Huerta El Fontanarillo

We stayed during the last week of August. The house has good connections to Córdoba city for sightseeing. Out back there’s a pool with a jacuzzi, plus a big terrace with a barbecue and easy access to the rest of the house. Every upstairs bedroom has air conditioning. The owner was incredibly helpful, making it easy to shop at local businesses and arrange food delivery.

The owner was friendly while we were there, and he left plenty of firewood. The living room was comfortable when the fireplace was going. Still, I’m writing this because his response on Airbnb afterward felt disrespectful and included claims that weren’t accurate. It came after Airbnb’s 72-hour complaint period had passed. If I’d known he would respond that way, I would have asked for at least a partial refund. We came for the Three Kings’ Day long weekend, expecting an idyllic break for three couples and their children. Instead, it turned into a very upsetting stay. The house is large and may work well in summer, but it wasn’t equipped for winter. Its water radiators are heated by the fireplace, and only 4 of the 11 worked. The owner said there were two oil-filled radiators, but we found just one, plus a small air heater. After looking for the missing one and not finding it, he brought another air heater. He said the radiators hadn’t been bled. We asked him to call a plumber, but although we arrived Saturday, he said he’d call one on Monday. The house was freezing. The power also kept failing. It went out at least four times in the first two days, and we had to reset fuses outside the property. The owner said outages were common in the rain. On Sunday morning, all the circuit breakers had tripped. He came over and showed us how to reset the main breaker, explaining that the main fuse was 300 meters outside the property. We lost a couple of hours, then went to explore Córdoba for the day, leaving plenty of firewood in the fireplace. When we returned that night, the power was out again. Without electricity the heating pump stopped, water overflowed into the living room, and the bucket beside the fireplace, under a hose, was full. The room was flooded, the fire had gone out, and the house was cold. A little more water leaked out on Saturday when we arrived. We called the owner again, this time angry, and said we couldn’t stay in those conditions and would leave to find somewhere else. He apologized repeatedly and begged us to stay, even offering to refund our money if we did. We gave the house another chance and didn’t ask for a refund because it didn’t seem fair to him. On the third day he said he had turned off the vineyard irrigation, and the power held until it failed once more on the last day. There are two floors, but the only way to reach the upper one is an outside staircase. It rained all weekend, so going up wasn’t pleasant. We were also surprised that the upstairs could only be locked from outside, not from inside. The owner says the town is very safe, but that arrangement didn’t seem normal to me. His references to Madrid were unnecessary too. Suggesting we should go to a city hotel next time is subjective and has nothing to do with the house. We were short on basics as well: each bathroom had only one and a half rolls of toilet paper, and we couldn’t find kitchen towels or paper towels. There were no dishwasher tablets, laundry detergent, or trash bags. I hadn’t intended to review the house, but another couple with us posted on Airbnb, and the owner replied rudely and dishonestly.

Enrique, thanks for everything. We were 12 colleagues and had a fantastic stay in a perfect house. It’s only 20 minutes from Córdoba city, and the owner even arranged free tickets for us to the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba. We’ll definitely come back.

We had plenty of room in this house, including a dining room that can fit more than 20 people, so it’s great for birthdays. It’s also fantastically connected to Cordoba city. The owner was attentive and helped us whenever we needed him.