Mooncottages NOW in Dominican Republic! SEE OCEANFRONT VILLAS
Call Janet (773) 724-0109 or
Brian (917) 678-5315
A most glorious day at Mooncottage, St. John USVI
Before you consider coming to the Virgin Islands and staying at one of our romantic getaways villas, there are a few important things you should consider. Please read the following so that you can reduce surprises and more accurately manage your expectations:
You have been warned — please book a romantic getaways vacation villa at your own risk!
Rum and Coke View
OK … yes, believe it or not this is really one of the spectacular ST John Villas views where you can sit back and and enjoy the spectacular Coral Reefs of the Virgin Islands. Right from your Plantation Chair here in front of you is Hurricane Hole – a Federally protected area and part of the Virgin Islands Coral Bay National Monument. Think about it, Mount Rushmore underwater right in front of you as National Parks go.
And, believe me, sitting still and sipping something cold is always an option worth considering. My advice to people coming to the Virgin Islands and to one of our romantic ST John villas the first time is not to “over plan.” Get here first. Relax, the first day. Look around. Smell the atmosphere up here in this pristine area of Coral Bay. Move slowly. Listen to the wind and sea. But, most of all, realize that the best place to visit might very well be the place you are sitting.
But now, after a little while at one of our ST John Villas, your natural instinct to explore will gradually take over the urge to be like a Caribbean couch potato enjoying the incredible ST John vistas from any of our villas. So, after you’ve had enough of the beauty up here in ST John 500 feet above the water, it’s time to go down below a few feet into the water. If you look to the right of this photo just to the right of the post, there is a low spot in the island chain. That is Haulover on the East End of ST John and one of the best snorkeling spots around. On the side closest to you (the right side of the road when you get there) is less challenging snorkeling. Follow the coast either way and enjoy! But, on the Tortola side of this low area where ships used to be actually “Hauled over” from one side to the other, is Haulover North. This more challenging area is great for snorkeling in deeper water. Be sure you go out on a calm day to explore, earlier in the morning is usually better. Slip and swim and dive above and through the myriad of living coral animals below you and see large schools of fish everywhere. Be sure not to miss taking a deep breath and diving down to explore the quite cool below and feel like a fish.
All in all, there, the Virgin Islands has more than 372 miles of coral reefs. And, some of the best you’ll find right here on ST John. Most all of our villas have all the snorkel equipment you need to enjoy the coral reefs below. Yet the reefs are greatly in need of our protection. You can play a key role in preserving these fragile natural treasures, by following these essential guidelines:
Practice safe and responsible diving and snorkeling. Do not touch the reef or anchor your boat on the reef. If you go boating near a coral reef, use mooring buoy systems when they are available. Contact with the coral will damage the delicate coral animals, and anchoring on the reef can kill it, so look for sandy bottom or use moorings if available.
Don’t touch! Keep your fins, gear, and hands away from the coral, as this contact can hurt you and will damage the delicate coral animals. Stay off the bottom because stirred-up sediment can settle on coral and smother it.
Dispose of your trash properly. Don’t leave fishing any kind of litter that pollutes the water and can harm the reef and the fish. If you see trash left by other people, pick it up.
Report dumping or other illegal activities. Environmental enforcement cannot be everywhere, and your involvement can make a big difference.
Don’t start a live rock aquarium. Although this living rock is still harvested legally in some places, its collection is devastating to the reef organisms’ habitat here.
Never feed marine life. Fish feeding has been shown to alter the natural community structure of the reef. Allow the fishes to eat their natural food.
Support conservation organizations. Many of them have coral reef programs, and your much-needed monetary support will make a big difference. A good starting point is The Nature Conservancy.
Thank you for your mindful support of the Virgin Islands’ coral reefs.
Hi Everybody,
We’ve been away for a while. But, we’ve been busy improving our Mooncottages ST John Villas site making it far more user friendly and fun to use. Now it’s easy to check real-time villa availability with a new calendar function that works on any mobile device like your iPhone or equally well on a desktop computer. Best of all it syncs with HomeAway and VRBO! So, if you were looking at one of our romantic ST John villas on one of those sites first and then came over to www.mooncottages.com, you can still see which dates are available for your special vacation, honeymoon or anniversary.
Mooncottages NEW Rental Rate Quotation Calculator
In addition to that, now you can also get an accurate price quote for your favorite dates in a matter of seconds. Please always feel free to call us directly for any questions because we like to talk to every one of our villa guests before their vacation to ensure that every detail is right. But, this little pop-up function makes it so easy to get a price for your Couples Villas vacation.
