Casas Balcón del Mar

We had a terrible stay. The houses were neglected, and the group had several problems: the TV didn’t work, none of the light switches worked, the cistern was broken, and I had to open and fix it myself so we wouldn’t spend four days filling it with a bucket. The kitchenware was scratched and broken, and the pool cover was broken too. Chlorine tablets kept floating in the pool. We removed them because there were children and the tablets are very harmful, which upset the owner, who called to say she would disable the place so we couldn’t use it for the rest of the stay. They came in while we were away to change towels, searching every bedroom and moving our belongings instead of telling us where to leave the towels. There are cameras inside the rooms and outside, pointed at the pool, which wasn’t disclosed when we booked. I doubt that’s legal, especially with minors there. They refused to return our deposit, claiming we’d broken a tile and toilet seat that were already broken when we arrived. There were plenty of other broken or old things they could have charged us for too. After we’d left, she also charged us for a bucket of pool product that, at the recommended dose for such a small pool, would last five months of maintenance. They really made a killing from us. I hope karma catches up with them for treating us in such bad faith.

I’m giving one star because I can’t give zero. We were told there was free private parking, but the gate was locked and out of service, so we had to leave the cars on the street by the entrance. The listing said cable TV, but there was only overhead TV, and it didn’t work. The kitchenware was in poor condition, and the pool was ridiculously small for a place meant for 16 people. Be careful if they ask for a deposit. They won’t return it, claiming you broke something that was already broken. Cameras point at the pool from outside and are inside the rooms. We weren’t told about them when booking; the motion detectors on that Securitas model are cameras too. I doubt the cameras are legal, especially with minors there. Luanda Vargas, the manager, was very unpleasant and rude.

The house needs a lot of upkeep, especially in the bathroom and kitchen. The refrigerator cord has two makeshift joins with exposed wire and no safety protection. A spill on the counter could cause a serious electrical accident. There was mold throughout the shower enclosure, inside and out. The bathroom fixtures were poor quality, the towel rail was loose, the toilet paper holder was rusty, and the light switch was faulty and hard to turn off. The shower pressure was ridiculously low, barely enough for a normal shower. When several houses used water at once, it dropped even more, leaving only a trickle. The kitchen items were chipped and damaged, including plates and cups. The frying pans were so old, scratched, and disgusting that we couldn’t use them. We had to buy a sponge because the one provided had already been used by other guests. That’s unhygienic and unacceptable. There was a security camera inside, pointing inward. We weren’t told about it beforehand or how to turn it off, and I found it an unacceptable invasion of privacy, quite apart from the questionable legality. At checkout, they tried to take money from our deposit for supposed damage to an old, flimsy bathroom wastebasket that had been in terrible shape from the start.

We didn't get our deposit back. They blamed us for damage to things that were already ancient. The facilities also felt neglected. There are cameras inside the rooms and around the pool, so keep that in mind if privacy matters to you or you're traveling with children. A bad experience.