The Beach House

The Beach House is a wonderful place to stay. We loved smugglers cove beach.. a car was recommended and is needed. Taxi service is expensive. There are a couple of restaurants within walking distance. You have to be able to walk up and down very steep hills. The master suite requires walking down a steep staircase in order to get to the kitchen and pool. The beach in front of the house was not swimmable due to large waves when we were visiting but smugglers cove had calm, beautiful water. Overall the Beach House was great and we would stay there again.

25th Aniversery Party
Guest: Pete (Mahtomedi,Mn. U.S.A)
Date of Stay: 12/08/12 Review Submitted: 02/06/13

What a house, beautiful view on a beautiful beach, better than expected. Sam was awesome, she went out of her way to help, answered the many questions we had before and during our stay. We had a great time visiting with "Nature Boy" at his beach bar located just a short walk down the beach. Had a great Aniversery dinner at the Bananakeet ,Windy Hill,Carrot Bay. We had family pictures taken by local photographer Amanda Baker, Virgin Portraits. What a great memories...

Family of 4 from TX (June 2012)
Guest: Keith (Katy, TX)
Date of Stay: 06/02/12 Review Submitted: 06/12/12

What an incredible trip. The house itself is in a perfect location, just off Long Bay Beach on the northwest side of the island right next to Long Bay Resort. The beach is down the steep drive (walkable) and just across the street (not busy at all). You are steps from the water, literally.

The house itself is nice. The pool is the perfect size for relaxing and cooling off. The flow between rooms is a little disjointed, but it is a great set up in you have 3 separate bedrooms and bathrooms, all of adequate size. The kitchen is fine. The wifi is good, but mainly works in the kitchen and living room, not as well in the bedrooms. The deck space and views are excellent and the pictures don't do them justice. The dining room table is big and has enough space for 8. The living room furniture is ok, not comfortable, but usable.

Sam, with the rental company, is outstanding. She really takes care of making sure you are welcome, you know the area and the property, and that you have what you need. I didn't see another place that had a better set up or location. I would also highly recommend the island itself. Tortola, in comparison to the USVI and the other BVI's, is just the right size. The beaches are fantastic and yet you still have some stores and shopping available.

Favorites are what you would expect. Long Bay, just down the driveway, is a good combination of beach and coral reef. You can have both. Just to the west is the hidden Smuggler's Cove. It is picture postcard beautiful. The snorkeling and beach are gorgeous. Make sure you have a 4 wheel drive to get there. Our other favorite was Brewer's Bay, to the east. It has a neat little beach bar and grill and had the best snorkeling of all.

The experience itself was 5 star. The house is not perfect. However, it is an excellent value and the location is ideal. I will be back and highly recommend it.

Peaceful Retreat
Guest: J & M (Hampton Cove, AL)
Date of Stay: 04/06/12 Review Submitted: 05/01/12

My husband and I wanted a quiet getaway and this house was perfect. The house itself was clean and updated, but it still retains a cozy kind of charm. It is terraced into the hillside with the kitchen, bedrooms, laundry, pool and patios at slightly staggered levels. The rooms are not huge but that was ok because we spent almost all of our time outdoors on the balconies, patios, and beach. The views, the outdoor spaces, and the privacy are what makes this place so special. There were wonderful breezes throughout our visit so we didn't need the AC much (although it was very effective when needed). I think the breezes helped to discourage the mosquitos which can sometimes be a problem in the Virgin Islands and we really didn't need bug spray except for right around dusk. We also appreciated the convenience of this house. Walking down the driveway to the beach took all of 3 minutes and we were able to hear the sounds of the surf from the balconies. We spent most days at Smuggler's Cove which is about a 10 minute drive from the house down a road designed to discourage the faint of heart. Trips to the grocery store were also convenient - only about 10-12 mins to the Riteway grocery store in Soper's Hole and about 20 mins to their big store in Road Town. In general, grocery prices were not bad and we were able to get nice fish at the Road Town store which we grilled out on the patio. We ate out three times and can recommend the Bananakeet Cafe for lovely sunset dinner and drinks and Dove's in Road Town (directly across the street from the ferry terminal) where we had an absolutely fabulous dinner. We ate at Sebastian's on our arrival night and while it was ok, I probably wouldn't go back except to buy a bottle of their house rum which was yummy. Sam met us at the ferry and did a great job making sure that we had everything we needed. We used her recommendation for DeDe's car rental and loved the convenience of being able to pick up and drop off the car directly at the West End ferry - everything was handled over the phone and there was no paperwork to fill out on arrival! All in all, Tortola and this house were the perfect antidote to a couple in need of a break. We will definitely be back.

Beautiful beach
Guest: Quint (Missouri and Montana)
Date of Stay: 02/09/12 Review Submitted: 03/09/12

The house was very clean and well kept. The management team was first rate and provided top recommendations for snorkeling, fishing, eating...anything we asked about. For us the best part of the whole experience was being able to walk to the beach from the house. This was our first trip to Tortola it won't be our last. We will certainly stay here again.

