Villa Recommendations...

[andyhayley]

Hi,

Back for a week now, and with time to reflect on our fantastic holiday!

I was thinking, it would be a great idea if on a forum like this there was an area where people could recommend private villas they had stopped at that were excellent.

We had a big family party with two villas, and one was exceptional, just fantastic, where the other was exceptionally bad.

Unfortunately the bad one is much better advertised, and it would be great if there was an area where we could tell people the genuine great homes that people have had good experiences with.

[Stu]

Hi,
In theory it is a good idea but in practice it would get abused. This happens on other forums and you never know if it is a genuine recommendation or if it is the actual owner recommending their own property pretending to be a genuine customer.

Then you would get someone recommending and someone not recommending the same property, leading to confusion and possible arguments.

We have seen villa forums degenerate due to the above and wouldn't want theDIBB to go the same way, so we do not allow this type of recommendation.

[MichelleP1]

Just out of interest what was bad about the bad one? As a villa owner myself I encourage feedback from all my guests, so I can put right anything which any guest wasn't happy with straight away. Suppose I'm just interested in what people look for in a villa really.

[CruellaDeVilla]

I hope Taffo reads this thread as it is a perfect example of villas not living up to their expectations.

[dismum]

I would be interested to know what was wrong too so mistakes can be avoided

[andyhayley]

Thats fair enough, I guess personal recommendations are always best.

As for what was wrong, dont worry - if you have a house and care (which looking at your replies you do), and have a good management company, i doubt you would have a problem.

Our first house was fantastic, and we have been 4 times in the past 3 years in other houses - all great, each time we have been unable to go back to the same house because they have been booked up - a sign of a good house!.

The second house we had this time just had problems from day one, all poor maintenance issues. Things like the oven had tin foil at the bottom, we thought to protect it, but when we started it up the house filled with smoke because the cleaners didnt clean the oven, just covered up a layer of grease wih foil.

Something was wrong with the pool filter (the water went really cloudy), we called them out and they said it was fine and just put a bit f chlorine in, two days later the kids got ear infections, as soon as we told the management company the doctor had been out and advised us to get the pool checked, they came back out, replaced the filter and the pool cleared within 24 hours. We should have got it checked outselves in hindsight.

There was no controllers for most of the tvs, a playstaion, but no controllers or games, most of the plastic glasses for use round the pool were cracked, the pool screen had holes in in so the bugs got in, no wheels on the pram/buggy, the list goes on and on (I dont need to mention the state of the bbq!)

We complained to the (American) owner when we got back, he said the management company said they had never seen a house left in such a horrible state, while the other company said our house was superb and offered us 10% of the next visit. The houses were spotless, the problem house was actually better than when we arrived!

All in all, its safe to say we wont be using that house again, and its a heavily advertised property.

Anyone reading this who wants to rent a villa, dont worry. We have had lots of houses and this was the first problem we have had. We still had a great holiday and private villas are usually absolutely fantastic, the only way to stay!.

I wish there was a way we could name the good houses and give them the exposure they deserve, but I guess it is open to abuse, anyone can post anything.

Hopefully by not naming any names, this post can just go to say something like 'just be careful', if possible talk to the villa owners (all the good ones we have used we have spoken to on the phone), you get a good idea of what they, and the house will be like that way.

The only other thing I can say is we have never had a problem renting from English owners, so next time we will be looking for an english owned house, assuming the first house (or one of the other great houses we have stayed in) is booked up and we cannot simply return there.

Edited to fix some speeling mistakes - sorry!!!

[CruellaDeVilla]

Originally posted by byoni


The only other thing I can say is we have never had a problem renting from English owners, so next time we will be looking for an english owned house, assuming the first house (or one of the other great houses we have stayed in) is booked up and we cannot simply return there.

Edited to fix some speeling mistakes - sorry!!! [/B]

Hope you mean British owners:jump:

[Villainlover]

I have only had one not so good villa .. our pool went yellow!! due to it having a leak.. it had had the leak for ages but they never left a note to top it up or anything ..once the chemical blast went in it was unusable for a day and a half:angry: and when we did finally go in it bleached our swimming cossies!! :eek: must have been costing them a fortune as the grounds around the place were like a bog :eek:

the furniture had had it and it was not very clean...

this was from a British owner and advertised on a site I regularly use ....

I just cross my fingers that this one will be good ..

[andyhayley]

Originally posted by CruellaDeVilla
Hope you mean British owners:jump:

Yep, thats what i meant!

[MichelleP1]

Sounds disgusting, I would be giving my management company a good kicking if that were my home! Hope it didn't spoil your holiday too much.

[andyhayley]

No, we still had a great holiday, and we are not put off using villas at all, just this one.

[CruellaDeVilla]

I think if you research enough and have a realistic budget you should find a well cared for home with everything you need.

It tends to be the bargain villas, charging really low rates, who cannot afford to maintain the villas to the standard we would expect. Many of these villas can only get bookings through travel agencies as nobody would book if they saw it beforehand.

