À La Mer, the Main Villa takes center stage, with the pool and cabana, bordered by a faux white-sand beach set with chaise lounges and a fire pit brazier. The fully air-conditioned two-story Main Villa has seven bedroom/bath suites and a well-proportioned Great Room with high arched windows and stonework crafted in the classic St. John style. White slip-covered sink-into sofas and chairs are grouped around the Great Room to accommodate a large party, and a mahogany dining table for 14 is near a model yacht in full sail.
Adjoining the Great Room, on the other side of the tiled entry foyer, is the large gourmet kitchen with a Viking range, a center island, lots of countertop space for several cooks, and a convenient pass-through window to the outdoor poolside dining area. The kitchen area also offers a wet bar with a beverage cooler and ice machine; behind that is a powder room looking into a walled garden.
Beyond the kitchen is the family room, a space for lounging with a large flat-screen TV and a table for cards or games. Screened French doors open out to the front of the house from the family room, to À La Mer's outside front patio which features a fountain. On the other side of the family room, more French doors lead out to patios and pool. A hallway leads past the large laundry room to two of À La Mer's king bedroom/bath suites, both of which offer ensuite baths and screened French doors opening outside to small covered patios and to the pool beyond.
Twin mahogany staircases ascend from either side of the family room to À La Mer's upper floor, where five more air-conditioned bedroom/suites overlook the pool and yachts at anchor on Great Cruz Bay. These suites all enjoy central air-conditioning, large ensuite baths tiled in charming designs, and via screened French doors, each having its own balcony. One of these five upstairs suites is À La Mer's master suite, a larger suite with a king four-poster bed, a private roofed patio with seating, and a bath. The master bath features a double vanity, a separate WC with a bidet, and a semi-alfresco double shower in glass tile and travertine. The other four suites have four-poster king beds and ensuite baths (the corner suite has a tiled semi-alfresco shower). Two of these suites have a connecting door between them, ideal for parents who wish to be near their children. At the top of one staircase is an alcove with a desk and a printer, and a two-twin trundle bed for extra guests.
Outside the Main Villa on the Great Cruz Bay side is À La Mer's shaded poolside terrace, furnished with upholstered seating for watching the kids in the pool, reading, or napping, and a large round table under a roofed pergola for alfresco meals. The pass-through from the kitchen is incorporated into an adjoining counter lined with bar stools. This outdoor living area, where guests will spend most of their time, also has two gas grills (one of them built into a garden patio), a ping-pong table, and a deck with cushioned chaise lounges for sun worshippers.
The pool is unique. It has a four-inch deep shallow shelf, perfect for sun loungers and for small children, a waterfall, and is bordered on the ocean side with a "beach," a strip of white sand set with more chaise lounges and a stone fire pit. The pool also features a swim-up bar with underwater bar stools at the pool cabana, a poolside entertainment pavilion with large-screen cable TV and DVD player, plus a wet bar with icemaker, beverage cooler, and dishwasher. An electronic shutter rolls down at the touch of a button to secure the pool cabana when not being used. The pool cabana also has a powder room and outside shower.
For experienced divers, there is access from the waterfront into Great Cruz Bay for snorkeling. You can also visit The Westin Resort's white sand beach further down the Bay, about a 10-minute walk away.
À La Mer's Cottage is off to the side of the Main Villa, and on its upper level, offers a secluded fully-air-conditioned apartment suite, complete with a full kitchen, a bedroom with two queen beds and bath, a double-twin trundle bed in the living area, and a porch outside covered by latticework. The Cottage's garage contains beach chairs, coolers, and a washer and dryer for guests' convenience.
Additional Amenities
Cable TV (a 62" flat-screen TV in Great Room, 51" flat-screen TVs in blue family room + in pool cabana, 32" flat-screen TVs in all bedrooms; all TVs have a DVD player); play CDs and Blu-Ray DVDs in Great Room on Bose surround-sound system; iPod docking station, Sirius satellite radio + Pandora, movie + music collections, books, games; full central A/C throughout entire Main Villa and Cottage; Wi-Fi throughout property (inside and outside); upstairs alcove in Main Villa serves as an office nook with a DSL line for your laptop, all-in-one printer/copier/scanner/fax + answering machine; gourmet kitchen with Viking 6-burner stove, 2 ovens, 2 dishwashers, wet bar with icemaker + beverage cooler, and a pass-through to outside dining patio; hair dryers + bathrobes in all suites, safes for valuables in all bedrooms + in kitchen; binoculars, 3 washing machines + 3 dryers. IN COTTAGE: full A/C, complete kitchen with dishwasher in upper apt. suite; washer + dryer on garden level.
AT À LA MER, FOR ALL GUESTS: OUTSIDE: outside speakers, 3 hammocks, 2 gas grills. Pool cabana with swim-up bar, 51" flat-screen cable TV + DVD player, wet bar, icemaker, beverage cooler, dishwasher, powder room, outside shower + electronic roll-down shutter; waterfall in pool, pool volleyball, pool floats, foam noodles + pool games for children; basketball hoop, bocce ball, horseshoe pit, shuffleboard court; white-sand "beach" area with fire pit brazier; ping-pong table; outdoor patio with a fountain and seating for smoking; automatic generator, manually-gated driveway entry. INSIDE: full-size wooden crib, nylon Pack 'n' Play crib/playpen, highchair, baby monitor + assorted toys; exercise mat + ball, and small set of weights; coolers, fold-up beach chairs.
Rental Notes
HEADCOUNTS ALLOWED FOR ADULTS + CHILDREN: at A LA MER, a maximum of 18 adults ONLY will be accommodated in both the Main Villa and the Cottage ("adults"are anyone 16 years old or older) - no exceptions, please. Children under 16 years old ONLY may use the small two-twin-trundle beds in the Main Villa's upstairs alcove and/or in the Cottage's apartment living area, at an additional cost of $420 per child,per week. If your group has more than 18 adults + 4 children under 16 years, please ask us for special permission to bring extra kids...we will ask the owners for their approval on a case-by-case basis.
1 to 14 guests (using 7 bedrooms, with possibly 2 additional guests [children under 16 years only] using the upstairs alcove's 2-twin trundle bed, at an additional $420 per child, per week) will have use of the Main Villa only. Use of A La Mer's Cottage apartment suite is added to the Main Villa for additional guests. THE COTTAGE IS NEVER RENTED SEPARATELY TO ANOTHER PARTY.
Sorry, no functions can be held at the villa.
