We are locals who stay at Reunion-area vacation homes semi-frequently as a staycation. This was our first stay with Magical Vacation Homes; however, we've stayed with other management companies including, most recently, Jeeves. In our many stays, we've never complained or had an issue with a property... until this trip.
Around 4:15pm on our first day at the property, I called the "care" line and left a message asking for a call. At 10:15am the following day, I left a second message, followed by a third on the same day at 2:45pm. On our third day, I called again and finally reached a representative. After first saying that she couldn't help with anything because I booked through "Reunion Vacations" before discovering that that was an error in her system because you're "changing systems," she then said that I didn't leave any messages because she was working the previous day and returned all messages. Finally, she listened to my issues and responded as follows:
1. The house was generally unclean. There was toothpaste on the walls of two bathrooms, toilet paper beside the downstairs toilet, long black hairs in the downstairs large bathtub (the only tub, so the only place we could bath our small kids), food and general grime all over the top bunk in the ocean room, food crumbs and sticky glass rings on the kitchen island counter, and beer cans in the pool. She noted the issues as "a bathroom was a bit dirty," and said that there wasn't anything that could be done because of COVID, but that she'd ask a manager to call the following day (since the manager was out on Monday).
2. The crib was placed by the front door. I asked if it could be taken to the second floor. She said that the crib is always placed where the guest tells them to put it. I said that no one asked me where to put it and that we assumed it would be with the master (which is on the second floor) and with the other kid rooms (which are also on the second floor). She reiterated that I must have told them to put it on the first floor. When I asked to have it taken off the bill since it can't be used, she said she'd have the manager call.
3. The main reason for our call when we first arrived was that there was a large mound of fire ants (we know because they bit us) in the middle of the patio in front of the pool. She said that she would send the exterminators because the house owner had contracted for such a service. The exterminators came quickly--although it was almost 48 hours after our arrival since our calls were never returned. This made it extremely hard to enjoy the patio.
4. There wasn't any hot water on the second floor of the house. The representative sent a maintenance man over who said that faucets and showers on the second floor have to run for ten minutes (literally) before any hot water would be felt. We took that advice and did get hot water on the second floor of the home after running water for 8-10 minutes.
Our complaint is less about the condition of the property, although that was certainly below the standard we've grown accustomed to from other management companies; rather, it's more about the lack of communication. It shouldn't take three voicemails and another call across three days to get in contact with the management company, nor should a promised call from a manager "the next day" never take place. I am disappointed, but will simply stay with a different company at our next visit to Reunion.