gorgeous place
Review Submitted: March 7, 2011
Date of Stay: February 2011
My wife and I rented this lovely cottage from John Dickson for a five-night stay in February 2011 with our children, ages 10 and 6.
We arrived at night so we had to wait until the next morning to see the stunning views from the windows and wrap-around balcony, which are accurately represented in the pictures above. But we were able to appreciate how neat and clean the apartment was.
John and his wife, Linda, were extremely gracious hosts. Linda greeted us with a delicious, home-made banana bread and later made us some spectacular pies. John was full of great tips about island life and generous with his equipment -- snorkel gear for the whole family and a shop vac to get the sand out of the rental car before returning it.
These were just some of the nice touches they showed during our stay, but more importantly they honored every word of their written and verbal commitments. Prior to the trip, John and I exchanged several e-mails and a couple of phone calls to go over various details, and everything he said turned out to be 100% accurate. This included John's assurances that the dog and cat they keep in their apartment had never set foot in the rental space. I'd been concerned about this because I'm allergic to dogs and cats, but I took John at his word and he lived up to it. There were no issues at all with the pets (which are lovely, by the way. My allergies notwithstanding, I love animals and found these pets to be delightful.)
John and Linda are both shopkeepers, so they're a big part of the fabric of St. John society. This really comes across in how they keep the place. They treat it with pride and they make guests feel right at home.
If there's a drawback to the apartment it's that the location is not accessible by foot to beaches or trails. You really need a car to get from the place to wherever you might be going. This is something we knew in advance and planned for, so we were fine with it. But if you're considering a vacation where you want to walk to the beach or get around on foot, the location of this place prohibits it.
My family and I would return in a heartbeat. I hope we can afford to do so soon. It took us 16 years to make this trip happen, so I'm not counting on doing this again in the very near future, but hopefully it won't be as long between trips next time around!
- Paul, Kennebunk, Maine
Recommended for:
Adventure Seekers,
Girls Getaway,
Sightseeing,
Families with Teenagers,
Families with Young Children,
Romantic Getaway
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Helpful votes: 3/3
