My boyfriend and I just returned from a trip to St. Thomas Virgin Islands this past weekend (stayed for 7 nights), and I have to say, I was skeptical about renting a condo at this property after reading many negative reviews. I originally read a review which mentioned a property manager by the name of Rita, who has very nice units. I emailed her to see if any of her units were available, and she said they weren't, but she knows someone who also owns a unit there whose condo would be available for our scheduled vacation. I researched reviews and found them to be very positive; we emailed the owner, Boris, to verify if his unit (St. Martaan Building, Unit 202) would be available, and how much he was asking for. He emailed us back quickly, provided his website, answered all of our questions and provided advice about the island.


We were instantly satisfied with everything we found out, and mailed him a check for the entire balance (even though he only asked for a small down payment). A few weeks later, he emailed us details of the unit and instructions on how to locate it from the airport (we chose to take a taxi since we arrived on the island around 8:30pm, and didn't want to drive at night, on the left side of the road, in a place we weren't familiar with.... most taxis charge a standard rate from certain points of interest to other locations, so they can't overcharge). After informing the taxi driver where we were headed (Sapphire Village Condos, at Sapphire Beach, he knew exactly where to take us). Once we arrived at the property, we stopped by the "Grapevine Grille" bar/restaurant (decent food & drinks) which is on the property by one of the pools. Later, we walked 2 minutes to the building and unit. We were pleasantly surprised at the cleanliness, modern furniture and amenities we were offered. It's a studio unit with a clean, comfortable murphy bed which sits in a modern cabinet in the living area; there's a nice glass top dinette set; island style sofa & love seat; small kitchen with an electric stove, refrigerator and all of the dishes and cooking utensils you'll need on vacation; a 20-inch color TV with cable.... too much to mention here, but it was a very lovely place, and we felt totally comfortable and happy for our entire stay there. There are 3 ceiling fans and an A/C unit which we didn't have to use very often. Upon daylight the next morning, there's a great view of 6 islands from the balcony, where we enjoyed breakfast twice; other mornings we went out early to sight see or travel to St. John Island. Also, there's a laundryroom on the opposite side of the building, but beware, you have to buy tokens from the office when they're open (between 8:30am - 4:30pm), washing is $3.50 per load (Yikes!) and drying is $1.50 for 45 drying in the smaller dryers. The marina is a 2-minute walk down a slight hill, and Sapphire Beach is a good 5-minute walk from the property. If we ever travel back to the Virgin Islands, and Boris still rents his unit, we'll definately try to stay there again. His website is stt-vacation.com.


The property on the outside looks fine and it's pretty clean. Nice, clean pools too.



Sapphire Village is also just a mile away from Red Hook, which is where the ferry service is located, a grocery store, gas station, banks and a few good restaurants.

First trip to St Thomas. We booked through a travel agent, a package deal. I guess you pay for what you get. We stayed at Sapphire Village Dominica Bldg. Room 318. We are not picky, the room was allright, but the unit we had needed repairs. The airconditioner was freezing cold. We could not adjust temperature. We even tried to unplug it but that would have meant to pull the whole receptacle out of the wall. The outside of the unit was on the balcony. So when we tried to sit outside to enjoy the view, it was like listening to a freight train the whole time plus the heat from the unit made it even hotter than it already was.
The beach was beautiful, but be aware if you stay at the village, you have to pay 7.00 for each lounge chair at the beach. I did not think that was right since we where staying at part of the property, its not like we were tourist from the cruise line.
The food was very bad and very expensive. The taxi's are expensive to get into town. The grocery stores are very expensive too.

My husband and I were in St Thomas this past January, compliments of a birthday trip from parents, who provided airline tickets and a weeks stay at a privately owned condo. The condo was managed by a lady named Rita and her husband Gerry, who were most helpful. I phoned Rita in advance to inquire about the need of a rental car (she said we needed one, cabs are very expensive on the island), and to ask her what I needed to bring. Rita explained that the condo had everything we would need, and emailed me driving directions from the airport to the condo. She also emailed me info on grocery shopping (our condo had a full kitchen), and included restaurant info. Once we arrived at the condo at Sapphire, Rita met us and showed us all around the condo. There was an information packet prepared for us with ferry info, local attractions, water sports- lots of helpful items. The condo was very clean and attractive; island decor, and updated recently. Linens were fresh and nice. Rita had obtained a parking permit for the week for us (required by the condo association), and really went the extra mile to insure we had a wonderful vacation. She has a website, Condo Del Mar, and she told me she had other units, although I highly recommend the unit we were in, which overlooked the marina and was only a short walk to the sandy beaches of Sapphire. I had read bad reviews of this condo area, but found our experience to be one of the best! We were back in St Thomas last month on a cruise ship, and took advantage of a shore excursion recommended by Rita (a snorkel sail to St John with Interlinesail), which was another great experience. When booking St Thomas, you can't go wrong with Rita and Condo Del Mar at Sapphire Village.

We blindly went to this location due to the lack of availability of other hotels. I must say that we were pleasantly suprised. This location was wonderful! The beach is beautiful, there are boat tours/waverunner rentals available at this location, and everything that you could possibily want within a few miles. I recommend taking the "safari" bus instead of renting a car. The food on the island was average, but the activities were phenomenal! Try the Eco tour--which was a kayaking/hiking/scuba diving tour and cost about $75--completely worth the money. Also, take a boat ride to the british virgin islands--it was beautiful. Taxi's are expensive, but try to utilize the public transportation system. The room was average; but included a kitchen/stove/refrig/microwave, so if you're trying to save a few bucks, go to the local market.