usvi-on-line
Villa Rates - Number of Persons vs Number of Rooms
Villa Rates - Number of Persons vs Number of Rooms
Taking our 3 children down with us to STJ next year and as I look at villa offerings, the following question arises - Some villas list rates per person, some by the number of bedrooms you use. The girls are thrilled just to be going, so 3 to a bedroom or a couch for 1 would be fine. The part that gets dicey is when looking at 3 bedroom places, you may see rates structured as 1-2, 3-4, and 5-6 persons while others will be 1,2, and 3 bedrooms. I understand that extra people = extra costs for utilities and water, but a place I was interested in jumped from 2500 to 3100 for going from 2 to 3 bedrooms.
Does anyone have any insights or experiences using only a portion of a 3 or 4 bedroom house using a per bedroom pricing structure?
Does anyone have any insights or experiences using only a portion of a 3 or 4 bedroom house using a per bedroom pricing structure?
Hi Steve! We usually go with villas that set the price as 'per person'. Almost fell into the 'per bedroom' trap a few years ago. My thinking is that if I choose to sleep downstairs, instead of in the Master bedroom, I should not have to pay more. And if I decide to switch rooms, for whatever reason, it shouldn't cost extra. Last time, we did just that as the first room we picked out had 'something' that was trying to chew it's way inside. I have no idea what the heck it was, but didn't want to find out at 2:00 AM...... 
Genral
GenralNo matter where you go, there you are.
I can't offer any information on the per bedroom structure but I am interested in hearing others' experience.
For the next trip, one villa counted our son in the headcount and a different villa did not. This was within the same agency and I was told it was the owner's decision as to allow (or not) kids to double-up or share a parent's room free of charge.
Having him included (or not) will definately impact our choices after this year.
For the next trip, one villa counted our son in the headcount and a different villa did not. This was within the same agency and I was told it was the owner's decision as to allow (or not) kids to double-up or share a parent's room free of charge.
Having him included (or not) will definately impact our choices after this year.
no insight here either but we are thinking of taking our niece next time, likely not until 2009. so I have been looking at places that might work for us - party of 3 but 2 bedrooms needed.
In Nov. 2 of us are staying at Villa Capiz for $2400. If we wanted to take the niece it goes to $3150. However, for that same time period (low season) I could stay in Bongo Bongo for $3150 for up to 4 people.
Those #'s don't seem to add up to me! I'm not judging Capiz because I haven't been there but I'm guessing at that price, given my choice, I would go with Bongo every time.
In Nov. 2 of us are staying at Villa Capiz for $2400. If we wanted to take the niece it goes to $3150. However, for that same time period (low season) I could stay in Bongo Bongo for $3150 for up to 4 people.
Those #'s don't seem to add up to me! I'm not judging Capiz because I haven't been there but I'm guessing at that price, given my choice, I would go with Bongo every time.
The younger kids are frequently free - that's worth checking. I have not seen a per room fee, but the agencies we work through almost always have tiered pricing based on the number of people. We frequently put a deposit down for 6 people and then increase the count to 8 when the last couple commits.
Cheers, RickG
Cheers, RickG
S/V Echoes - Coral Bay - St. John, VI
We've rented from CV and Dest STJ and they rent by the person. This makes WAY more sense to me. I don't understand the whole bedroom pricing thing.
What, are the bedroom police going to bust in on you if you decide to sleep downstairs instead of upstairs?
Personally I would go with an outfit that sticks to the per person pricing and just choose a villa that fits your price range per person.
JM2C.
What, are the bedroom police going to bust in on you if you decide to sleep downstairs instead of upstairs?
Personally I would go with an outfit that sticks to the per person pricing and just choose a villa that fits your price range per person.
JM2C.
*Another fine scatterbrained production
Seaview homes charged us per person. We ended up not using the two lower bedrooms so it was kind of a waste of money. Not their fault...I thought there was an inside stairway and there wasnt, so my bad. This time we are using Star Villas. They charge a flat fee for 2 people. Each additional person is $30 a night extra. They are only charging me $15/night for my son who will sleep on a roll away bed. I thought that was very reasonable.
Sometimes owners will lock off bedrooms or, in the case of a pod arrangement, only provide keys to the main house or whatever has been booked. I've also seen listings where upon arrival you are to walk through with your villa greeter and decide on your accommodations, then the remaining unchosen bedrooms are locked off. I like options but the per person or per bedroom thing always seems to work against us - seems we always seem to pick the villa with the wrong pricing structure for that particular trip - lol. Had an issue one time where we paid for all bedrooms in the villa and had two singles sharing one room. That room happened to have a queen bed and a queen sleeper so the singles also used the sleeper - owner was not happy, felt we should have paid additional to use the sleeper. That was a per bedroom, not per person, price so oh well. (Last time renting that villa.) We also only commit to lowest number of people to secure the villa and send the deposit accordingly, adjusting when final payment is due. I have just been investigating villas in the Turks and was surprised to see optional a/c - "metered at the end of your stay and a bill presented upon departure". I've seen a few up charges in villa listings for pool heaters in the VI high season but sure hope charging for a/c is not in the future.
