Peninsula Esmeralda Luxury Hotel & Villas

The villa was spacious, and the pool with its ocean views was something special. Lordy and Esmeralda were always attentive to anything we needed, and the staff were on hand throughout. The villas are beautiful.

The villa was spacious and had a beautiful view, but poor management and service made the stay extremely stressful. We arrived and were moved to Larimar. The property manager initially blamed a plumbing issue, but we later learned Amber Villa, the villa we had booked, had been double booked. We had to repack the next day and ask for all our things to be moved. Once we got to Amber Villa, there was no Wi-Fi despite it being advertised, one bathroom was locked and out of order, hot water was inconsistent, and the shower pressure was very weak. A plumbing leak left water on the kitchen floor, and we spent the evening of my spouse's 40th cleaning it up. They were eventually able to get us small Wi-Fi boxes. The food itself was good, but the chef service and meal planning we'd discussed days ahead were disorganized. Groceries were incomplete, deliveries came late at night, and large amounts of food and leftovers went missing repeatedly without explanation. Management communicated poorly and was often dismissive. Staff also entered the villa without warning. The lack of planning, transparency, and professionalism overshadowed the food. We left exhausted instead of relaxed and would not stay again. I wouldn't recommend these villas unless you're only staying one night to use a pool. In response to the owner: I respectfully disagree with your characterization of our stay. Looking at your reviews, this doesn't seem to be the first time you've tried to paint a different picture of someone's experience. You suggested my reviews of other services and products mattered to this review. I often leave positive reviews directly on a company's website and only leave a negative one when the experience was significantly bad, usually after trying a business or product more than once. I know things can go wrong or someone can have a bad day. I tried to give your team the benefit of the doubt, but the communication problems became too extensive, and your response confirmed that concern. 1. Your own employee told us the villa was double booked on the first night. I didn't make that up. He also apologized and said he was overwhelmed by the number of stays and weddings happening while we were there. Your account now directly contradicts what he told us. 2. Staff were offered food on one occasion, but leftovers went missing on days when food hadn't been offered to them. We were fine with the day they were offered food, but no explanation was given for the other days. If you can explain what happened then, I'm open to hearing it. You never said that groceries are always delivered according to the menu, but that was the expectation anyway. If so, why were ingredients delivered that weren't used in any menu? Should I have assumed groceries would come daily? Nobody explained that, and when I asked, a staff member said the refrigerator couldn't hold all the groceries, even though the freezer could also have been used. Most importantly, the only refund we received was the chef's service fees for the meals I cancelled because I was so upset by then. I paid for everything else, including the deliveries. I tried to keep my original review brief and reasonable. A family member who stayed in another of your villas also told me things, but I decided not to include them because I hadn't seen them myself.

I noticed a few maintenance problems in the villa: low water pressure, short power outages, and air conditioning that struggled with the daytime heat. Staff responded promptly every time. The location is beautiful.

We had one of our worst travel experiences here. We were told we'd be upgraded to a “luxury” villa, but on arrival it was a mess. Nothing was clean and the condition was unacceptable. There were bugs, dirty bathrooms, mold in the kitchen, and exposed electrical outlets. The pool couldn't be used. The property was advertised as fully equipped, but the Wi-Fi and TVs didn't work. We had to spend one night there while finding somewhere else, then checked out first thing the next morning. We had paid for a full meal plan but barely got any service, not even water. The whole thing was stressful and disappointing. The host's responses were vague and reactive, and getting a refund has been slow and frustrating. I'd strongly urge other travelers to stay away.