I’m trying to find a beachfront villa somewhere in the caribbean that will have at least 6 bedrooms and sleep 16 (8 adults and 8 kids) for rent next summer (2014). Ideal place would also have a maid and chef to clean and prepare meals while we are there.
Any suggestions, ideas, shared experiences, links, etc.?
‘The Caribbean’ is a large and varied region consisting of islands that are very different topologically and culturally. I would narrow it down first by picking one or a handful of islands that you would be interested in before I would worry about the accommodations. Not all of them will have something available that large but many of them do. I assume cost isn’t a concern right?
There are websites to help you get some ideas.
Here are the ones with 8+ bedrooms.
Also:
Go to VRBO.com, find an island, and filter for 6 bdrms. I just rented a place for Jan '14 on St. Maarten, but it only has 5 bdrms. Most of the higher end places have contacts for on-site chefs, masseuses, etc.
Here are some 6 bdrm places:
Grand Cayman has a few villas that have enough bedrooms and are very nice. Not sure about maid or chef but there are usually ways to get things done for the right price. Keep in mind that Cayman is more upscale and more expensive than many islands.
The larger homes like you are looking for are in more remote parts of the island.
Search on:
Cayman Villas or
Grand Cayman Villas & Condos
Send a PM if you want an island resident’s perspective on anything you find in Cayman.
We got a place at Silver Sands, Jamaica that we loved. It’s a small group of privately owned villas in the country about an hour outside of Montego Bay. This was a while ago, but I know there were some awesome, large beachfront villas. Very nice, quiet, beautiful, and laid back.
With that many people, you are going to have to take into consideration if they will all have valid passports if you want to go to a foreign destination. If you can’t guarantee that, you are best sticking with the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands plus maybe a few others (I am assuming you are American and all the other people are too). That isn’t a bad area to be limited to but you need to specify that before people start giving more exotic suggestions.
For a property of that size on a nice beach, it is probably going to cost between $2,500 to $25,000 a day just to stay there not inclusive of other costs. That is a pretty expensive trip although completely doable if the bill is split among people that have that much money.
For a trip of that magnitude, you need to specify your requirements a bit better.
You can get more choices if you can split people into more than one villa as opposed to one giant one and it will probably be cheaper too. There are only a limited number of Caribbean villas that can sleep that many people and are usually incredibly expensive.
This is who we used to find our house in St. Croix.
http://www.coldwellbankervi.com/vacationrentals/
Great service.
Thanks to everyone for the tips and suggestions. Found, what I think is the ideal place for our group: Mother’s House in Turks and Caicos. Great master suites for each couple and and more than enough space and a play loft for the kids. Daily maid service and a chef can be negotiated as a part of the package.
That looks great. My family did something similar on a slightly smaller scale in Turks and Caicos a couple of years ago. I didn’t go but they still rave about it. That would have been one of my top picks too. Have fun. It looks like an outstanding trip.