Montones Beach Apartment C-3

For the price, it was a good deal, and being only 800 meters from the beach was a real plus. The sleeping setup needs work, though: the lower bunk mattresses were lumpy and made crunchy noises, and my queen bed's sheet kept slipping off because its elastic was worn out, exposing a ripped plastic mattress cover. There were no pillow protectors, and the pillows on my queen under twin bed didn't smell fresh. I also arrived to find almost no toilet paper, less than a quarter roll. They asked me to collect a key from a lockbox, go to the supply closet, then return the key. It took an hour to get directions, so by then I'd gone to a store and bought a roll.

The only snag was sharing one bathroom, and that was a small inconvenience. We had a nice time staying here with family, and I'd come back. We were there through Airbnb or possibly Vrbo, and the place is conveniently near the beach, boardwalk, and nearby trails.

My visiting relatives were treated very rudely by the rental manager/owner, who I believe acted in a racist way. The rental itself was tiny and fell short of its listing. It was advertised as three bedrooms for nine people, but it was a two-bedroom place that could sleep perhaps six if someone used the couch. The furniture was cheap, and the air conditioning barely worked, so there were fans in the room despite the $350 nightly rate. My relatives booked for five people and five arrived, but the owner claimed there were two extra guests and added $109 per night. He watched them on an installed camera, and after seeing they were African American, started accusing them of having more people in the room. He charged their card for the full stay and wouldn't release the charge, leaving them unable to go elsewhere. He also threatened to charge them if they broke the camera, though they had no intention of doing that and didn't even know where it was. The assumption that they would break it because they were Black was deeply insulting. When the stove wouldn't turn on, he wanted $50 to send someone to check it. The listing included a stove, so getting it working and covering the repair should have been his responsibility. When we questioned the fee, he suggested we stay in a five-star hotel. They paid $350 a night for an apartment that looked like a tiny dorm room, directly across from the nicer resort Olas and Arenas. I wouldn't recommend this rental. There are many better places with kinder people to spend your money.

The modern decor felt cozy, and the place was super clean. It's right by the water, close to the area's best beach and the lovely boardwalk. A perfect rental for a great vacation.