From: paul.graveline@travel.com (Paul Graveline)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.caribbean
Subject: CARIBBEAN TRAVEL ROUNDU12
Date: 29 Sep 92 14:27:00 GMT
Article-I.D.: travel.1324.168.uupcb
Reply-To: paul.graveline@travel.com (Paul Graveline)
Distribution: world
Organization: Travel Online / St. Louis Online - St. Louis, MO

(continued)
When  you  call,  try to have a good idea of which island you want and  
what  you  want to pay. A problem with renting a villa is that, unlike  
hotels  which have fairly standard amenities, every villa is different  
and   there  is  a  vast  range  of  amenities.  Some  companies  have  
informative  brochures or flyers on their listings, while other don't.  
Typically,  when  you  first  call,  the  agent  will  quickly  try to  
determine  your  interests and budget and will then send you brochures  
on  properties  which  meet your need. The more experienced agents say  
they  can  "sense"  what  houses  are right for their clients and send  
information  on  only  two  or  three  choices, claiming that too many  
alternatives will only confuse the prospective client.  
 
--  Caribbean  Destinations,  800-888-0897 in the U.S., (504) 834-4511  
elsewhere,  and fax (504) 834-4524. These folks are friends and former  
clients,  though  I have no financial interest in whether anyone rents  
with  them  or  not.  Ask for Leslie or Maria, tell'em I referred you,  
and  I  believe  they  can  really  help  you.  They  are based in New  
Orleans,  have an operation on St. Maarten and specialize in villas on  
St.  Maarten,  St.  Barths,  and  Anguilla , priced at $800 to $8,000+  
weekly  
 
--  At  Home  Abroad,  212-421-9165,  a small but well-established New  
York-based  operation  with  a  lot  of  nice  listings  all  over the  
Caribbean, mostly quite expensive.  
 
--  WIMCO,  800-849-8012,  one  of  the  larger rental companies, esp.  
strong in St. Barths.  
 
--  The  Condo & Villa Authority, 800-831-5512, more oriented to lower  
priced  properties,  and  often works through travel agencies. On most  
every  island there also are local people, usually real estate agents,  
who  rent  houses  just  on  that  island.  For example, on Saba, Ruth  
Hassell,  phone  599-462299,  has  8  or 10 houses and apartments from  
about  $200  to  $900  a  week  (Ruth is a Dutch anthropologist, and I  
recommend  her  highly).  Most of the island tourism organizations can  
provide  a  free  listing of villas or villa rental agents. Other good  
sources  of  villa  rental  information  are  ads  in  the Villa Guide  
section  of  Caribbean Travel and Life Magazine, and classified ads in  
the  Sunday  New  York  Times  Travel  Section.  Many  hotels  in  the  
Caribbean  also  offer  villa-type  accommodations  as well as regular  
hotel  rooms. Good luck ... let me know if I can be of further help. I  
also  have  some friends who own private homes in the Caribbean -- one  
owns  a  nice small cottage on Cayman Brac, available at an attractive  
rate, for example. 
 
The  Caribbean  Travel  Roundup  is available worldwide via Compuserve  
and   INTERNET   and   is   distributed  internationally  through  the  
facilities  of  GENIE, The Travel On Line BBS (Lake St. Louis MO), The  
Travel  Board  (Dallas,  TX) and Mnematics Videotex. Selected features  
appear  on  Prodigy. Contact: Paul Graveline, 9 Stirling St., Andover,  
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