St John Help

The newest villa in our rental portfolio - Apito, - is enjoying its first VIVA rental guests this week.  It was a long road to make this beautiful dream a reality. If you are thinking of building or buying on the island of St. John, you’ll find the Owner’s Construction Blog both informative and fun!

Accordng to the Owners, “Apito (Ah-pee’-toe) - The name is inspired by the language of the early inhabitants of St. John; the peaceful, Taino Indians. Roughly translated, it means “Infinity”, which both describes the view and the length of time many guests may wish to stay once they’ve discovered this fully air-conditioned, two bedroom pool villa hideaway”.

From the picture to the left, guess what Apito was ‘almost’ named instead

Apito is a fun upscale, yet environmentally sensitive property with a small footprint but designed for large living.  Welcome, Apito, to the VIVA Villas family!

It’s finally true, for all your VIVA Villas lovers. With your encouragement, we now have a Facebook presence and we invite you all to Become a VIVA Villas Fan! 

Our Facebook pages are a great place for guests to post photos of their vacation stay, and to keep up with upcoming events and changes on the island.  We hope this will become a useful resource for our local neighbors and visitors alike. From time to time, we’ll also start discussion groups, so you can share feedback with us and each other on topics that matter.

Soon, VIVA Villas will be unveiling our new generation website, putting you more in control over your vacation booking experience and providing more in-depth information regarding St. John. Stay tuned!

The VIVA Villas Management Team

This week in May marks the 6th anniversary of Empower Peace, a non-profit organization committed to bridging the cultural and communications divide between young people in the United States and young people in the Arab and Muslim world.  

Started by the Rendon brothers (also owners of Unicorn, a popular short-term rental villa here on St. John),  Empower Peace programs have connected over 50,000 young people from over 30 countries around the world since its creation!

They use the latest in web-based interactive technology and intensive leadership training to break down misperceptions and build meaningful relationships between participating youth. Through a global network of students and schools, Empower Peace is providing the next generation of leaders with the opportunities and tools needed to advance mutual respect, understanding and peace.

For more information, see  http://www.empowerpeace.org/

 Congratulations to Empower Peace from all your friends here in Love City and around the world!

 Looking for something to do on a Thursday night?  St. John has various activities on each night. Usually special events are posted on phone poles throughout town but you can also check out Connections in Cruz Bay to find out more about special events or the What’s Happening Magazine or the Sun Times-FREE in select stores on-island. Here are some top spots you shouldn’t miss:

 First try dinner at Café Concordia in Coral Bay. Café Concordia is a casual setting with a menu that changes daily and a killer view!  Wayne, a local reggae artist sings during dinner. His repertoire usually includes singing some classics that causes everyone to join in and bop their heads to the beat.  Next, it’s off to Shipwreck which also had some good live music. We’d like to see you try to resist their famous conch fritters and incredible dessert!

 Don’t forget to stop in to Island Blues which also has live music on occasion. Don’t be surprised about all of this live music. Coral Bay now has live entertainment that meets the needs of the casual music lover to the intense rocker in your group!

 In Cruz Bay, stop at Larry’s Landing-poor your own for your favorite beverage (try the Cruzan coconut rum and coke) while listening to their music medley,  meet up with some friends and enjoy the night out. Other watering holes with music include High Tide, Ocean Grill and Morgan’s Mango. What a blast-who says there’s no fun on a typical St. John evening….

Dolphin Market on St. John is working to make St. John a little ‘greener’ - and making it a bargain for you to help! They are offering free recycled shopping bags while supplies last. (You may have to ask for these).

When you shop, bring the bag, and anything you buy that you put in the bag will get you a 10% discount. We are so enamoured with the program here at VIVA Villas, that we’ve placed Dolphin Market recycled shopping bags in each of our managed properties. And, we’ve added signage so guests can understand the program and take full advantage of it.

Yes, this is just a tiny step forward in making our island ‘greener’, and more economical too, but every bit counts!

Governor deJongh signed into law Act No. 7015 on September 17, 2008. The Act No. 7015 is for taxpayers who are gross receipts tax filers.

