Apartment Manuel

I’m giving it one star only because I can’t give zero. We reserved two apartments here on June 12th, then emailed twice to ask for information and heard nothing back. They finally replied early today, August 5th, just four days before our stay, to say they’d overbooked and we had no holiday home. We had to book somewhere else at more than twice the original price. They didn’t call or try to find another solution, and I strongly advise against booking here. Completely unreliable.

The location was fantastic: just minutes from the sea, with the bakery, fish and vegetable markets, supermarkets, and old town all easy to reach on foot. The huge balcony terrace and its sun awning were great, too. When my husband was stung by a weever fish, the landlord happened to be available right away and gave quick help and useful advice. The apartment itself was much less appealing. I booked a one-bedroom place described and pictured as having a bedroom and a separate living room with kitchen, but it was all in one room. It was also smaller than advertised, around 22-25 square meters instead of the stated 35. The kitchen was filthy, with pots bearing burnt-on food, scratched pans we couldn’t use, blunt knives, and hardly any dishes, just one cup. The refrigerator was too warm, with its dial missing, an interior shelf missing, a broken door shelf, and no light. There were safety concerns, too. Screws covered with tape stuck 7-8 cm out where the radiator fittings should have been, both inside the apartment and in the hallway. The parking spaces were steep and there were only four for eight apartments. Neighbors could make the place incredibly loud: shouting at all hours, slamming doors, children playing in the hall, and dogs barking in rooms all day. The apartment was very noisy in general. The linens were stained and had holes. The mattress was 190 cm long in a 200 cm bed frame, and the four towels were all different and badly faded. During our 16-night stay, it was impossible to get the bed linen changed because the landlord was unreachable about 90% of the time. We asked for towels after three days; they only arrived on day six, after two more complaints. He also wanted an extra €10 per night for our pet, even though the booking information clearly said pets were free. His offers of a fishing trip and a tasting of his homemade olive oil came to nothing, despite being mentioned more than once.

The only good thing I can say about Manuel is that he helped and gave good advice after I was stung by a weever fish. Otherwise, I’d avoid staying here altogether. Although we booked 35 sqm, our room was only about 22-25 sqm. There were four parking spots for eight apartments, reached by a short, steep driveway, and one spot was especially short. The location was excellent, but the rest of the accommodation had little going for it. The wooden doors were noisy and did little to block sound. Screws stuck more than 5 cm out of the wall under painter’s tape, and the radiator mounts were badly worn or missing. The cookware and cutlery were incomplete; the cheap, warped pots and pans were also dirty. There were odd numbers of cups and glasses. The refrigerator was set far too warm at 1.5 out of 5, and its adjustment knob had been removed, so food and drinks wouldn’t get cold and there wasn’t much we could keep in it. The air conditioning barely did the job, and the outside unit dripped on the one below, making a steady clicking noise. The 190 cm mattress in a 200 cm frame left an irritating gap where a pillow could slip or your feet get caught. A pile of smaller faults made this feel nothing like a 3-star place. There were so many empty promises and so much deception that it may explain why it appears under several different names on booking sites. The landlord was persuasive, but I felt making money was his main concern. We waited three days for fresh towels after asking, and got just one clean set of towels with no fresh bed linen during our 17-day stay. The other tenants were noisy and unruly, and nothing changed, even though the landlord supposedly spoke to them and the house rules threatened eviction. He made a big offer of an olive oil tasting, apparently to encourage us to buy some, and a fishing trip, but neither happened during our 16-night stay. Most outrageous was being asked for €10 per day for our dog when we arrived, despite our Booking.com confirmation clearly stating “Pets allowed - no additional charges.”

We could hear the guests talking and even water running through the pipes because the apartment had no soundproofing. There was no hot water, either. When we told the owner, he rudely and arrogantly threw us out instead of being available to fix it. It was a terrible experience, unlike anything I’ve had before.