Villa Birdie Boutique

We stayed four nights at Villa Birdie, a peaceful place where it was easy to get some rest. Blanca, the owner, made us feel at home as soon as we arrived. Since we were tired from our trip, she booked a table at a lovely little restaurant for a quick meal, then shared helpful restaurant suggestions and ideas for exploring the neighborhood on the other days. Thanks so much for everything, Blanca!

We had a great time here. Blanca has such good energy and gave us great advice about local things to do. Thanks ✨

I stayed one night on my way back to the UK. The hotel is very stylish, like its owner, and that suited me perfectly. Just know it feels more like being at a friend’s home than staying in a chain hotel, which may not be everyone’s thing.

Villa Birdie made for a very particular stay. The house and garden look lovely at first, and the owner welcomed us warmly, helped us find a restaurant for the evening, and made check-in easy. Once we settled in, though, a number of things became difficult. The rooms are tiny. Getting from the bed to the wardrobe nearly required moving furniture, and more than two small carry-on-sized suitcases would leave you seriously short of space. We were asked to use the back entrance so as not to disturb other guests, since this is meant to be a quiet, adults-only, no-kids place. What we weren’t told was that there’s a school directly opposite. From 8am until 5pm, the noise sounded like a loud music concert, with screaming all day. The windows barely blocked it, and street noise was uncomfortable too. Parking was a mess. We’d reserved a space in advance, then were asked to put our car in the backyard. The owner parked other cars and her own so that we couldn’t get out without blocking someone. Whenever we wanted to leave, she had to come move a car. One day, very early, someone hammered on our door so loudly that our friends on another floor heard it. They kept banging even after we said we were coming. Afterward we were told it was better to leave our car in the backyard and not use it. We’ve never had such an annoying parking experience at a hotel. Calling this a four-star hotel, as Google does, doesn’t fit our experience. It was more like a guesthouse. There was no 24-hour reception, restaurant, room service, vanity set, breakfast selection, laundry service, or phone. The safe wasn’t fixed inside the wardrobe, and the service staff didn’t speak English. There were plenty of other missing things too. The worst part was the cleaning staff repeatedly handling personal belongings, including our toothbrush, underwear, and clothes, and rearranging them to suit the owner. They even opened the wardrobe to move our clothes around. The owner also took our second room card because we’d left it in the socket to keep the electricity and air conditioning on. We hadn’t left the room in a mess, so this felt ridiculous and inappropriate.