You Will Love It
Guest: Tom, Rudy, Mike, Jan, Susie (Mattituck, NY, USA)
Date of Stay: 01/26/12 Review Submitted: 02/15/12

What a beautiful place the Van Dyke House is! There were five of us staying there and it was super comfortable with sufficient privacy. The description and photos could not really do justice to the place. The views were amazing, the home was immaculate, there was everything one would ever need in the kitchen for meal preparation. Some of us had been to Tortola before so knew the area but the home had plenty of information about where to go and what to do while visiting. Because we arrived late in the day, Sam graciously stocked the place with things we would need before we could get to the store to shop.
We walked to Long Bay and Nature Boy beaches but made the short drive almost everyday to Smugglers Cove. We spent one day on Jost Van Dyke and another day we took a day sail on the Aristocat, both trips were fabulous. We enjoyed dinner at Jolly Roger and Pussers and the curry chicken at Palms Delight is the best. Sunset at Bananakeet is a must.
We would recommend Van Dyke House to anyone fortunate enough to be vacationing in Tortola.

Great place - as advertised bur views are better in person
Guest: Va Blue Ridge Traveler (VA)
Date of Stay: 12/28/11 Review Submitted: 01/16/12

I was a bit nervous renting on the web and when we reserved they did not take credit cards but Sam and her staff couldn't have been nicer or more helpful. They helped recommend dinners - spent an amazing New Year's Eve at Banakeet and everyone in our group raved and said best meal we've ever had in the Islands. Sam and crew also helped with car rental.

I do feel a car rental is a must and driveway is steep but the views - well they are amazing from all the decks and my daughter declared it a " indoor- outdoor" house because a lot of the living space is outside on decks which makes it lovely.

It's quite private and a short 2 min walk down the steep driveway and you are on Long's beach (1 mile long) and for those who want it there is Nature Boy's beach bar usually open until 7PM. He cooks lunch and makes some nice smoothies and tropical drinks and couldn't be easier to get to from the house.
We also really liked Smuggler's beach for the snorkeling and the much calmer conditions if the wind is up and again lots of locals options for food and drink. More of wave jumping action with more boggey boarding at Long's Beach.

The coffee shop in Soper's Hole has the best breakfasts and is worth the drive and we liked Jolly Rodgers for outdoor dining and kid friendly atmosphere. If you drive to East end highly recommend Red Rocks for dinner - very, very good and take reservations. We ate their this year and last and both times quite good.

Only drawbacks that I can think of is neighborhood noisy Rooster but I think that sort of comes with the islands. We had a broken washer so that was a bummer but it was holidays so it was going to be replaced when we left. The sound of the surf from your bedroom is amazing and the views of Jost Van Dyke and the channel to watch the ships just awesome.

House was clean and well stocked and appreciated have some of the basics there including spices,cooking oils. We grilled and cooked in a lot. The store at Soper's Hole is nearest the house and is quite nice and has same prices at RiteWay in Roadtown but much closer to the house. Sam and crew helped stock things which was a big help.

Lovely villa, great location
Guest: Justine (South Hadley, MA USA)
Date of Stay: 12/19/11 Review Submitted: 12/28/11

My husband and I spent a very enjoyable Christmas vacation here with my parents and my brother. None of us are really the type to hang out at the villa/beach and relax (we love to be out and about!), but this villa would have been the PERFECT place for a hang out and relax vacation! The views of the ocean from the outdoor deck are lovely, and the villa has both sunny and shady places where one can relax to the sounds of the ocean waves... Lots of comfortable outdoor couches, chairs and loungers are on the deck. The pool also overlooks the ocean.

Long Bay Beach is only a 5 minute walk down the very steep driveway (rent a 4x4 if you are staying here!), and Smuggler's Cove is only a 5 minute drive. Cane Garden Bay is about a 10-15 minute drive, and Soper's Hole/West End is about 10-15 minutes the other direction. Sage Mountain National Park (hiking in the rainforest and the highest point on the island) is about a half hour away, and Road Town (shopping) is about 25 minutes away. Bomba Shack, if you happen to be in the BVI for a Full Moon Party, is also only about 5 minutes away.

The villa was clean and well-maintained. The kitchen was well-stocked with accessories/pots/dishes for cooking and eating at home. We enjoyed grilling on the charcoal grill. The wifi worked well. It was nice to have a washer and dryer to do laundry during our stay. The rooms had both AC and plenty of windows/sliding screen doors.

Our favorite restaurant in the area was Banana Keet (on Windy Hill Road on the way to Cane Garden Bay) - great drinks and great food, but pricey. 5 minutes away Sugar Hill Inn was also great, but pricey. Quitos on Cane Garden Bay has good food and live reggae music on some nights.

For activities, we did a sailing/snorkeling day trip with Aristocat, scuba diving the ship wreck Rhone with UBS dive center, hiked Sage Mountain, day trip to the Baths on Virgin Gorda (30 min ferry ride), shopping in Nanny Cay, Soper's Hole and Road Town, snorkeling in Smuggler's Cove.

The property managers Sam and Jacie were very helpful through the whole process - they responded promptly to emails, helped us find the right place for our number of people, budget and location, recommended car rentals, restaurants, activities, grocery stores, gave us directions if we needed, etc. They quickly attended to the couple minor issues we had - a stopped drain and a wifi router on the fritz were both taken care of within 12 hours. They were a pleasure to work with!

Wonderful place for vacation.
Guest: Paul (Palm beach gardens, FL)
Date of Stay: 12/10/11 Review Submitted: 12/26/11

I just recently returned from Tortola after spending a week at this villa. First and foremost, Sam is amazing and helped out with getting us to the place and settled in. Anytime we had a question or needed advice she was there for us and willing to help out. Everything went very smooth and was exactly as explained in the description of the property. The location is amazing and views are breathtaking. The house was very clean and comfortable. The pool was the perfect way to cool down at the end of a long day. I would definitely recommend this place to anyone and certainly hope to return someday soon!