I have been traveling to St John for 25 years and just discovered my favorite home to rent. Marathon is better than it looks in photos. It is meticulously maintained and has all of the amenities needed for a perfect vacation. The layout is perfect with the pool on the main level as the kitchen and dining area. It was also nice with young children because the two bedrooms upstairs were close enough that everyone slept great knowing we were not too far apart.
We will definitely be back ????

We have stayed in numerous villas in virtually every location on St John over the years, but Marathon is by far the best and will become our new home away from home in the Caribbean. The views, the privacy, the outdoor entertainment area, the amenities - all excellent. It is the first place we have stayed where it is a tough decision to leave or stay at the villa all day. Would highly recommend this villa to anyone visiting the island or considering a visit.

Shawna was excellent throughout the process and keeping us informed on COVID policy changes prior to arrival. Her recommendations for villa provisioning - Landlubber - made our arrival exquisite and truly relaxing.

My husband and I recently worked with Shawna at WheretoStay and rented Marathon Villa for the week of 02/18/25/22. We had read online reviews of Marathon as well as did our due diligence prior to renting Marathon Villa. We were absolutely elated, from the moment we entered the villa. This villa is immaculate, only four years old and the layout of the home and the location, high above Great Cruz Bay, in a gated community, with its convenient location, is terrific! The views are beautiful and the sunsets are gorgeous!! Marathon has great outdoor and indoor space as well as the landscaping is the most outstanding you’ll find on St. John. (We have been renting on St. John for 15 years). Marathon Villa is our favorite villa by FAR, and we have stayed in some beautiful villas, but Marathon supersedes any other villa. This is our new “go to” villa on St. John. We will be returning in the future!

Shawna was the consummate professional. She provides excellent communication and was an absolute pleasure to work with not only securing Marathon Villa rental but she went out of her way to help us the day we were checking out of our previous villa (we were fortunate to have rented a different villa, the prior week in Rendezvous Bay. NOTE: We ended up preferring Marathon Villa as it exceeded our expectations!) and moving, late afternoon, to Marathon Villa. We did not have a rental car the day of our move, therefore, we had nowhere to store our luggage until we could get into Marathon Villa. We knew this was an unusual request, but Shawna helped us tremendously by allowing us to store our luggage for several hours so we didn’t have to lug it around the island the day of our transfer. This was going above and beyond customer service!!!! Thanks again, Shawna!! The service you provided was flawless!!

The villa exceeded all of our expectations. The view is incredible, and the villa itself was ‘top notch’ with everything you could want or need. The layout was perfect for 3 adult couples allowing enough privacy for everyone. Perfect outdoor entertaining space. We appreciated the use of beach chairs and coolers. We truly had a vacation full of memories and can’t wait to return!

Excellent she answered all of my questions quickly and everything went smoothly.

Absolutely beautiful Villa!!! The Villa was exactly as presented. Stunning views!!!

Betsy is amazing!!! She was extremely thorough and very responsive throughout the process. Betsy is a true professional! We will definitely connect with her again!

We stayed at villa with our family, party of 5. It was amazing. We had plenty of room and privacy. The views were breathtaking. The villa was set up perfectly. The outdoor area was just stunning. Pool was absolutely amazing. We spent most of our time in the outdoor area. The bedrooms had privacy and were very comfortable. The kitchen was amazing, more then enough room as we used the kitchen often. The family room was also stunning and very comfortable. Views were amazing no matter where you were in villa. We didn’t want to even leave villa, as you felt so comfortable.
We felt like royalty with our stay at Marathon. Thank you for letting us stay at the most amazing house on the Island.
We will definitely be back.

Working with Shawna at wheretostay was amazing. We were supposed to leave in 2019, but because of covid we had to cancel and reschedule. Shawna was understanding and made us feel comfortable about everything. Her expertise was so helpful. From the moment we started to look at staying in St. John and finding places to stay, her advice was great, she was always eager to answer any questions we had.

Wheretostay was amazing. There concierge service was great. Sharon helped out with everything. From transportation from airport, rental car advice to excursions and much more..they had everything covered. We even had a greeter (Nakira who was also so helpful) meet us upon arrival at island. We can’t say enough about how wheretostay handled everything on our vacation. We definitely will be using them for every vacation.

We have stayed at many villas on island but this one I would definitely return to (which I never say). It is spacious, comfortable furniture and bedding, and outstanding outdoor entertainment area, top notch finishings everywhere and an excellent view. I just can’t enough about this home. We loved it and will return!

Shawna was wonderful to deal with and set me at ease with the pandemic and all. Catered Too (on island management) are doing a fine job. The grounds are well maintained, home was clean and our greeter Nakira was very pleasant.

