La Vermeillade Appartement Privé

The rooms felt like a tomb, honestly. They’re tiny, cramped together upstairs, and barely get any air, apart from a little bedroom window. There’s a fan and a portable AC, plus a small shared patio with just a sliver of sky. The photos for La Vermeillade look lovely, but in person it was a huge letdown. The owner, Phillipe, was late to meet us at the car park, then spent about 20 minutes showing us around. We were uncomfortable the whole time, and when he finally left, my wife broke down. I hate writing bad reviews, but people deserve to know what they might be walking into. I booked three nights directly through the website, just a day before arrival. Phillipe immediately called demanding an €800 security deposit and that I sign an online contract written only in French. I’d never been pressured to sign a contract so quickly after booking, and it should have set off alarm bells. Since it was late, we stayed the first night. I told him we wanted to leave and explained why. He said I’d signed a contract, that he’d turned down two other booking requests, and that he could only refund us if he managed to rebook the place. Before leaving the next day, ahead of checkout, I checked with him and he repeated that he’d refund the two remaining nights if he rebooked them. But the dates weren’t even marked available on the website. When I asked about that, he got aggressive, demanded to know how I could accuse him, threatened that his legal team would take me down, and said the website algorithm that blocked the dates was none of my business. No one should have to pay before seeing a place in person, let alone sign away a refund over unmet quality expectations. I consider what Phillipe and his business did downright fraud. I’ve started a dispute with my credit card company to get my money back. Please stay away.