Surf Ranch Popoyo

We were thinking of giving this place four stars until the last few hours of our stay. After that, I would never stay here again. The way the resort pressured us for money felt like extortion. A heavy storm cracked one of the glass doors. The guards told us we had to pay $200 for a replacement in cash within three hours, before checkout. The demand felt suspicious and pressuring. The property contacted me only through WhatsApp and even sent a PayPal invoice. We decided to raise the issue through booking.com. While I was handing a security guard my keys at checkout, he asked if I'd paid. I said no, we were resolving it through booking.com, and he said, “My boss told me you are not allowed to leave until you pay me.” I asked him to repeat it because Spanish isn't my first language, then told him we were leaving and would handle it through booking.com. At the exit, the gate had been locked, though it hadn't been locked during our six-day stay. Another guard, who I believe was armed, came over and said we couldn't leave without paying. With two women in the car, the situation felt unsafe and threatening. I told him it wasn't legal, asked him to open the gate, and said I'd call the police. He kept making excuses until my friend got out and also asked to leave, then started pulling out his phone to call the police. The guard gave in, unlocked the gate, and we drove away. They kept us inside the resort and threatened us over the $200 cash demand. I worked at a surf resort in Popoyo for a year and had heard bad things about this place, though I hadn't understood why until then. I wouldn't stay again or recommend it. The guards Estebito and Evan were both kind, and I don't blame them for following their bosses' directions. We're resolving this through booking.com, which has demanded that the property refund the $200 it charged to my card after checkout. The owner's first response, from Lucas, included two claims I believe were false: that the skies were sunny and clear with no storm, even though he wasn't in the area, and that we'd obviously “smashed” a window that had only cracked. I've attached a photo of the guard finally opening the gate, a video of the storm from the night before it moved directly over us, and a photo of the glass he called “smashed.” As a native English speaker, that description seems nowhere near accurate.