Villa Monte Kope

The garden and house are beautiful, and we enjoyed the outdoor space, especially the barbecue and eating area. The pool is a decent size for at least five people, and the activity room was a nice touch. We played pool there in the evenings. Even so, I left disappointed. At this price, I expected better maintenance, more attention to detail, and to be listened to when I reported problems. There were several issues over our two-week stay. On the second day the pool began draining. I warned the hostess, but she dismissed it as part of cleaning the pool. It turned out to be a broken valve, which needed repair and refilling. The water was much colder afterward, and the back-and-forth repairs, refilling, and chemicals meant the pool was more or less unavailable for several days. Later, the AC stopped cooling on the third last day, leaving the house a bit hot and humid. It was hard to sort things out with the hostess. I felt dismissed and had to convince her that there was a problem. She also had to contact the owner each time, so giving her some authority might help. We also found cockroaches and some big beetles inside. When I raised it, I was told things like “it’s nature,” though that’s not the sort of nature I want indoors. After I sent pictures, they arranged a cleaning crew and exterminator. The house and garden look lovely, but the furniture quality, especially outside, was poor for what they charge. Pillows and furniture were worn, and there were only four sunbeds and two parasols, one of them broken. Other details felt neglected: we had just one set of towels and no bathing towels, kitchen accessories were scarce and often in bad shape, the toilet seat didn’t fit and wasn’t mounted properly, and freezer drawers were broken and almost impossible to use. We asked to have the house cleaned after a week. The first cleaning barely covered anything, with no floors or kitchen cleaned and no bed sheets changed because the cleaner didn’t think it was necessary. I had to ask again. The second clean was better, but still below the standard I expected. On the positive side, we weren’t charged for cleaning because of all the problems. An indoor dining table would also have been useful on the evenings when heavy rain made eating outside impossible.