Glad to hear it would not put you off renting a villa again, so many people say once they have tried a villa they would never go back to a hotel. It worked for us we ended up buying one!

[Blues30]

I wouldn't say just because a travel agent is selling the villa for them its going to be below standard. :erm:

[CruellaDeVilla]

Originally posted by Blues30
I wouldn't say just because a travel agent is selling the villa for them its going to be below standard. :erm:

Agree not all villas will be low standard and that is not what I am saying in the thread I said "many" of the villas.

Most established owners would not give their villas to a travel agents to rent out because the rates are too low as they take a commision naturally. Owners that have lower than average
or run down villas will take any amount they are given. I know many guests who have had horror stories to tell after ending up in villas like this, normally booked through a third party and not direct with the owner.

[Blues30]

Most the villas I sell, and have also stayed in have been fantastic. I would just say that people shouldn't think that because they are booking through a travel agent their villa won't be nice. :nonono:

[Blues30]

Originally posted by CruellaDeVilla
Agree not all villas will be low standard and that is not what I am saying in the thread I said "many" of the villas.

I wouldn't even say most, Maybe a very very small minority but not most

[CruellaDeVilla]

It is genuinely nice to hear a different perspective on this one and I understand you are talking from experience but can I ask you if you or the company visit all of the villas to make sure they are up to standard and do you get many new owners signing up as there seems to be an influx of villas looking for bookings and find it difficult to market the villas themselves?

[CruellaDeVilla]

Originally posted by Blues30
I wouldn't even say most, Maybe a very very small minority but not most

Again I never said most.............:D

[Blues30]

My last visit on a working basis was last year and we visited most of the villas. We trust and believe in the management company we work with to make sure the villas are up to standard. I would say in the last 2 years we have had no more than 5 complaints with villas. :D

[Blues30]

Originally posted by CruellaDeVilla
Again I never said most.............:D

Ok, many :tounge: :wiggle:

[CruellaDeVilla]

My last thoughts on this one for now is wherever the renter picks the villa from, it is their decision afterall, we all hope they are not going to get something that is going to spoil their holiday of a life time whether it is booked through an Agent/Website ordirect with owner.

Afterall, the house in question here was booked through a villa website or maybe MC website I believe.

[Blues30]

Originally posted by CruellaDeVilla
My last thoughts on this one for now is wherever the renter picks the villa from, it is their decision afterall, we all hope they are not going to get something that is going to spoil their holiday of a life time whether it is booked through an Agent/Website ordirect with owner.


Couldn't agree more :D

[dismum]

My question Blues would be - would your company get the complaint or would the man co on the ground get it as they are the first point of contact over there .

[andyhayley]

Originally posted by CruellaDeVilla
I think if you research enough and have a realistic budget you should find a well cared for home with everything you need.

It [B]tends to be the bargain villas, charging really low rates, who cannot afford to maintain the villas to the standard we would expect. Many of these villas can only get bookings through travel agencies as nobody would book if they saw it beforehand.


Unfortunately I wish that were true.

Our excellent villa cost us just £ 650 per week, the second villa was £ 1200 per week. We expected the first villa to be 'average' and the second to be superb.

We paid so much more for the second house because we stayed in in 3 years ago and it was excellent, but it had changed hands, management company, but not prices!

I think its just a chance you take, we would recommend the first villa to anyone that asked us, as long as the owners were still the same!

[Blues30]

Originally posted by dismum
My question Blues would be - would your company get the complaint or would the man co on the ground get it as they are the first point of contact over there .

If a customer were to complain they normally go to the management company first, Who will then immediatly go investigate it and hopefully resolve the matter. They then advise us so we are aware of the situation when the customer returns home.

:D

[Villainlover]

In my experience it was the management company that was the problem and were sacked!! not what I wanted and I was slightly worried for the last couple of days when I was told the locks had been changed :eek:

I still think it was a combination of owner and Management company

[CruellaDeVilla]

Originally posted by byoni
Unfortunately I wish that were true.

Our excellent villa cost us just £ 650 per week, the second villa was £ 1200 per week. We expected the first villa to be 'average' and the second to be superb.

We paid so much more for the second house because we stayed in in 3 years ago and it was excellent, but it had changed hands, management company, but not prices!

I think its just a chance you take, we would recommend the first villa to anyone that asked us, as long as the owners were still the same!

Where did you find the villa that was pants? You must have been helluva disappointed especially as you had stayed there before in the past. As owners we are always trying to weed out the bad apples.

Where was the more expensive house located, initials will be enough or you can pm? Did you complain about it at the time?
I hate to see guests geting abum deal, it's not fair.

Owners that let their villas deteriorate must be mad! This is why sites like the Dibb are great as you have to sign contracts etc to advertise.

[Orlandobelle]

The only time we had problems with a villa - the management company were to blame imo (apaart from an initial cock-up by Expedia :rolleyes: )

This villa was far more expensive than the nicer ones we've booked privately since