The Pickering house- 2 bedroom in the heart of town

Horrible communication While the apartment was clean and nicely decorated, there were several issues: - the smoke detector was beeping and clearly needed new batteries. It was taken down from the ceiling and placed on the dresser. Not by us. This is a huge safety issue. - the remote to the ceiling lights and fan needed new batteries. - there was no remote for the TV and only one beach towel. A woman brought over both after we checked in. - some of the landscape lights were out as well as the motion light. We arrived late and then left again to get groceries and when we returned, it was difficult to navigate the stairs and get the key in the lock. Someone did come over and screwed in the bulb for the motion light after we noted the issue. - there was a pair of socks left behind from the previous renter behind the door of one of the bedrooms. - check out email stated “take your trash with you”. What are we supposed to do with it? I emailed agent with no response. - cleaning equipment (mops, bucket, broom, etc.) left on deck. Who wants to look at that? - old furniture on deck with ripped areas. - barking dogs all day long, crying babies, whistles from the barges constantly, cockadoodling from the roosters from 1:30 AM -noon everyday. - no water to take a shower or use the bathroom in the morning before we left. Provisions should have been made for this frequent issue as noted by the agent. Communication with agent was a huge factor. VERY DISAPPOINTED

Slept great until the roosters woke us up This place is located close to the ferry port, ie less than 7 minute drive. There is a parking space reserved for you, although, I will confess, it is a tight squeeze. Don't be nervous about the hill. :-) The hostess was kind enough to provide us beach towels to use - which was great! There is ample porch space to lay your stuff out to dry. There are a lot of mosquitos due to the location but there was also many varieties of bug repellent provided by the hostess for this very issue. The kitchen did not have a cooking sheet, but not to worry, it does have an air fryer. Actually this was my first time to use an air fryer so that was kind of cool for me. It was a quick drive from here to the parts of the island we visited. We had a little issue getting into the lock box, but that was not the fault of the hostess. This was because we couldn't figure out how to open it once the combination was put in. If you aren't familiar with how these type of combination lock boxes work, then ask the hostess for clarifying information on how to open it. We called in a panic and she called right back and it was great. The only downside to this location, and to be honest, you would likely have this issue anywhere, were the early rising roosters in the neighborhood that like to announce the morning. Let me reiterate, this is not the fault of the hostess as free range chickens/roosters are all over the place.

St. John Weekend - 4 Adults Clean, large deck that overlooked the bay with the auto ferry, beds were comfortable, bathroom looked recently update, and AC in bedrooms worked great. Walkable to Cruz Bay but you are dealing with a steep hill so you will need to be able to handle a steep incline for about 30 yards, walk in from the bay near auto ferry. It had beach chairs and coolers for use as well. Would recommend for a clean but fairly simple place with a water view.

Nice Property and location The house was great. Nice and clean with cold AC in the bedrooms. Great price for the size and location- very close to car ferry dock, restaurants and access to roads leading to beaches. The owner was traveling so communication wasn't perfect but we got all the info we needed in time. The neighborhood looks a little rough but once at the house its nice. Only complaint is the parking as it takes a few minutes to maneuver into position and its right on an edge so it's a little sketchy. Would stay here again though!

Super clean and close to downtown We loved our stay at the Pickering House. My overall rating reflects the very tight parking and the very steep hill you have to drive or walk up to get to the house. Nothing the host can do about either of those things, but something to be aware of. The house was super clean and we really appreciated the nice towels, the beach chairs and the coolers for our daily treks to the park and beaches. The air conditioning is only in the bedrooms. That was fine because the ceiling fans and the nice breeze kept the rest of the house cool enough, just would have been nice to know beforehand. The only things that would have been nice to add would be a ceiling fan on the awesome porch overlooking the bay (not sure how feasible with the humidity) and a pizza pan in the kitchen.

Cruz Bay Wedding Property itself was terrific and would definitely stay there again. The hill to get to and from property to downtown Cruz Bay is pretty steep, however, manageable.