Mooncottages Request Reservation Function
Finally, fast and easy to Request a Reservation. We’ll get back to you right away to discuss any and all details with you as well as to answer any of your questions.
Mooncottages villas are growing, and we’re beginning to add a few new select villas to our portfolio of Romantic ST John Villas and Caribbean Couples Getaways. As you probably know, finding smaller, cozy villas that feel “just right” for couples and still have the quality and amenities you’re looking for isn’t easy. So, this is what we want to do for you! Hook you up with only those romantic villas that are really suitable for couples. Yes, some of our villa are a bit larger than say our enchanting and petite little Teahouse Treehouse , but they were all cleverly designed to be scalable, and feel romantic and cozy even if it’s just for the two of you.
So, log on … www.mooncottages.com and give it all try. Or, bookmark us for later when you start planning your long awaited Caribbean vacation for two or Anniversary.
Don’t vacation in ST John USVI unless you know some important stuff that will keep you looking cool and feeling like a local–and always wear PLENTY of sun screen when at the beach.
Enjoying Trunk Bay Beach ST John
So you’re planning your long awaited ST John romantic villas vacation, wedding, or a secret rendezvous here. Fantastic. Because by the way, there’s no place in the world better to vacation than the Virgin Islands and ST John in particular. Why ST John? Well, for those of you have traveled a bit, you know that although the Caribbean Islands are exotic, sexy and wonderfully natural, they can sometimes have a little “edge.” That’s why guests love the Virgin Islands because its so smooth and relaxing by comparison.
For example, I love Jamaica very much–the people the scenery and ambiance. But, after a while I stopped going there because of this “edge.” For those of you who have been you know what I’m talking about. Here on ST John and in the Virgin Islands in general you won’t find that edge. Just a whole lot of beauty and fun.
Sea Turtle
ST John is 2/3 National Park which protects it from most nasty expansion and development by law. Even the water is protected! Wonderful little creatures can be found swimming around the reefs for your enjoyment–ask them to pose for you. Mooncottage, our flagship ST John villa is incidentally is located directly on the National Park border. I mean directly ON the border … when I first saw the Google Earth photo I really couldn’t believe it, but its true. So, you’ll have no finer natural experience at an luxury Caribbean villas vacation, than here nestling right up to the edge of mother nature.
Gray Pelican taking off in Francis Bay, USVI
Now, here’s your opportunity to learn a little more about the Virgin Islands and learn a little local ST John island facts that will make you look and sound like you’ve been here a thousand times. See if you can identify the correct answers:
1. Hawksbill, Leatherback and Green are the names of:
a. Sea turtles
b. Parrots
c. The oldest Law Firm in ST John
2. Fire, Staghorn and Brain are types of:
a. Sea grasses
b. Rock
c. Coral
3. If you go to a bar in Coral Bay ST John, do I dress in:
a. Cowboy boots
b. leather pants
c. Flip Flops and a beer
4. The Virgin Islands’ time zone is Atlantic Standard time, which is________ hours ahead of New York.
5. When visiting Coral Bay ST John on your way to Mooncottages, what is the “Triangle.”
a. The place where all locals congregate and get blasted
b. The turn into Coral Bay right by the Moravian Church
c. A store that sells small bikinis
6. True of False? You must drive on the right in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and on the left in the British Virgin Islands.
7. The best way to experience a fantastic Mooncottages ST John villas vacation would be to:
a. Call Brian our General Moonager at 917-678-5315
b. Call your friends and ask them to be jealous
c. Call your mother and say you won’t be home for 2 weeks
Answers:(1) b (2) c (3) c (4) 1 hour except in summer, when the Virgin Islands and east coast of the U.S. are on the same time. (5) b (6) False; driving on the left is required in both territories (7) ALL
When it comes to Romantic Couples Getaways, all of you–young or gently seasoned, married or still considering, happy or little bored, homespun or well traveled have one thing in common. You are a “couple.” That means 1+1 = Life. Somewhere on the surface or maybe just buried a wee bit deeper inside, you know that maintaining a romantic lifestyle is a very important thing–and couples getaways can help. If you live in one of our colder climates, it’s difficult to maintain that romantic flame when you are simply struggling with the elements. This is why warmer climate people are so warm and romantically sexy methinks. Their lovers are spending less time shopping for overcoats and more time thinking of cool romantic things to do to with their other half.