Incredible views and high quality describe this villa. It is well maintained and very comfortable. The Bluetooth capable stereo provides for relaxing music while enjoying the pool and the sunshine.

Andrew was excellent. We added a day to our original booking and he was very helpful in making this happen on short notice. Excellent communication.

Marathon was every bit as good as the pictures. As soon as you walk through the front door, which leads to the outdoor area, you’re greeted by endless views of blue water and sailboats in the distance. On a clear day, we could actually see all the way to Puerto Rico.

The house was stocked with everything we could possibly want or need. Beds were comfortable and because the house is with concrete walls, privacy was not an issue. The main house is beautiful and takes advantage of all the views from the living room. The grounds around the house were expertly landscaped and we spent a few hours looking at all the flowers and shrubs. We even discovered an orchid growing out of the side of a palm tree. Mind blown!

St John was as beautiful as we hoped and we visited just about every beach on the island, as well as several others on neighboring islands. The roads in St John are the best of any island we’ve visited which makes driving not as much of a “white knuckle” adventure as it does on islands in BVI. Restaurants are top notch but can be tough to get into without reservations. So, plan ahead.

Last, but not least. The great people at WhereToStay were first class during the entire booking process, planning and were standing by if we needed something while on the island. Special shout out to Abby, our host that met us at the dock. She was informative as she was entertaining.

We will definitely to using WhereToStay again in the future!!

Betsy, Sharon and every person I spoke with during the booking process, the week leading up to the trip and during our stay were all Fantastic.

It was definitely the best villa I stayed and a great location . I recommend it for any family with small kids

We had an amazing stay at Marathon Villa in January 2021. The villa is beautifully built and impeccably maintained with high end Thermador appliances, Caribbean style furnishings, extremely comfortable beds and the best view on island. Centrally located, we were 10 minutes from Cruz Bay, 20 minutes from the north beaches and everything we needed in between. Our stay was enhanced by the excellent service provided to us by Shawna Dunaway with Where To Stay, in fact, we were hesitant to stay in a villa that was not along the water, but she recommended this villa and assured us we would not regret it. She was right! Our stay was 17 days and we watched the sunset every night, from the comfort of our outdoor living area…I’ve been frequenting St John 2-3x per year since 1992 and this, by far, is the best sunset view on island. We have already booked our return trip for 2022 and have locked in the villa for 22 days!

I’ve been looking for a travel partner like Shawna for quite some time. Shawna is very responsive, knowledgeable and a joy to work with! She will be my go-to source for all my island stays from now on. 5 Stars & 2 thumbs up!

The same as last year. Marathon was wonderful - great views of St. Thomas, well equipped, and comfortable furniture. We enjoyed eating out by pool and actually only went out twice. We will come back to Marathon again.

WhereToStay is always great.

It is hard to say anything negative about this villa. It is new, clean, and modern. We felt very much at home, and you won’t find a better place on the island to enjoy the sunsets. We like it so much that we are booking Marathon again next year!

Shawna Dunaway is wonderful. She is highly professional, and she adds a lovely, personal touch. I have recommended her to my friends, and I will always reach to her for ideas on where to stay in the Caribbean. She extended herself above and beyond when we were unable to stay at the villa during our expected time. Shawna is a love, and she was very helpful, compassionate, and understanding.

Great views, great layout, wonderfully furnished, nicely equipped kitchen. Because it was so well done and a great view of St. Thomas, we only ate out 3 nights.

Working with Shawna couldn’t have been better.

We had a group of three couples visit Love City during Carnival and, besides myself, no one else had been to St. John. Needless to say, every one of us absolutely relished in the beauty of the island and the grace of the people. What made it even more special was our stay at Marathon. It was perfect for three couples, as all three bedrooms provided complete privacy, ensuite bathrooms, and spectacular views of Great Cruz Bay, St. Thomas, & neighboring islands. All three bedrooms, which are very nicely appointed, are separate from the well-organized indoor living space and kitchen. The outdoor space and associated views are breathtaking. I’m not overstating this when I say that my wife gasped when we walked through the doors. It is many times better than what is shown in the pictures. Marathon is also in a great area to explore the entire island. We took our daily drive “down and up the hill,” to explore - approximately 10 minutes to town, 20 to the north side beaches, and 30 to Coral Bay. I could go on… if you are looking for a St. John home base that is a well-appointed, fantastic space with easy access, incredible views, with an infinity pool, Marathon should be your choice! It will be ours again, God willing. Cheers!

My experience in working with WhereToStay and Shawna was nothing but fantastic. She is extremely organized, well-communicated, and provided a ton of assistance and great suggestions. I have already recommended her to a few friends and will be reaching out to her when we return - hopefully soon!