8/10
We thought the house and property were great - we'd absolutely stay again. It was perfect for our family which included my husband, myself and our two year old daughter. Our only complaint is the communication style and responsiveness of the property manager (who isn't the owner). We asked for some cleaning help to be arranged -she said she'd coordinate it and that we would be paying a local rate (and one that was a bit higher than normal, especially for that area, but fine). When it came time to actually book the cleaning, we were told it would be over ten times what we were initially told. And when we balked at the obvious gringo tax, we were first told it was due to 'overhead' and then we were told it was due to the location of the house. Regardless, there was inconsistent messaging and obviously they were going to profit significantly on cleaning help (I grew up in CR and can attest that no local cleaning help would charge what we were quoted for a few hours of cleaning).
Another similar example was when we first arrived, we asked what we should do with garbage and we were instructed to leave it at the front door. It's a bit of an odd request as that left the garbage vulnerable to a lot of local fauna, but we did as we were told. Upon leaving, we asked again for confirmation about the garbage because it seemed strange to us, at which point we were directed to take the garbage to the main gate, where it's deposited and we were given a code for it. When my husband did this, he met some neighbours who live in the complex permanently who said that garbage collection is a service provided and he shouldn't have been taking out the garbage himself. All suffice to say, we had disappointing experience with fairly simple requests that initially seemed straightforward in execution but then were completely changed, seemingly for no reason. When we left, we were asked by the property manager if there was anything the house needed and, the first day there, I'd asked for a couple of extra pillows (there were only a couple in the house), at which point she said "sorry, there aren't any more" and a sad emoji face. Why bother asking at the end if something was needed, and not bring what was originally requested?
So, on balance, we thought the house was great but the property management could use some improvement.
Jaclyn H.
Estada de 8 nits (febr. 2023)