I happened to be looking at Bongo again recently and noticed their rate went up again! I'm keeping my mouth shut from now onmbw1024 wrote:no insight here either but we are thinking of taking our niece next time, likely not until 2009. so I have been looking at places that might work for us - party of 3 but 2 bedrooms needed.
In Nov. 2 of us are staying at Villa Capiz for $2400. If we wanted to take the niece it goes to $3150. However, for that same time period (low season) I could stay in Bongo Bongo for $3150 for up to 4 people.
Those #'s don't seem to add up to me! I'm not judging Capiz because I haven't been there but I'm guessing at that price, given my choice, I would go with Bongo every time.
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villa_owner
- Posts: 23
- Joined: Fri Sep 08, 2006 1:23 pm
Although we currently do our villa by the number of people - I have often thought about switching to the by the bedroom thing. Why? Because unfortunately some people "fib" about the number of people staying at the villa so they pay the lower rate. If I did "by the bedroom" pricing and locked off the others, then these fibbers won't be able to get away with it so easily unless they want to bunk up in one room! It happens more than you would think.
Besides the obvious more guests = more water use, more utilites, etc --- It also costs more for us to have extra bedrooms cleaned (epsecially if they house needs to be turned over the same day = extra housekeepers), wash and dry sheets, extra towels, etc. when all bedrooms are used. If they were locked off, then we could be sure everything was still clean for the next guest.
My favorite? I had one couple stay in our multiple bedroom villa, where they managed to sleep in a different room every night, use all the towels in each and every room, ran the a/c in all the rooms at all times, and lord knows what else. It was like having a house full of people for only two bodies.
My point is that the number we charge per person (or per bedroom) isn't just an arbitrary number - there is some reasoning behind it. And, there will always be people who feel entitled to try and get around it somehow.
Besides the obvious more guests = more water use, more utilites, etc --- It also costs more for us to have extra bedrooms cleaned (epsecially if they house needs to be turned over the same day = extra housekeepers), wash and dry sheets, extra towels, etc. when all bedrooms are used. If they were locked off, then we could be sure everything was still clean for the next guest.
My favorite? I had one couple stay in our multiple bedroom villa, where they managed to sleep in a different room every night, use all the towels in each and every room, ran the a/c in all the rooms at all times, and lord knows what else. It was like having a house full of people for only two bodies.
My point is that the number we charge per person (or per bedroom) isn't just an arbitrary number - there is some reasoning behind it. And, there will always be people who feel entitled to try and get around it somehow.
See, I never even thought of lying about it because I figured that whoever rented it to me would notice when my entourage showed up at the ferry dock. And I heard that they check in on you during the week and if you are caught lying it can be a steep penalty. So I never dreamed of fudging the numbers on how many people were staying in my villa.
Heck, I didn't even lie to pay a smaller deposit! Paying per person makes a lot of sense to me, but I can see how people take advantage of it.
Heck, I didn't even lie to pay a smaller deposit! Paying per person makes a lot of sense to me, but I can see how people take advantage of it.
I would never think of trying to sneak folks in, either - you have maids, gardeners, pool techs around almost every day at one time or other so it wouldn't occur to me that the owner or mgt co wasn't getting a report on what was going on at the property.
The thing about the owner being upset we made use of the sofa bed kind of rankled me, though, because the sofa bed was mentioned in the listing, the villa was priced per bedroom and there were no additional charges listed - like sometimes the listing will say "$XX additional for child sleeping in living room on sleeper" So, our singles used it but left extra for the maids as we figured we left addtional sheets to wash and another bed to make.
I'm sure the villa owners have tons of stories to tell about guests and what they have done. The mgt co had to put us in a different villa on STX in April because when the provisioner arrived she found the previous guests still there hanging around the pool way after checkout time, found that the fridge had conked out the day before but that they didn't think it necessary to report it - they were leaving) and found that these renters had used so much tanning oil that there was a slick on the pool surface and algae raging on the tiles. Yuck!
Bet there are some wicked stories out there -
The thing about the owner being upset we made use of the sofa bed kind of rankled me, though, because the sofa bed was mentioned in the listing, the villa was priced per bedroom and there were no additional charges listed - like sometimes the listing will say "$XX additional for child sleeping in living room on sleeper" So, our singles used it but left extra for the maids as we figured we left addtional sheets to wash and another bed to make.
I'm sure the villa owners have tons of stories to tell about guests and what they have done. The mgt co had to put us in a different villa on STX in April because when the provisioner arrived she found the previous guests still there hanging around the pool way after checkout time, found that the fridge had conked out the day before but that they didn't think it necessary to report it - they were leaving) and found that these renters had used so much tanning oil that there was a slick on the pool surface and algae raging on the tiles. Yuck!
Bet there are some wicked stories out there -