| Vacation Rental Complaints [Tag : villa] |
| 1. |
Disgusting Villa in Naples Park
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On Friday 21st August 2009, after a 9 hour flight (from Europe) and 3 hour drive from Orlando we finally arrived for our first time in Naples. We had rented this villa from the VRBO website and were in direct contact with the owner, Yuri Khazanov, who arranged for the keys etc for our arrival. This was our first time in Naples and were really looking forward to it. However, as soon as we stepped inside the front door we were shocked, speechless, in fact. The details and photographs on the website were totally misleading. The place was dingy, filthy dirty, the sofas were stained and obviously had not been cleaned since time began! The bed linen was brown nylon and would not have been fit for a dog to lie on. The walls were grubby, the pool...well, one could only imagine what could be picked up if one swam in it...the television was sitting in the middle of the floor...We spent all of 10 minutes in the property and left. We had paid this dreadful man several thousand US Dollars for a 2 week stay in a property that was totally misrepresented. We have sent Mr. Khazanov several emails and he is totally ignorning us. Thankfully we had the means to get in the car, find a realator and, in turn, a super condo. We are thousands of dollars out of pocket and this man is just getting away with it. Our advice would be DO NOT EVEN THINK OF RENTING ANY PROPERTY FROM THIS THIEF...THAT IS ALL HE IS.
Date Added: Oct 7, 2009
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| 2. |
Fraudulent Advertising
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This home was listed as having covered parking, garage, hot tub/jacuzzi, open air with vaulted ceilings, telephone, heated pool and many other amenities.
When we arrived, the front door jamb was split where someone had kicked it in, the pool was stone cold and water level very low, no hot tub or jacuzzi, no telephone, no vaulted ceilings, not open & airy, but actually very dark inside and no covered parking or garage. We did not feel safe in this hom and the neighboring house's front yard was piled high with debris. Many light fixtures didn't work or were broken, there were many exposed nail/holes in the walls with pictures on the floor, no television on the lanai as shown in the picture. In general the home was quite dismal.
The owner offered us another home she had nearby, which we did agree to try, but after multiple calls to her property manager with no replies, the pool is too cold to use, there is no hot tub or jacuzzi in this home either, the beds are extremely uncomfortable and need replacing. There are no kitchen towels or dishrags, no washcloths or hand towels for the bathroom, lights that need bulbs/don't work. She refuses to turn the pool heat up past 80 degrees, which in the winter months is entirely too cold to use. We have asked her to refund our remaining balance $800 so that we can find other accomodations, which she refuses to do.
Date Added: Dec 4, 2009
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| 3. |
Refusal to return booking deposit
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We booked a vacation villa in Cozumel called "Casa Ballena" for a week for our wedding. They required a 50% deposit ($1176.00) paid by check. Their contract has no cancellation policy in it. Unfortunately, we had to cancel our wedding. This was on March 15, 2010 and our reservation was for July 20, 2010. This was more than 4 months in advance. 127 days in advance, to be exact. In desperation I tried to negotiate applying part of the $1176 to a 1 bedroom property instead, since the wedding was canceled and no guests would be attending. The owner of the company, Ron White, said that was not possible. He said we will lose our entire $1176 unless they are able to rebook the same exact villa during the same exact week (which happens to be during Cozumel's low season). He also refused to give me the contact information of the property manager or owner, who according to him had control of our money.
I would NOT recommend doing business with this company. There are plenty of other rental companies that operate in Cozumel, do not take a chance with Sherrie and Ron White if there is even the slightest chance of an unforeseen circumstance that could cause you to cancel. It would be understandable to have a small cancellation fee(even though we canceled over 4 months in advance), but absolutely no refund?? Over $1100 for nothing? That is completely unethical.
Date Added: Mar 24, 2010
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| 4. |
Rundown villa in Runaway Bay
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Our expectations were not met; the villa did not come up to the high standard as described and shown in photographs and videos on its main and numerous websites.
Although the villa was in a beautiful location with stunning views, we were extremely disappointed to find it rather shabby and rundown. We were not expecting 5-star by UK standards but a well-maintained and clean villa. The staff did their best to look after our needs but they were hampered by a) not having the right equipment and b) it appears they did not have resources to make even small purchases such as the battery for the golf cart.
There was no guest fridge for our use, the pool was pretty grubby as were the inflatables around it, the parasol was broken and rusty. The pool furniture has seen better days, it is all very grubby.
We do not consider our complaints unreasonable. Given that our holiday mood was marred from the beginning by the villa being shabby and unkempt, particularly the kitchen. There was no ambient lighting, only an overhead light.
The fixtures and fittings are all very grubby, in need of replacement and/or fixing. The air-conditioning is limited to the central room only, the bedrooms only have ceiling fans and broke air condition units that are very old and falling to pieces.
The tennis court is in need of serious attention, it is falling to pieces, the surface is filthy, cracked and dangerous. It is beyond belief it is being advertised on tennis websites!
The gardens could be delightful if it were not for the dog mess all over the place.
We realised the service we received was limited by petty and irritable excuses from the Caretaker/Supervisor.
Caretaker/Supervisor M and Housekeeper J. In our view they are too young and inexperienced to look after a house the size of Villa Maroon. They were always pleasant and friendly but unfortunately we found them both unprofessional and incompetent. They clearly have little idea how to clean or look after a big house, garden and pool, let alone a few guests.
One good thing was our rooms were always tidied and our beds made up each day but still the house was a grubby mess.
Neither the Housekeeper nor the Caretaker were around some mornings during the first few days of our stay, which was a pain because there was no one to open the gates to the pool, make coffee, open the house up and make it presentable for us.
One other good thing: The Chef. Given he did not have ideal conditions to work in, his presentation skills were faultless and his food was pretty good. We would recommend him to anyone.
It is not a pleasure to complain like this but in the circumstances we believe the owner should be aware of our disappointment. Her run down villa that looks so beautiful on the net really needs to be totally refurbished.
The clever use of photography and false descriptions to sell a non-existent environment which by any stretch of the imagination could not be achieved in the current conditions that exist in the villa.
It was above the means of the staff to rectify any of the problems we mention. We paid the owner a large sum of money for a poor standard villa without proper service. It is beyond us to recommend the villa to anyone within our professional circles or amongst our friends.
Date Added: Apr 13, 2011
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