Paramount Bay Penthouse

I couldn’t find fault with this place. The decor, room sizes and location were all amazing. I had my hen weekend here, and David went well beyond what I’d expect from an owner. He took the stress out of choosing places to eat and getting around, and even arranged a present from a friend who couldn’t make it. We’re so grateful to David for making the weekend memorable.

Lovely apartment, with four bedrooms, a big sofa and sundeck. There’s a large TV with pay TV in lots of languages, and breakfast was nice. The downsides were the cold pool and limited hot water: there’s enough for two people to shower, then you have to wait 30 minutes.

The penthouse itself looked quite nice and had enough space for everyone, with a climate system in every room. But six of the seven people in our group who went into the hot tub developed a rash, fever and other effects of a bacterial infection. The women had much worse rashes than the men. I couldn’t walk for a week and called an ambulance because I was worried about my health. A water sample test confirmed the jacuzzi was in poor condition and found "Pseudomonas aeruginosa". Dermatologists also identified it in lab analysis. I still have no confirmation from David that the problem has been fixed. We’re trying to resolve it with him, but have received no compensation for our stay, our health problems or the time spent dealing with doctors and the ambulance. We followed the instructions and showered before using the tub. The hospital in Zurich, Switzerland confirmed to me that the bacteria can live in dirty filters and appear after 48 hours of first contact with the water. The tub was already filled when we arrived. I don’t know how long the water had been sitting there, but it may have been a long time since there aren’t many winter visitors. It didn’t smell of chlorine at all, and a notice said the filters were eight days overdue for a change. The host told us not to worry. So I suspect the water hadn’t been chlorinated recently and had been there for quite a while, with the filters left unchanged. The stay started out promising, but the overall experience was really bad. Two weeks after checkout, the host still hadn’t fixed the jacuzzi or provided any water test results. Instead, he accused us of blackmailing him and chasing after his money. All six of us who became ill have medical reports, test results and hot tub water samples linking the infection to the water during our stay. I strongly don’t recommend this place. If the hosts don’t follow the hot tub cleaning routine, guests could have serious health problems.

The apartment was amazing, everything we’d hoped for and more. David was helpful even before we arrived: he stocked the bar, ordered food and took us to the supermarket. Nothing seemed too much trouble. Highly recommend.