Holiday Home Olalla

The quiet location, about 1 km from the sea, and the lovely pool were the bright spots. The condition of Villa Olivia was another story. We rented it through K3Homes from July 26, 2024 to August 9, 2024 for €6,000, or €2,900 per week in high season, plus €169 for cleaning. We’re used to renting properties with amenities in the Var region of France, and we’ve rented out properties ourselves, so this was especially disappointing. The house was very dirty when we arrived for our two weeks at the end of July and start of August. There was no vacuum cleaner for the 80 m² of floor to sweep. The downstairs shower overflowed because it was blocked, and a foul sewer smell came from the upstairs bathtub and into the rooms. The toilets were disgusting, as shown in the photos, and the taps were covered in limescale. The TV didn’t work for three days. We complained, and eventually a new one was installed because the switch to digital terrestrial TV months earlier had made the old one unusable. K3HOMES clearly knew about that. During our 15-day stay, there was no cleaning, no fresh bed linen or bath towels, despite the €169 mid-stay cleaning fee. The pool hadn’t been tested and was over-chlorinated, which discoloured our swimsuits. For the first eight days, the pool technician kept coming by to replace shock chlorine tablets without testing the pH or chlorine level. Renting a property in this state for that price is disgraceful. If you want a good stay and value for money, avoid these rentals.

L'Escala was nice, and this seems like a good place for two families to unwind. We spent whole days and evenings around the terrace table, and the pool was especially good. It was quite alright overall. The main letdown was the lack of basic things in the kitchen and bathroom. There was nothing there, not even toilet paper, soap, lotion or tea.

We won't be coming back. The bungalow was dirty, there was fungus in the shower (I took a photo), some light bulbs were blown, and not all the kitchen burners worked.

The pool was lovely, and the room had balconies. Everything else was impeccable, though the hot water tank was too small.