Choosing a Villa for a Family or a Group

Twelve people can sleep at three of the houses SP Vacations looks after on St. Croix, and each of the three arranges them in its own way. At Shoy’s Beach House, on the north shore just east of Christiansted, five bedroom suites, each with its own bathroom, open onto a courtyard with a stone fountain, and a separate cottage can be added for the eleventh and twelfth guests. At The Cerulean, on the East End, four bedrooms are in the main house and the fifth is in a guest cottage with its own kitchen. At The Buck Island Overlook, in the hills above the East End, there are five bedrooms and three bathrooms, and two of the twelve sleep on futons or sofa beds. The number on the listing is the same for all three, and a week in each would be very different.

That is the first lesson in choosing a holiday house for more than a couple: the headline figure tells you how many people fit, and very little about how they will live together. This is a guide to the houses SP Vacations manages on the island, arranged by the kind of party that suits each, with the details that decide it.

How to read a listing for a group

Start with the bathrooms. A house that sleeps eight with four bathrooms is a different week from one that sleeps eight with two. Several of these homes give every bedroom its own: the five suites at Shoy’s, the five bedrooms at The Cerulean, and the three at Dragonfly Villa, which adds a fourth bathroom besides. At Buck Island Views, two of the three bedrooms are in detached suites, each with its own bathroom, joined to the main house by covered walkways.

Next, look for a second building. A cottage or a detached suite gives one part of the party its own door, which is what makes a week with grandparents, or with two families, work. The Cerulean’s cottage has a kitchen, a living room, a bedroom and a full bathroom, plus a loft reached by a spiral stair. The cottage at Shoy’s is booked and paid for separately from the main house; without it, the villa sleeps ten. The Buck Island Overlook has two kitchens and two living areas inside one house, which helps two families keep their own rhythm.

Then the stairs and the road. St. Croix is hilly, and many of the best views come with steps. The Cerulean is built into a slope above the sea. Caribbean Blue Hideaway is a third-floor condo, and its listing mentions no lift. The Beach-Access Condo is listed as single-level, but a guest noted that the ground-floor unit “does have stairs to get into the unit.” And the roads to the hilltop houses can be steep: the Overlook’s listing warns of roads that are “narrow, winding, or steep” and asks guests to drive carefully after dark, and a guest at Moko Vista recommended a Jeep for “the gnarly road, uphill and downhill.”

Finally, the water. On the north shore the sea in front of a house is often surf, good for watching and walking and less good for small children. Several houses have their own private pool, which is where the swimming happens; the condos share a complex pool. None of these homes should be booked on the promise of swimming straight from the door. Ask SP Vacations which beach nearby suits your party.

Three generations, or two families

Shoy’s Beach House is the house for a big family that wants to be together without being on top of one another. It stands in the gated Estate Shoys, on the north shore by The Buccaneer, a few minutes from Christiansted. The five suites around the courtyard sleep ten in the main villa; a one-bedroom cottage can be added to the booking for two more. There is a private pool and a hot tub, a covered gallery, kayaks, a fenced yard, and a beach through the back garden that the house shares with the rest of the Shoys estate. Lloyd, who brought a family of ten for ten days in January, wrote: “The five en suite bedrooms situated off a beautiful courtyard offers a perfect layout for couples or friends traveling together, especially our family of 10.” And: “The kids enjoyed the pool, kayaks and playing cornhole, while the adults enjoyed relaxing on the large porch with an ocean view.” He added a warning worth repeating: “stay clear of the machineel trees along the beach and east property line.” The manchineel is a native tree whose sap and fruit are poisonous, so point it out to the children on the first day. Shoy’s is the one house in the collection that takes booking requests instead of instant bookings.

The Cerulean, on the cover of this issue, suits three generations for a different reason: the guest cottage, about twenty paces from the main house, with its own kitchen and entrance. Grandparents can keep their own hours there; or teenagers can take it, with the loft bed up the spiral stair. Every bedroom has its own bathroom. Emily, who stayed in April, called the house “an ideal layout for multiple families...but works just as well giving loads of space for one family.” It is a hillside house, with steps between its levels and down to the shore, and our companion story this month covers it in detail.

The Buck Island Overlook is the big house in the hills: five bedrooms, two kitchens, two living areas and an office, with a private pool on the upper deck facing Buck Island and a covered lower deck with a dining table, a lounge and a hammock. It sleeps twelve with two of them on futons or sofa beds, and three bathrooms serve the house, so it suits two families with children better than six couples who each want a bathroom. The listing strongly recommends a rental car and is frank about the roads. It has no published reviews yet.

A family of four to eight

Toes in the Sand Beach House sits in a gated community on the north shore west of Christiansted, with 24-hour security. It has three bedrooms and three bathrooms and sleeps eight, every bedroom looks at the sea, and the private pool sits on a sun terrace beside a wall of glass doors. It is the company’s Airbnb “Guest favorite.” Matt, who came with children and teenagers in July 2025, wrote that the pool was a hit with adults and children alike, that the teenagers took to the room with its own outside entry, and that the two main bedrooms “were well equipped and clean.” Chelsea, in November, wrote: “Kids really enjoyed the pool and we had enough room for our party of 8.” The beach in front is the north shore’s: Chris, in June, advised that “for anyone who does [have small children], this beach is not really swimmable due to rockiness and intense waves,” and added: “if you like to walk and treasure hunt, the sea glass is amazing.”

