St. John

1. Ive been told that living in the USVI is different then vacationing, if this true to St. John, if I have rented a house for 3 weeks, and gone to grocerie stores, done laundry, it is similar?
Doubt it, there are lots of other variables to get used to. The DMV for one and licensing for another!

2. How many expats live on the island? What percentage is that.
Being that these are the United States Virgin Islands, there are no expats here.

3. What is the market for overnight stays.
If you scour the message boards, you will see that lots of people are looking for a place that they can stay one or two nights cheaply. Then they move on to their more expensive villas or charter boats, where money is no object, go figure!
Ronnie

Ronnie is great, he has lived here and loved here. But He also has a local's point of view. It is easy to be impatient with those who "come and go". Larry, you are asking for easy answers. You are getting comments from real pro's. People who have survived Hugo and Marilyn. "listen", because they care. Ronnie claims to be a 4th generation Virgin Islander. The only people who came before his ancestors probably came with Columbus or came on slave ships. lol (sorry to be politically incorrect).

What is an "expat"?... I hate that term. On Anguilla they are often called "colonials" in the Bvi they are "non belongers". In the USVI they are short term non islanders. Keep in mind that you can belong if you pay your dues and stay long enough to make a difference. It is important that we all recognize that the USVI is just that...The United States Virgin Islands....That means that "anyone" from the USA can become a part of this beautiful and special place. All you have to do is live here...and contribute part of yourself to the the life here....But ...if you "come and go" then you are a transient so don't expect the respect and affection you might get otherwise. ...(soapbox..huh)
b

So for this B&B on STJ, how are you going to acquire the building to do this?
Are you going to buy an existing building and turn it into such?
If you are building, I hope you have a lot of cash and patience.
There is a reason there arent too many B&B's on STJ.

Although this book was written almost 50 years ago, it still rings quite true today. If you want to get a sense of the difference between vacationing here on the one hand, and living here and running a small hotel on the other, read this book. By Herman Wouk.

Hello Larry,

Having been here 8 times you should definately have a good idea of what the islands are about. You have done some of the day to day things living here involves. What is different is the other living here elements; getting your car inspected, getting a business license and having to go to several offices that are not in the same building and aren't even in the same area, going to the doctor, buying glasses in one hour service and getting them in a week, waiting an hour in a bank or post office line (although that happens primarily on days like government pay day or the days after and days after long weekends and holidays), getting into a fender bender with someone and having them drive off or stop but they don't have insurance even though its the law or better yet they don't speak english or claim not to so you can't get any information from them, having someones kids open the car door really hard and hit your car denting it and then having their parent be mad and defensive like its your fault for parking there, getting cable and phone lines installed, having days the internet gets sooo slow you can't send e-mail, having the cable interupted because "a cruise ship" is blocking signal - or something along those lines... these are things you would not encounter as a vacationer and that to some people are just too much to handle and to others it is a fair trade for all the perks; the small community feel, the beach, lazy days, sunshine almost 365, no shoveling the snow, no planting or doing the yard every season because things grow 365 so just need upkeep, no freeways, no smog, beautiful scenery and water...

You have gotten the feeling about the term ex-pat.... I think I know what you mean though...number or percentage of people from the US mainland living here... here is break down: black 78%, white 10%, other 12%
West Indian 81% (49% born in the Virgin Islands and 32% born elsewhere in the West Indies), US mainland 13%, Puerto Rican 4%, other 2% (Terms more commonly used here are "statesiders", "people from the states dem", "continentals", "white people" (making a clear destinction between white people who are from here or lived here a long time and people who just got here... the term is used more for the latter) As B mentioned the amount of years affects how you are perceived... a non-islander who has lived here for 8,10,20 years is perceived differently from a new arrival.

As mentioned lots of overnight people for one or two nights waiting for their villa or charter to be ready and there are lots of one-two week folks coming on vacation, some might be interested in a smaller place. Chris is right concerning localtion and building... real estate comes with a huge price tag on St. John.

All the best with your moving and business plans.

--Islander