If you are asking about this condominium, VI law requires extensive testing of the tap water (I believe) every six months, and the results are always superlative. Additionally, IMHO, the taste is excellent. If you are asking about the entire island, the water quality varies, but I have been visiting the island 60+ years and never heard of anyone becoming ill from drinking tap water. I am unaware of any grocery delivery services, but it is often possible to have a local person shop and deliver for you. Ask the owner of the unit that you are renting.

Robert H, There are two reasons why you are having problems booking a unit at this condominium. The first is that last month the island was hit by two category five hurricanes and a tropical storm, which caused severe damage throughout most of the island. Although this condominium generally sustained damage which I would describe as “moderate”, and much of the damage has been repaired, there are substantial problems. The first is that like most of the island, we lost electricity. Although it still has not been restored, repair crews are now “in the neighborhood” and it will probably be restored in the near future. As long as there is no electricity, you would not have an enjoyable stay. The owners who live full time in their condominium units are having a really rough time. In the meantime, the condominium management has requested that no one come down. When the condominium will be fit for habitation is anyone's guess. There are two additional complications. One is that a few units sustained severe damage and it will be an even longer time before those units can be booked. The other is that whth a severely reduced demand for accommodations, the airlines that service the island has sharply reduced the number of flights to and from St. Thomas, and it is difficult to secure seats. The second reason is more complicated. Although the condominium itself is not in any way involved in the rental of units, all owners are free to rent their units when they are not present, and most do. Many owners rent and manage their units themselves; many others use the services of a rental/management business. In the past, most owners who rented and managed their units themselves did so on one of a few “listing sites”. Basically, the owner would pay an annual fee to have their unit listed, with contact information, and anyone interested in booking a unit would simply email or phone the owner and make arrangements. IMHO, as a general rule (with exceptions), the owners of the more desirable units rented directly, and the owners of the less desirable units utilized a third party business. During the past few years, however, the “business models” of these sites have changed, because they discovered that they could increase their revenue by charging a percentage of each rental to the traveler. In addition, they continued to charge the owner either a percentage of the rental or an annual fee. TripAdvisor is one of these “platforms”. If you would look at the TA page for this condominium there are two things which you will notice. The first is a pop-up will ask you to enter the dates that you would like to stay. If you follow through with this route, they will take your booking and turn it over to a rental/management business on St. Thomas, who will reserve a unit for you. The second, much less conspicuous, is that TA is not only a travel agent, but a “listing platform” as well. If you go to the top of the page, just under the green stripe click on the third button from the left “Vacation Rentals” and you will be shown listings for those units whose owners use the TA platform. If you book a unit this way, the owner has agreed to pay TA either an annual fee, or a percentage of the rental, and TA will charge you a fee as well. Now two problems have arisen. The first is that the platforms have intentionally made communication between an owner and a potential guest more difficult so that they will not attempt to avoid paying fees by “going around” the platform. The second reason is that most of the larger platforms have many internal problems resulting in chaos on their sites. Sorry that this explanation is so long, but, as you now can see, unfortunately, it is a very complicated matter.

Hi I'm having a tad of difficulty understanding your questions, but we have been coming to Sapphire for over fifty years, and are here now. One of the most important things to bear in mind is that because this is a condominium every unit is individually owned and the units vary in condition from abominable to near-palatial. Generally (there are some exceptions) units rented directly from an owner will be in much better condition than units rented via an agent. By "ocean park", I assume you mean Coral World, which is almost next door. (Or what do you mean?). Coral World is excellent, although just a bit pricey. The nearby town of Red Hook has a variety of restaurants of many types. If you are willing to drive a bit, there are many more on island. If you have hired a car, you just turn left at the entrance from the road, drive about two minutes (maybe less) and you are in Red Hook. If you do not have a car, you can hire a taxi for about five or six dollars a person to get there, or take a "safari" bus ("dollah bus") for a buck a person. Returning, the dollah bus takes a very long route, so splurge for a taxi. Although Red Hook is very close, the road is extremely pedestrian unfriendly, so don't even think of walking. Steve