Buck Island Views sits on a hillside east of Christiansted, facing Buck Island. The primary suite is in the main house, and two more bedrooms are in detached suites with their own bathrooms, joined by covered walkways, so it sleeps six with real privacy between the rooms. There is a private pool terrace with loungers facing the sea. Ryan, who stayed in July, wrote: “If you’re coming to st croix and have a small family this place is really perfect.”

Hook ’em on Paradise, a burnt-orange villa in the gated Judith’s Fancy estate, has three bedrooms and three bathrooms and sleeps six. Each bedroom has its own air-conditioning unit, there is a telescope by the sliding doors to the sea-view balcony, and the private pool has both sunny and shaded seating. For parents of small children the shade is the point. Lauren wrote: “We were traveling with our one year old and needed a spot that allowed for outdoor shaded space, and the covered patio was absolutely perfect, providing all day shade.” Rules of the estate’s owners’ association apply.

Dragonfly Villa, on a gated hilltop on the East End, has three bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, a fourth bathroom, four patios and a saltwater infinity pool, and sleeps eight. Its kitchen is well equipped, down to a pizza stone and a waffle maker, and the listing includes a travel crib and children’s books.

The Beach-Access Condo, in a waterfront complex a few minutes from Christiansted, sleeps six in two bedrooms with two bathrooms, and shares a pool, a garden and an on-site restaurant with the complex. A guest put the beach at “about 75 steps” from the door. It is the most reviewed of the homes, and families write warmly about it. Lanie found “plenty of space for my family with everything we needed,” and Elishia wrote: “Great stay with kids, you did need a rental car.” Remember the stairs at the entrance if a grandparent is coming.

Friends and couples travelling together

For three couples, the test is whether the bedrooms are equal, and two houses pass it. Toes in the Sand has three similar bedrooms and three bathrooms. Dawn wrote in June that it “was perfect for our group of 6 (3 adult couples),” and Amanda, who came with two other couples in March, wrote that “the bedrooms were all similar in set up and great (hard to find!).” Shoy’s does the same for a larger group. Kirk, who stayed in December, wrote that “the villa’s layout — five private bedroom suites and a courtyard — gave each couple in our group privacy and quiet when needed,” and Valerie, in February, that it was a “perfect site for multiple couples to enjoy their time together while having their own personal space.”

Hook ’em on Paradise also works for six friends; Jess wrote in November that “everything was perfect for our group of 6.” The larger houses suit a milestone too. Elaine gave Shoy’s four stars and wrote: “We had an amazing time for my 60th birthday.” SP Vacations can arrange a chef, a bartender or a boat for the day, with the house as the base; it does not let its villas as event venues.

Two couples, or a couple

Sunset Sea-Clusion, newly remodelled, is on the West End north of Frederiksted, the sunset side of the island. It has two queen bedrooms and two full bathrooms, a private pool, a covered terrace and a chef’s kitchen, and secluded beaches within walking distance. Rainbow Beach and the Frederiksted pier are close, and so is the Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge, the long beach at the island’s south-west tip, which opens to visitors only at weekends and closes from April 1 to August 31 while leatherback turtles nest.

Sunset Oasis, a renovated corner condo in a beachfront community west of Christiansted, has two bedrooms and two full bathrooms, a washer and dryer, and a shared pool and hot tub, with the beach a few steps away. Two couples sharing it each get a bedroom and a bathroom.

Moko Vista is a West Indian-style house with blue shutters on an East End hilltop, with two bedrooms, a full kitchen, a sunny patio with a grill and a clear view to Buck Island. It has no pool and no mobile signal at the house, though it has Wi-Fi, and the road up is rough. In return it is very quiet. Aron, who stayed in April, wrote that “what really stood out, though, was how peaceful and quiet everything felt.”

Bananaquit Bungalow, a pink cottage in the hills of Estate Boetzberg, a short drive from Christiansted, is “designed best for solo travelers or couples”: one king bedroom, hammocks on the porch, and a second room for television and rest. It runs entirely on solar power, batteries and rainwater, guests are asked to use power and water with care, and the listing says it is “not suitable for guests who require continuous low temperature air conditioning.”

Caribbean Blue Hideaway is an updated one-bedroom corner condo on the third floor at Long Reef, near Christiansted, with views of Buck Island and a shared pool. Its listing describes it as a place for “a romantic escape, a solo getaway, or an island adventure for two.”

Before you book

Minimum stays are four or five nights, depending on the house. Check-in is from 4 pm everywhere, and check-out is at 10 or 11 am. Every home can be booked instantly except Shoy’s, which takes requests. Prices change with the season and are shown live on each home’s page; we do not print them. Longer stays are allowed at most of the homes, and several list a workspace for a laptop.

For a party too big for one house, or one that wants two houses near each other, SP Vacations would rather talk it through. Its site says: “That’s a conversation, not a form.” Tell them who is coming, including anyone who should avoid stairs, anyone who needs the air-conditioning on all night and the ages of the children, and let them suggest the house.

Each of these houses has its own page in Amorielli’s Collection, listed below, and each is booked direct with SP Vacations.