Dear Mr. Keith Duncan (Notsopickyeater488),
We thank you very much to take the time to write this terrible review and we really hope that you and all our future guests will take the same time to read our response to what you wrote:
We have actually 69 different reviews on Trip Advisor for this specific apartment (called Sea-view Apartment) 50 of which have 5 bubble which is Excellent and the maximum possible score on TripAdvisor, 18 of which are 4 bubble which is a Very Good score and we DO NOT HAVE 1 or 2 or 3 bubble score except your review with 2.... Maybe there must be a reason or several reasons for all of this!
We live just upstairs and we met each other every day to ask you if all was good and if you needed something, offering you all our assistance for your holiday; we also provided you a boogie board, a float swimming pool noodle, our personal lunch/drinks cooler bag with 2 ice packs, 3 beach towels, made different phone calls for your car rental, for booking your catamaran excursion etc. all free of charge and despite this you wrote us this comment!
We would like to underline that Sea-view Apartment is NOT a Villa as you wrote or also an Hotel, but it is a self-catering one bedroom apartment at Blue Ocean Cottage, which is a property of 7 different apartments in 2 separated buildings. The 2 harm chairs of the patio have been replaced last year by 2 new wicker chairs with cushions, because the sun and the salt spray damaged them and of course you found the new ones under the covered patio. There are totally 6 more wooden chairs in the apartment of which (being your group of 3 people) the maid left 3 inside the kitchen around the round table and 3 outside around the rectangular table under the patio and all of them have a red cushion on it to be more comfortable!
It's true that there are 2 plastic adirondack chairs in the garden with no cushions (they do not sell them in Barbados) which have been bought exactly 3 months ago and were still perfect before your arrival, but we think it's necessary now also to underline that, as you wrote us in one of your emails when you asked us also to book a car, you are a quite large person 193 centimetres 6’4” tall and I would add around 120 Kg. / 264 pounds of weight, so that I'm sure it was not our fault or your first time you had broken a chair and strangely on the harm side, not on the bottom.
We should also mention that you were not authorized to bring our 2 plastic adirondack chairs on the hard and sharp rocks like your wife and mother in law did the 3rd day of your stay (we both personally saw it), instead of going on the many different white sandy beach in the nearby or on the rest of the south coast, using our beach towels that we provided you free of charge even if it's not mentioned on our adverts or website.
We provide the apartment with a fully equipped kitchen with more than all the necessary items, with a large fridge, freezer, toaster, american coffee maker, italian coffee machine, blender, different sets of stainless steel knifes also to cut any kind of meat, all kind of new pots, pans, glasses, cups and dishes. It's true that we do not provide salt, pepper or other staff like that, but it's not true that you did not find any of them because there is still salt, pepper and coffee maker filters inside the kitchen cabinets, which were purchased by the previous guests.
As said we rent self catering apartment and all this kind of products must normally purchased by you even if again... it's not true that you did not find dish soap next the kitchen sink as the maid put left it with also a dish sponge. In the bathroom next the sink there is the "lovely soap dispenser" as you said but with liquid soap in it; anyway again when you go in a self catering apartment this kind of articles are not included and you should buy them by yourself even if we provide them anyway.
The Kitchen itself has exactly 6 different 110 volt double sockets, so that we are talking about 12 different light plugs, with also an extra 220 volt power bar which you normally do not find in Barbados, with 3 different systems (10-16 and schuko) and 6 available spaces which is also good for our European guests.
Concerning the security of our Cottage and apartments, since we purchased and start to manage this property in the 2010, we installed: security fences all around the property with 3 different gates, many different video cameras all around it and also iron security grates at the ground floors, which guaranteed our guests from having any problem of theft or malicious people. They also have a double gate opening at the main entrance which can be locked or if you did not feel comfortable left open and unlocked. Again strangely you are the first guest in 8 years who complained even for the security bars!
We would like to underline also that all our bed linen and towels are new, bought and made in Italy, with high quality 100% soft cotton, nice graphics and of the best brands on the market such as Zucchi, Bassetti, Gaber, etc. which are very far away from the classic white simple and cheap bed sheets you can find in all apartments around.
Maybe you have been offended by us when we told you that you damaged a big blue bathroom towel with violet spots which did not go away after the laundry and using specific detergents, maybe because you used a particular cream with Aloe, or maybe because we were expecting you at least to re-buy the chair broken by you with your weight and strong harms or at least refund us the price of it?
We also did not charge you the supplement for the extra person over the first 2, which is mentioned in all our adverts, which is normally between 10 and 20 USD per night depending on the season (now we are in high season), for a total of 200 USD of extra discount in this period.
Lastly... shall will talk also about your general behavior without respecting the basic rules of a condominium or of an apartment located in a complex, not an independent Villa as you incorrectly wrote?
We had 2 different complaints from the guests staying in both apartments next where you were staying, concerning your way of drinking since the first day of your arrival and also your loud voices not only during the day, but also during the early mornings or the late nights. Maybe for you it's normal, but sometimes when you do not rent a villa but a self catering one-bedroom surrounded by other apartments in a condominium, you should think that you are not alone and that there are also other paying guests who have the right and want to sleep and relax during their stay and holiday!
All this said we are very sorry that you would not recommend "Our Villa" as you called our self catering one-bedroom apartment, but we are very happy that you will not consider in staying here again, even because we surely will not want you as our guests anymore!
Stefano Porcu & Elisabetta Vadilonga
Sea-view Apartment