I have been visiting St Thomas for well over fifty years now live there approximately four months a year, and have never felt unsafe. There is a lot of violent crime on St. Thomas, but it is not directed against visitors. Almost all violent crime is "local on local". Very rarely, perhaps once in five or ten years, a stray bullet has found a visitor, but this is extremely rare. Like almost all "vacation destinations" St. Thomas has it's fair share (less than some other Caribbean islands) of petty crime against the property of visitors. Fortunately, the criminals involved are extremely unsophisticated and they are readily thwarted by taking the simple precautions that you should be taking at all times, such as locking doors. It's a splurge for us, but we always hire a car because it's so much more convenient. For some trips the "dollah bus" will cost you one or two dollars per person, but they only go on one route in one direction. So called "public transportation" is abysmal. Taxis are readily available and service is almost always excellent. Rates are set by the VI Taxi Association. The rub is that they charge per passenger so if you are a large group (like four) and you leave where you are staying often, the cost can really add up. IMO, as a general rule, two people can probably save money by not hiring a car. Four or more will probably spend less by hiring a car. But many find that they "get out less" if they don't have a car. BTW, at this condominium, there is no problem parking behind buildings B and C. Parking is tighter behind buildings A and D and you may have to park behind building B or C. We do not hesitate to "go out" in the evening, but there areas where we would go after dark, and feel a smidge uncomfortable in daylight. There is absolutely no reason for you to go to these areas unless you want to do something illegal. "If you feel like you don't belong someplace, you probably don't". I have created a document "Steve's Secret Guide to St. Thomas" which is an abridged version of a longer document intended for guests staying in our condo from which I removed all information pertaining to our condo, leaving only information pertaining to the island as a whole and a few neighboring islands. It addresses the questions you have asked at greater length. Unfortunately "contact information" is not permitted here, so I will be unable to send it to you. Steve

Gary, We have to go back to the fact that this property is a condominium which permits owners of units to rent their units to travelers either directly, or indirectly via a third (or even a fourth) party, with just a very few restrictions. Therefore, before your question can be approached, you must determine with whom you are dealing. If you are dealing DIRECTLY with an owner (if you called me at home, for example)* It would be entirely my prerogative to set the terms of the rental (within legal and condominium restrictions). I also would be able to answer your questions. I would quote a fee, and mention that there is also a 12.5% VI "hotel tax" which I would forward to the VI Bureau of Internal Revenue the month following receipt of any funds. As I own only one unit, that's the unit that you would get. Some owners own more than one unit, and they would tell you about them, and reserve a particular unit for you. I also list the unit on VRBO/HomeAway, and a few other sites such as HomeEscape. If you contacted me via HomeEscape, there would be no difference, except that they add a couple of optional services. If you contacted me via VRBO/HomeAway they will impose a few additional restrictions and charge you a "service fee" of between 4% and 9% in addition to the fees that I pay them to list. I do not list on AirBnB, but if I did, they would impose even more restrictions, and charge you a fee slightly greater than that of VRBO/HA (in addition to what I would be paying them to list). With any of the above, (and the other sites that I list on), eventually you would be dealing directly with me, and since I own only one unit, that's the one you would get. On the other hand, you might book through a rental/management company. Most likely it would be Paradise Properties or Exclusive Resorts Management. Paradise Properties is engaged by quite a few owners to rent and manage their units, and ERM is engaged by a few owners. A very small number of owners use other agents. In any case, the agent has an "inventory" of units, and when you arrive they will choose a unit for you from among their inventory. They also (within various restrictions) will set their own policies, and you would have to put your questions to them. Finally, there are a number of "on-line travel agents" ("OTAs"), of which TripAdvisor is one. If you booked through them, they would almost surely then book you through PP or ERM, and might impose yet another layer of policies. If you book through an OTA, someplace in the booking process these policies, and the total cost, would (with very rare exceptions) be made known to you before you "click on the dotted line". I know that this is complicated, but what is happening (and not just in the Vacation Rental "industry") is that increasingly companies are being formed with the purpose of making money by getting buyer and seller together and collecting money from one--or both. Steve *I own B~11, and it is available for rental when we are not using it