Beginning September 1, 2008, taxpayers with gross receipts that are less than $225,000 per year are now eligible for the monthly standard gross receipts exemption, which has been raised from $5,000.00 to $9,000.00 per month, according to a press release from Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Taxable Receipts over and above $9,000.00 will still be taxed at 4%.

The old Act was gross receipts less than $150,000 per year could take a $5,000.00 exemption.

This is excellent news for many short term villa, condo or cottage owners on St. John. Short-term rental properties are considered small businesses and must be licensed as businesses and adhere to the GI gross Receipts tax laws.  

A lot has been written on mnany blogs and news sites about the prices of food on St John being higher than in the States or even on St. Thomas. But little has been written about variety. A few years ago, locals would snap up favorite brand items and hoard them, knwoing it could take months for the grocery shelves to be restocked for those items. In those days finding a stick of butter was sometimes like a treasure hunt, eventually yielding a single premium stick imported from Ireland. It was considered the norm to shop everywhere, buying a little here, and a little there and enjoying the socialness of shopping in a small town. 

Time have certainly changed!  So leave that frozen meat and can of coffee at home!

Starfish Market is certainly our largest market on-island, and with the addition of the wine and gourmet foods store right next door, that simplifies things. Also in Cruz Bay: 

• Dolphin Market has a surprisingly large number of gluten-free products, frozen organic meals, and lots of variety for vegetarians.   
• Pine Peace Market has always been a favorite for locals who are price concious.  But, many people don’t realize that they also carry small appliances, and other hidden treasures. Recently they had a wonderful price for those noodle style floats, popular at the beach. 
• The two new convience style stores in the Cruz Bay loop are open late at night - bless their souls, and take convenience to a whole new level.  Fresh fruits and vegetables, milk and eggs, can goods, etc - are available just a block from the ferry dock!

Variety is a beautiful thing, but all that variety costs money. Be sure to shop around for your groceries and enjoy the social experience while saving money and finding exactly what you want, when you want it! 

Each summer the VIVA Villas staff hires summer interns - high school and/or college kids - who help us immensely with all our summer projects and annual organizing work. This year, we’ve asked Arelai, a 16-year old intern from Massachusetts to share her thoughts and experiences in her own words:

Hey everyone! If you were every wondering what it was like to intern at a company or was trying to decide what business to intern at I might be able to answer those questions. First off, interning is a great way to see what its like to work in a field that you are interested in without being committed to it. For most of my life I have strongly felt that business was the right path for me. By interning here at VIVA!, I have learned that my dream of someday becoming a CEO might not really fit me as well as I thought it would. I would never have realized that about myself if I had not interned here. Also, by working here I have developed great people skills. The staff is small so it is easy to grow close to them compared to a large company with hundreds of employees where a summer internee can get lost in the crowd. Here at VIVA! they treat you like family and like I had been working there for years. Also, the information and skills that you acquire here will last for a lifetime. I saw how a successful company functions and what it takes to make it work. Every person at VIVA! is needed and cherrished. Even as an intern, I felt like my work gave something useful to the company. I hope these words have helped you in your decision making process. I strongly reconmend interning for anyone because everyone can make a difference. In addition, I would consider VIVA! as a place to send an application in because, in my opinion, there is no other company that I would have rathered interned at.

                            Sincerelly,

                                         Arelai Ephraim

The rate for a ferry to St. John will be going up during the month of July. Given the price of gasoline, it is not surprising that the ferry companies say they are losing money and will need to temporarily raise rates. They are even considering dropping some ferry runs all together. This information has not yet made it into any of our visitor documentation that we know of.

Check with our St John Related News and Blogs friends (links found on the right side of this web-page) for breaking details on this breaking news and fast coming change.

A key component to the annual St. John Festival is Children’s Village which runs every night during the last week of Festival through July 4th.  Official hours are 6PM to 10:00PM each night.

Here a group of caring volunteers offer youngsters of all ages some good safe fun and games - Frog Flips, Racing Cars, Bouncy Bounce, Dart Throwing, Ball Toss, and other arcade games await.  Buy inexpensive tickets and win tokens which can be redeemed for prizes. There are drinks, popcorn and snow cones too.  Located across from Morgan’s Mango near the National Park Visitors Center, be sure to stop by and have some fun!