WhereToStay.com's Review
Sugar Bay House can comfortably hold up to four couples, and it's the ideal size for a large get-together or family reunion. A stereo system gives you the chance to listen to your favorite music, and the formal dining room works to host a reception, especially if you want to use the outside barbeque to provide the meal. Board games and a swimming pool give you unique reception game options, and the gazebo offers the chance to relax once the party is over. Aside from hosting an event, the villa has the modern amenities needed to make the start of a honeymoon relaxing.
Villa Description
Sugar Bay House is a 4-bedroom, 4.5-bathroom hilltop villa that links St. Croix's intriguing past with today's most modern lifestyles. This charming, West Indian Great House embraces a 40-foot private pool and overlooks the sea with a view of the Salt River Bay where Columbus arrived with his fleet in 1493.
Enter through double gates of solid mahogany to an outdoor gallery surrounding the custom-shaped pool. Here, catch up on your reading in a colonial planter's chair under the shade of palm trees, or stretch out on one of three cushioned lounge beds and enjoy the sun or the stars.
From the pool area, Harry's Bar leads into a Danish yellow Great Room and dining area with a window wall facing the Caribbean. Shutters lower at the touch of a button if guests decide to darken the room for a movie and an armoire entertainment center is complete with DVD/VCR, iPod docking station, satellite television, and even Sirius radio. Ahead is the kitchen with all the culinary gear one might need.
The villa's bedrooms all face the pool through individual French doors and are decorated in subtle tropical hues with tasteful classic West Indian-style furnishings. All four have private baths and air-conditioning to use if you wish, though island trade winds will provide natural cooling. You'll appreciate thoughtful touches provided for your stay: bath amenities, beach towels, even Sugar Bay House dressing gowns.
Running the length of the pool are three bedrooms. Two have twin beds that can be converted to kings, the first in pink with a shower/tub bath and the second in blue with Wedgewood accents. The third bedroom, with mango theme accessories, houses a king-size four-poster bed.
At the end of the pool, steps lead up to the fourth bedroom's pavilion with pale lime green walls, a queen-size four-poster bed, and tester canopy overhead. This suite has its own wet bar with refrigerator, and another set of French doors to a patio.
A breezy gazebo is ideal for lunch in a bathing suit, complete with a handy grill and speakers for background music. And, at cocktail time, Harry's Bar is irresistible; it's your own private poolside pub with a gleaming mahogany bar and four barstools.
Rooms feature high, beamed ceilings, traditionally employed in island residences for centuries, and throughout the house are finely-crafted mahogany furnishings inspired by the plantation era, including hand-made local tiles in Danish yellow. Look closely and you'll see inlaid accents carved from authentic ballast brick brought to the island on 19th Century sailing ships that carried sugar and rum back to Europe.
The villa is ideally located at the center of the island's north shore, an easy drive to either of the island's two colonial towns, Christiansted or Frederiksted, for shopping, sightseeing, and fine dining. And just minutes away is Cane Bay, a spot favored by locals for its diving, snorkeling, and beachfront restaurants.
