“We traveled to St. Croix last year with a group of six people from Los Angeles- all of us were first timers to the island and had happened upon the villa through a friend's recommendation. We had booked 7 days, and were all pretty excited about our destination choice. Here's a brief summary of how our vacation unfolded after our arrival:

Arrived at St. Croix airport 10:25 am. Greeted by Phillip, super nice guy, good start.

We drove twenty minutes or so and arrived at the gates of the house on the north side of the island. Already the group is excited, the route there is really beautiful, and the area the house is in is even more beautiful. Hills dropping into the ocean, gorgeous Caribbean-blue water for miles...

The grounds of the house are perfect. We walk through the front door...wow! 180 degree ocean views looking out of the living room. The house feels as though it's floating on the sea. We walk through the main living room and out onto the patio The waves are lapping into a natural coral reef pool just below us. Okay we say to ourselves, we're in love. Can you be in love with a house? The answer is yes!

The following 7 days we explored the local area by foot, by car and by horse back (yes, there are horses just down the road for hire). We never strayed more than a mile or two from the house. Serene beaches, scuba sites, a beautiful hotel/resort, a great golf course and a few great beach side restaurants/bars all within the immediate area, yet undeveloped and beautifully remote at the same time.

This vacation ranks very high on our top ten list, and we're all experienced travelers. Our only regret after 7 days at Sea View Play...that we didn't book it for 14 days!”

The Millers & Friends

Los Angeles, CA

“The Sea View Play Villa is amazing! We spent 10 days there and could have easily stayed for another 10. The house and property are spectacular, with incredible sunset views from the deck every night, and the soothing sound of the gentle waves just outside my bedroom door was the perfect antidote to the noise and hectic pace of city life.

St. Croix is the Caribbean's best-kept secret. Perfect weather every day, and so much to see and explore. We will definitely be back!”

Mary Gormley

New York, NY

“I wish there were a word for beyond perfect, because it would be the only one to come close to describing our ten day stay on St. Croix in the spectacular north shore villa at 121 La Vallee. You know all those vacations you dream of that somehow always fall (at least a tiny bit) short of expectations? This definitely wasn’t one of them.

From the moment we deplaned at the St Croix airport (after a convenient 45 minute flight from San Juan) the Everything’s-Gonna-Be-Alright wheels were in motion. The rental car agency rep was there to greet us and personally take my husband to pick up our rental car. By the way, the cars are American but the rules of the road are British (you drive on the left); sitting in the passenger seat takes a bit of getting used to. Also at the airport was Phillip, the villa’s wonderfully genial and knowledgeable manager/concierge (the go-to-person for absolutely everything you might need, want, or wonder about on St Croix) waiting for us with a smile, a game plan, and the keys to nirvana.

We followed Phillip, who thoughtfully led us to the local supermarket before heading across the island to the villa. We bought a few essentials—essentially bread, wine, snacks and cheese—and were good to go.

There are many ways to get to the north shore. We drove all of them during our 10 day stay but the most dramatic by far—and the one Phillip used for our island initiation—was the narrow, rough, and breathtaking Scenic Drive over the mountain. That first view of Cane Bay when you come over the top of the mountain is unbelievable...”

“When we arrived at the villa, I went into ohmygod mode before we even opened the gates. Gorgeously landscaped palms, agaves, and flowers—hibiscus, bougainvillea, frangipani—were everywhere. The architecturally impressive white house with its pristine azure blue trim looked the epitome of casual luxury. And it was.

The main house has two wings, each with its own kitchen and living room, and an ocean-facing deck all around. There are magnificent sea views from virtually every room. There’s also an artist’s studio, a separate guest house, a coral rock pool that is continually filled by the ocean, where you can relax, swim, and watch the waves without worrying about undertow or scary fish. We were the only ones staying there, so it was like being at a private hotel resort with all the comforts of home and then some. (Looking up at the stars from the deck at night was like having our own planetarium!) The king size bed was super-comfortable; the linens and towels plush. Everything we needed was in the house, from small kitchen appliances, beach chairs, snorkeling equipment, and water shoes (in all sizes) to wi-fi, cable TV and a well stocked library. Exploring the island was glorious, but sitting in the great room at the house with the ocean-facing double doors open, the breeze flowing through, and listening to the swoosh of breaking waves was bliss. Beyond perfect.

The north shore, known for great scuba diving and snorkeling (which we are not), hosts plenty of breezy, no shirt-no shoes-no problem eateries—many in walking distance from the house. We liked Off the Wall (great burgers and pizza) and Spratnet (Suzy served dynamite Painkillers and Bushwhackers…must-taste rum drinks).

For amazing Caribbean Lobster (unlike the Maine variety), the Lobster Reef can’t be beat.

Our favorite restaurants for dinner in Christiansted were Bacchus (NYC flavor in an old Danish house), Kendricks and Savant (we requested outdoor seating and the ambiance was great.) For lunch, the nachos at Luncheria won hands down.

In Frederiksted, we fell in love with the Blue Moon bistro. The menu was terrific and the jazz music was great. We got to chat with former Yankee ball player and home town sports hero Horace Clarke who sits in with the jazz group on Wednesdays and Fridays. Sandcastle on the Beach was equally wonderful—especially at sunset. (The night we went, the jazz group we’d met at the Blue Moon was playing there. It was like running into old friends.) Le St. Tropez was a gem of a French bistro tucked in a courtyard, and eating on the candlelit patio was deliciously romantic. For lunch in Frederiksted, we hit the open air Turtles Deli where the sandwiches were as delicious as they were HUGE. Outside of Frederiksted, our on-the-beach favorite place was the alfresco Sunset Grill. The quesadillas and drinks there were fabulous. Not far from there, while cruising through the Rain Forest another day, we grabbed lunch at the Montpellier Domino Club—a dirt-floor thatched hut—where we found and fed their famed beer drinking pigs. (You toss an unopened can in the pig’s mouth, he chomps, drinks it and spits out the can. You might think you’re above seeing beer-drinking pigs—but you’re not.) We also bought a bottle of Mammawanna Spiced Rum, owner Norma’s home-spiced brew. Yum.

We didn’t do a lot of shopping, but I made sure to go to Sonya’s in Christiansted to get the official St. Croix Hook Bracelet. We did, though, do a lot of sightseeing around the island—loving the magnificent vistas that come into view at every new curve in the winding mountain roads—marveling at the diverse vegetation, the fascinating termite nests, the Tarzan vines, the mongooses, iguanas, burrowing crustaceans and diving sea birds; taking time to stop at sugar plantation ruins, visit the forts, tour the Cruzan Rum Distillery, the Whim Plantation Museum, drive to Point Udall, the easternmost point in the United States, talk to the locals, and scope out all the key resort beaches for photo ops and/or drinks. It was all wonderful. But at the end of the day, literally and figuratively, coming home to 121 La Vallee was by far the best of all.”

Hester Mundis

Olive, NY