I stayed 6 nights in August ‘16. It was hugely disappointing due to the owner’s handling of the booking and the dire state of the villa.
I made a 7-night booking in January ’16. The owner confirmed the dates and duration in writing.
Just 12 days before my trip and after I’d paid the full rent/deposit, he informed me he had double-booked part of my stay. He offered to put me up in a local B&B that was much cheaper than his own property. I didn’t accept because I booked the villa to have privacy, space and a private pool.
I pointed out that Owners Direct explicitly forbids double-booking and that waiting to the last minute to tell me was unethical. I asked to cancel the full booking. He refused.
Only after I threatened legal action and started a formal complaint with Owners Direct did he offer a reasonable settlement. I had no choice but to accept and stay fewer nights; it was too late for anything else.
The villa itself was horrible. Although the location is beautiful and the pictures make it look great, it’s not.
To start, it’s filthy and in disrepair:
- Cobwebs and dead bugs were all over: cobwebs on furniture, around windows, in the bedrooms, on the curtains; dead flies on window sills and floors.
- Walls were marked with blood of insects killed by previous inhabitants.
- There were dirty dishes in the cupboards and old coffee grinds in the coffee maker.
- The outside tables were filthy: one had food remains, greasy hand prints and oil smudges; the other had layers of tree droppings.
- Curtain rods were literally falling off walls.
- One bathroom had a broken shower head bracket.
Beyond being filthy, the villa disappoints for other reasons:
- There’s only one window in the whole place with a screen. If it’s hot outside, you have two choices at night: open the windows and sleep with a room full of bugs and mosquitoes or close them and suffocate. It was truly hot and miserable inside at night.
- The pool is not heated and has very cold water.
We reported problems to the owner during our stay. He offered no compensation despite our having had to clean the place to make it habitable.
After the rental, the owner didn’t return the deposit when promised. I had to chase.
I have stayed at lots of villas and understand that problems can happen. But this experience was beyond the pale and completely ruined our holiday.