With that being said, when it comes to Romantic Couples Getaways, St. John USVI offers amazing choices. Not only is it a pristine, safe and gorgeous island, but there are lots of fun things to do for those hyperactive city dwellers that can’t slow down that quickly. In St. John, there is hiking, snorkeling, dining, and sailing and the most beautiful freaking beaches on the planet. Bar none.
So, where do I stay? Good question. There are a couple of nice hotels here on the island. The Westin and the venerable Caneel Bay for example. However, they are still rather pricy for what you get. For the same money or less, you can get yourself a villa rental on St. John with your own private pool, amazing view, seclusion, ambiance, a kitchen and much, much more. Mooncottages Romantic Luxury Villas are known as a benchmark for romantic couples getaways. They are designed either to be petite and perfect just for couples. Or in some cases, are larger more extravagant villas that were cleverly designed to be cozy for couples nonetheless.
The benefits of staying at a rental villa on St. John are too many to count. Among them, privacy, views and the freedom to play without seeing or being seen by another soul. Mooncottages St. John villas are especially noted for their privacy and seclusion and the guest reviews over the years from sources like TripAdvisor, HomeAway and from the villa’s guest book tell the story best.
Be yourselves again. Find yourselves again. Remember why you became a couple in the first place. No matter what your taste, St. John and it’s many romantic luxury villas can show you how.
Rainbow miracle from Mooncottage
Rum and Coke on the Deck of Mooncottage
A villa with a view- Villa Solemare
Mooncottage’s Teahouse Treehouse
What can we say about Stephan Scholz except that is our favorite St. John master woodworker and friend who is almost singularly responsible t all of the amazing woodwork you will see if you stay at one of our Mooncottages.
Today is the day! Mooncottages launches our new romantic ST John Villas website. Although this website may look somewhat like our legacy site, there are many new improvements behind the scenes that you’ll enjoy. For example, right away you’ll notice that we now feature more than one Mooncottage. Of course, our flagship property Mooncottage: St. John’s Most Romantic Villa is still featured front and center. For over 10 years Mooncottage has welcomed over 380 guests from around the world to this romantic St. John villas getaway and it just keeps getting better. But, with so much response over the years to our romantic villa rental model catering to couples, we are now featuring other very special romantic St. John Villas that fit our demanding criteria for:
In addition, we obviously feature amazing photos of all of our romantic St. John villas. The site works with all mobile devices and computing platforms. We now have real-time availability calendars to all of of our properties online, so you can check your vacation dates right away. But best of all, now you can make a booking reservation online and HOLD your favorite vacation dates automatically. Of course, you can always still just call me as usual (‘cuz I get lonely). I love to hear personally from all of my villa rental guests year after year and have the pleasure to meet our new guests every day.
Other features of the new Mooncottages website that you’ll find helpful, especially for first time guests, are the scores of 5-star reviews from Trip Advisor, HomeAway and our own Guestbook Journal … all in one place to browse what others have said and enjoyed. And finally, the Mooncottages Blog that are reading right now is new! We’ll keep you posted on special offers and things happening on St. John and you can keep updated by simply liking us on Facebook or Twitter because that’s how we distribute our Blog posts.
Well, that’s it for now. We have all sorts of other new and exciting plans for the site and Mooncottages in the coming year. I’d love to hear from you. And, just in case you know of any other romantic villas in the genre of Mooncottage from anywhere in the world, please reach our to us at brian@mooncottage.com and tell us all about it. You never know, you may soon see it here.
Kindest of regards,
Brian
General Moonager
On St. John, great little cozy places to stay are very hard to find. We know this, because Mooncottages has been in the business of delivering romantic coziness for over 10 years. Well, this year, we decided to open up this other great little studio for 2 called the Teahouse Treehouse. It’s hidden in the trees, but has a magnificent view that is open to the world. We’ll continue to show more photos throughout the coming weeks. We are scheduled to launch the Teahouse Treehouse around the holidays.
We’re launching not only our new Mooncottages website, but our Mooncottages Blog with all sorts of new and interesting articles and stories about exciting and magical things to do on or around romantic St. John, USVI and the Caribbean at large. Mooncottages represents the most romantic villas on St. John for 2 and our guests have come to expect something exceptional when they stay here–and we never disappoint them. Nature helps us out a lot too though. St. John is truly a magical island in every way. From up on top of the hill around the corner from Coral Bay where this magnificent photo was taken at Mooncottage the weather conditions are never the same. Please visit our new Mooncottages Blog often where the views are never boring.
Enjoy!
