Ami La Vita Villa is a hillside gem! We are a family of six, with adult children from Chicago and London, who stayed at the villa between Christmas and New Year’s. The house was perfectly suited with space for us to come together, while providing enough room to carve out our own private oasis to rest and rejuvenate.

Shawna was fantastic, and helped us pick the perfect Caribbean location to meet our family’s needs. I would highly recommend WhereToStay.com and Shawna for any and all of your Caribbean travel planning.

We stayed 8 nights at Villa Anansi (2 parents and 3 teenagers) and had an amazing time. The outdoor showers are fabulous! We loved eating breakfast on the veranda overlooking the beautiful sea, as well as dinner there some evenings followed by games. We very much enjoyed using the beach bag, beach chairs, and cooler (provided at the house) when going to a different beach every day. It was a quick 10-minute or less drive into town, and only about a 20-minute drive to the beautiful North Shore beaches. The kitchen had everything we needed and there were plenty of pool/beach towels; the house is beautifully furnished, etc. My husband walked down to the small pebble beach every morning to swim while the rest of us had a lazy breakfast and packed for the beach. The layout of the bedrooms worked perfectly for our family. The pool, floats, half bath beside the pool, pool bar, and ample lounge chairs made for some relaxing and beautiful late afternoons and evenings at the villa after day outings. The view took our breadth every time we drove up to the villa and entered the front gate. The shower water pressure was quite low in the bedroom my husband and I stayed in (the one separated by a breezeway), but the view from the outdoor shower more than made up for it.

I had a top-rate experience working with Sharon and others at WhereToStay. We were always given full instructions and assistance, and we had no “hiccups.” Sharon was super at promptly responding to questions I had and gave us great advice and recommendations, in addition to just the villa rental. We tried several of Sharon’s dining recommendations and couldn’t have been more pleased. Check-in and check-out was easy. Upon arriving we found the fridge was not cooling properly, and WhereToStay had someone over to repair it within a few shorts hours, and had someone check the next day to confirm it had been fully corrected. I would definitely use them again and recommend them to anyone.

Ami La Vita is in the Klein Bay Area, which is a very nice and typically quiet neighborhood. We’ve stayed all across the island over the last 20 years, and Klein Bay is one of our favorite areas along with Maria Bluff. The only point to be aware of is the proximity of the new villa next door, Casa La Famiglia. The vegetation keeps the site private, however, conversations over a low voice are easily overheard from the pool deck and the outdoor dining area. Thankfully, our neighbors for our second week of the trip were relatively quiet, as opposed to the first week neighbors who were loud and boisterous. Once inside, there is no sign of your neighbors. The villa itself is very clean and well equipped, and has everything you need for a great St. John vacation.

Shawna is very attentive and quick with replies. A pleasure to work with.

Our family has stayed at other homes on st. john in the past that were older construction and a bit dated so we had high hopes for this newer property, Anansi, on Klein bay. And overall we were pleased subject to a couple of important caveats.

First off, the view is spectacular and we found ourselves staring at it all throughout the day. Kitchen and appliances were new and worked great. Beds were very comfortable and AC set at 75 degrees (only in bedrooms) worked just fine. Pool was great, if a bit on the small side.
Aside from the view, the beach access is the true highlight of this property. We found the walk to the beach to be steep, but simple, even for our 11 year old. The water was perfect, calm and extremely clear, but entering the water takes a little effort. No urchins on the shore, but still have to take your time to enter. Snorkeling was a delight in both directions. We routinely saw turtles and rays along with lots of fish.
The only drawbacks to mention: the wifi on the property is very slow and range is limited to only one upper bedroom. Coupled with the fact that the home is in a dead zone for AT&T wireless means cell phones/email/texting are basically impossible from this property. An unwelcome surprise.

Second drawback is the indoor living room furniture is uncomfortable and only has seating for 4 people. While we spent most of our days on the outside veranda or by the pool, it meant the nights were usually spent around the kitchen table due to the lack of other seating. A very odd setup given that the property has 4 bedrooms. A couple of comfortable couches would have made a big difference.

All that in mind, we definitely enjoyed our stay and now consider Klein Bay a hidden gem we would return to year after year. But seems unlikely we would return to Anansi unless the wifi were improved and a more comfortable indoor seating options were provided.

We’ve worked with Shawna in the past and our setup/arrival have always gone very smoothly, including this year. We would continue to book through wheretostay in the future.

Our best family vacation. We could have just sat with a coffee every morning or a glass of wine every night and looked out from the villa Anansi. The villa had all the amenities that were mentioned. Hair dryers, cards, games, floats, internet (slow though), ocean sounds, boat watching, tropical breezes and on and on. My wife always brings her “stuff” just in case but it was not needed. The only negative, was the “peppled beach” and the “easy” 5 min walk. This statement was very misleading. It is not a peppled beach. It is a “round rock” beach that really requires water shoes. You need to be in good - great shape to get to the beach and into the water by foot. After you make it in the water, the snorkeling and swimming is effortless and almost worth the effort. I did it 3 times during my 8-day stay. If it would have been easier I would done it a lot more. I will leave it at that.  I gave it 4 out of 5 only because of the beach and the walk.  In short, I would still go back in a minute.

Working with Shawna, @ WTS was great. Shawna stayed in contact right up to our departure. She gave recommendations as well as contacts and phone numbers for ferry’s / taxi’s / groceries. She gave the experience a very comforting personal touch.