Vacation Villa Burglaries

Dear Kaye:

As a disclaimer, I'd like to say that this info is offered only as a service and not to be taken as professional advice. Please consult with your villa manager. A reputable company already has a set protocol regarding villa access, escorts, and assistance in case of any situation.

Lock entry doors and unattended windows, even when everyone is at the villa.

Double check your doors and windows when retiring for the evening.

Do not invite people to your villa while here unless you already know them... well!

If you see someone loitering about or acting suspiciously, let your island manager know. Be prepared to give a description, as you may just be spotting someone who is known to the manager and that can put everyone's mind at ease right away.

Do not permit any tours of your villa or the property (if for sale or management needs to inspect) if not pre-arranged.

Gardeners work outside the villa, but may show up as part of scheduled weekly work while you are on island. It is your right to call the island manager to verify any personnel who show up unannounced. Your housekeeping staff should provide you with anticipated schedule and contact phone.

Use the preferred taxicab company of your island manager, as these persons are more likely to have been vetted on your behalf.

If there are electronic gates or other security features such as safes, use them. If you have one, make sure the security gate locks behind you when entering and exiting the property.

Turn on exterior lights if you anticipate arriving after dark following the day's activities; leave music playing in the villa and a light on by the pool.

My big chance to sound off about the use of villas for unauthorized parties: No parties not approved by your island manager. Throwing parties while at your villa creates an atmosphere of too many distractions. Most villas are in quiet residential neighborhoods and gatherings are not permitted. If such activities are allowed at your villa, there may be associated deposit and rental minimums as well as surcharges. Some feel that since they are paying so much for a villa, they should be permitted to use the property for parties. There is increased liability to the owner due to people outside the original rental group being on the property, which is not taken lightly. Unknown vendors pose risks as well. There is also the possibility of someone taking advantage of the extra activity to slip in unnoticed to pilfer. "It won't happen to me", we've heard before... and yes, we've seen it happen to chagrined and embarrassed guests - not only was their party found out (entire damage deposits may be forfeited for this), but now they are missing things and that's not a good way to accent an island vacation.

Have all local emergency numbers at ready disposal. If anything occurs, dial 911 first, then your island manager for assistance with the process.

Hope this is a good start; perhaps others will be able to offer more suggestions as well.

Really good advice there, Ms. Davis. I think that message should be a sticky.

Great information A Davis!

We have been very fortunate in our area and for this we are very thankful. My pet peeve as a villa manager is that I don't like guests using taxi's that are not affiliated with our management company! I highly stress, even to guests that want to go out drinking, and choose not to drive their rental, to use OUR taxi drivers that are very familiar with our properties. Bringing in outsiders and disclosing our location is very Undesirable.
It is highly recommended to rent your own vehicle for villa rentals for ease of coming and going at your will. Hiring taxi's for this purpose can be costly and you are limited to their schedule.
Again, please no outside taxi services to villas, use the taxi service that your villa manager recommends!

On all three islands vacation rentals get robbed. They know if they watch them they will know when they will be empty. Thieves know these houses are usually furnished nicely and most likely will have insurance so they can hit them again after the insurance pays. Unless things have change drastically in the last couple of years you will be fine. It so much easier to rob them when they are empty of people. When ours were empty we would literally do things like turn fridges on their sides so thieves couldn't see them from the windows. The will even steal hot water heaters and stairs down here.

So use common sense, don't bring much cash, we have atms, don't bring much jewelery, etc..

Thank you Anita for the very good advice. We really appreciate all of your help. -- Kaye

You are welcome Kaye - do have a great time! The vast majority of rentals (as I am sure you suspect) take place without incident... only fab memories!

Of course we will hanker for the trip report as well... it's how we do.:D

I would dare say that villa rentals get hit no more than any would be regular house.
That average has to be pretty low.
I am happy to report this has never happened to us, nor do we go to these kind of steps to prevent it.
I simply cannot make guarantees...
It can happen to any of us at any time. NOT just villas.

