Apartment Pitaya

We picked Las Olas complex and Vv apartment #266 for its pool for the kids, three beds across two bedrooms, price, location, Airbnb reviews and Elisa’s quick replies there. We booked through her Airbnb listing because we had credit as superhosts. Our apartment was newly renovated and we’d give it five stars. It was nicely shaded, fairly quiet, and got a pleasant breeze. We only wish we’d stayed longer. Giovanni (Elisa's host on site) met us in person right on schedule. He was polite and spoke English as well as several other languages. Elisa was reachable by phone if we had questions. The apartment was comfortable, with mosquito screens, free wifi and Netflix on the TV. There are no full blackout blinds, so you wake with the sunrise. They left one large bottle of drinking water in the fridge at check-in. The only kitchen thing we noticed missing was a spatula. There are shops just outside the complex, and a private bar beside the pool for residents and guests. The pool area is lovely, and when deck chairs were available, it was even better. Most people behaved well for most of the time, and the kids loved swimming. Later in the day a large group of teenagers got loud and rowdy, and swimming or relaxing by the pool stopped being worthwhile. Their parents and complex staff didn’t step in. Staff weren’t easy to identify, and the bar owner didn’t seem to notice or care. We left without speaking to the teens, their parents or staff, since it didn’t seem anyone would do anything. Earlier in the day, the pool had been great. One morning, police came to a nearby apartment after people inside had been fighting loudly for hours. The complex is very large, with a mix of owner occupied homes and short and long term rentals. It could use a dedicated security person or team, or at least someone clearly responsible for dealing with noisy guests. We felt safe in the apartment and complex, and it’s good value for a family, but the lack of someone monitoring noise loses a star for the complex. We didn’t contact our hosts about the noise, since we felt that was for the complex to manage rather than individual owners. Free parking is possible at the main entrance or around the complex, if you can find a spot. We couldn’t, and had to walk quite a way from where we parked. Checkout is at 10am, which is early, and they enforce it strictly because guests turn over quickly.