Playa Grande Vacation Rentals, Senorita Casitas Vacation Homes, Tours & Activities Costa Rica

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Bad experience; worse customer service We reserved Casa Hermosa for 4 weeks, wiring 50% of the rent in advance to the owner’s account. Based on the online description, we expected clean and comfortable accommodations suitable for a long-term stay, however when we arrived we realized the nasty truth – the house was not even habitable. Our dissatisfaction with Casa Hermosa was not because of overly high or exacting standards. The house was not only dirty and in need of maintenance; it was not functional as a long-term rental or for use of all of the bedrooms. Out of 3 a/c units on the main floor, only 1 was working; we had no hot water for 2 days, and there were a grand total of 2 towels in the entire house (which is advertised as sleeping up to 8 people). Additionally, there was an ant and bug infestation that became especially active at night – imagine feeling ants on you in the bed and then crunching on them as you go to the bathroom in the middle of the night! We know, of course, that Playa Grande has a tropical climate and that bugs inside are an inevitable fact of life there; however the sheer volume of ants indicated a complete lack of scheduled or even pre-arrival treatment. The doors to the exterior dining area were jammed shut; there was no access to the laundry facilities; the “closets” in the bedrooms consisted of a bamboo rod affixed to the walls and no hangers; and the 2 “efficiency-style” bedrooms downstairs were even dirtier (think spiders) than the rest of the house, musty smelling and lacking advertised amenities. The “renovated” kitchen had no storage space for snacks or dry goods – the only shelving were shaky planks under the counter. However, as advertised, the countertops were granite, which appeared to be the full extent of the “recent renovation”. Otherwise, forget buying and keeping any food for an extended stay. The owner of the property met us the night of our arrival, explained none of the above, and that is the last we saw or heard from her. When the extent of the deficiencies became clear to us the next morning, the owner was notified of the items and of our intention to depart (with the help and support of the wonderful and equally surprised rental agent). During the 2 days / 3 nights that it took us to locate alternative accommodations, we endured assorted workmen and a cleaning person coming in and out of the house in an attempt to remediate some of the items. Other issues could not be resolved without parts ordered and installed, etc. Instead of enjoying the beginning of our vacation, we lost 3 days of it. The owner’s utter lack of concern for her guests was apparent to us when she breezily turned over a dirty and unprepared house. For example, the hot water issue apparently only required a switch (located in the locked utility room) to be flipped in order to function – did she not think to do this at any point prior to our arrival, or when we first brought it to her attention? We were told that the owner would come to the property to see the state of things prior to our departure. This did not happen. We were then told that the owner would contact us – by phone and subsequently by email – to discuss an appropriate refund of our 50% deposit. This did not happen either. While we were willing to pay a fair price for our uncomfortable stay in the house, we never expected a complete lack of customer service and business ethics from a businesswoman in a small tourist town. The owner has kept over $1200 for her “compensation”, while we have apparently spent the most expensive 3 nights of our lives in unprepared, uncomfortable and very unpleasant circumstances. This review is a warning to anyone considering renting this property. It is misrepresented online, not suitable for family accommodations and the owner couldn’t care less.
(Posted by Gwyneth Williams, )

Casa Hermosa

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