I'm sorry sherri but on stx you would be wrong. We do not have the tourism that the other islands have. Most condos and houses rent well during season for short term rentals. But during the summer MANY of them set empty for months at a time. I personnally always feel it better to do a long term rental, you end up make the same amount of money over the long haul here and you know someone is in your house.

This is also why so many people have caretakers. It is simply NEVER a good idea to let your house set empty and another reason you don't broadcast when you are going on vacation. Never good to let it set empty from a maintenance point of view either here. Salt air and humidity are hard on everything.

Betty,
I agree, long term is close to the same income as short term over all and a hell of a lot less work! We have certainly discussed this issue so many times!
We live in STT and are on the property next door to our villas and are always present..... unless the villas are rented at which point the guests get their privacy. With our presence, comes safety (for the most part). In fact, our guests like knowing we are never far away. Won't argue your point at all.

Hi:

This is all TERRIFIC advice. I especially liked

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Several years back I was at a villa near a beach in Tortola. Just after dark a large group of people came up to the door and said that they'd locked their keys in the car and wanted to use the phone. Now, I found it strange that anybody would be visiting a dark, rocky-roaded, down-in-the-bush beach at night. I hesitated as there must have been 10 people in the group. They brought forward a woman and a girl of about 7 or 8 and begged to use the phone. I brought the cordless phone to the door, asked the number and dialed it for them then handed it to the woman, all while they stood on the porch. The woman talked to someone and hung up. Then she said they all had to use the bathroom and wanted to come in and use it. I agreed to let the woman in with the child to use the bathroom near the front door. I locked the rest out. In comes the child and woman and the child wets on the floor. Okay, I guess she really had to go. The woman now says she'll clean it up and starts to walk off towards the back of the house. I stop her and tell her that she need not clean, and that since the child's accident, there is no more need for the child to use the bathroom and I show the pair outside and lock the door again.

Fifteen minutes later all the lights go out. Now, this was likely a typical Tortolan summer power outage but I became really frightened when the group comes back and starts banging on the door to be let in, saying that they wanted to wait inside! This time, the men in the group were leading. My family and I took up positions by the locked door with pieces of furniture in hand waited for them to (hopefully) go away. They finally did.

I later heard that there had been some villa invasions around that period of time. Did those people mean us harm? Maybe not, but what I learned was not to even deal with strangers at the door, it's just too stressful , especially at night. Just say firmly, through a locked door or window, "Sorry, I can't help you."

Islandlola

islandlola -- You just call the police and then you let them use the phone -- most people don't bring their children to a crime scene - it is not that unusual to be at the beach after dark in the VI especially if you have locked the keys in the car. You did the right thing but probably overstressed - better safe than sorry I guess.

Islandlola, I'd have not wanted to let them in either. That's too many to keep track of (in one car?). I would have further offered to dial the number for them from behind my door. I would have then called my island manager to let them know what was going on.

I'd have liked to think the woman was calling for a ride, but for 10 people, looks odd to me. Sorry for their predicament but they were adults on their own island. They would not have died. They should have called a blinkin' cab.

Exit Zero, sorry to say but the wrong kind will bring children to a crime scene. And worse. In the islands, people of all ages know how to "go bush" to take a leak, it's not a big deal here. And, they should have known that their numbers would be intimidating to a total stranger - bad vibe all around.

Maybe they were OK, but they could have done a better job in presenting themselves if they were... in my opinion.

Hey, Anita:

Yes, I was really put off by the numbers. I remember thinking "what were they driving for them all to fit?" As I small child I've ridden doubled up on laps and even in the wheel wells, but we were little kids and cars were much bigger. This was a crowd of adults, mostly men. It was also my sense that most people would have gone in the bush for the bathroom, *especially* with a small child (heaven knows we've done that when going to an off road beach in the BVI).

This is a good thread, because as Anita says, such things happen rarely but it is good to take some precautions.

Ilo

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That's FLOOR wells (what we called those dips on the floor in the back of the car).

We were tough little kids, but even we wouldn't have ridden in the wheel wells. : )

Ilo

Wow, very interesting!