As a writer covering the world of luxury getaways, it is my duty to shed light on those who take advantage of the ignorant traveler. A vacation should by nature be a respite, a necessary reset, a welcome escape from the monotony of the working week. It is a reward for the onset of hours, retribution for years of slavery, and the celebration of finally being able to take a vacation. There is a valid reason vacation time increases with tenure, it should be earned, and until it is earned it is needed! The art of vacation is truly a sacred destroyer and must be respected. Unfortunately, there have been cases of gross negligence on the part of some villa management teams who took advantage of the unsuspecting nomad. The following is a terrible firsthand account of a newly engaged couple and their friends’ “experience” at Casa Bali in Tamarindo, Costa Rica.
Imagine you and your friends organize once in your life and pool resources that you can scrape together for USD 30,000 to enjoy the New Year in picturesque Costa Rica. When you spend that kind of money on accommodations, expect everyone who manages the property to take a stroll through the amenities. The average Airbnb user has the usual decency to get a quick overview. Unfortunately there is not an abundance of logic and quality control in Casa Bali. An eight bedroom villa that has no running water or electricity on arrival! After dealing with this reality for two days, two of the couples who slept in two separate cubicles mentioned that the mosquitoes got them pretty badly. For the first time in human history, they wished they were mosquitos; After the lights returned and revealed the source of their bites, bed bugs literally came out of the woodwork. The pillows, sheets, and mattresses were all infected with bed bugs. This discovery led to two couples being unceremoniously evicted from the property. If that wasn’t enough, then it just happens that bed bugs have a tendency to delicately fashion. Ruin a bunch of designer items and add the mental fear of creepy crawly animals hiding in their luggage and personal effects. After the great insect exodus of 2020, it was high time to apply for some form of discount as 2 of the 8 bedrooms would fail the most casual health inspection. For you math wizards out there who make up 25% of the occupancy, fair compensation would be 25%. Originally, this was acceptable recourse for the management of Casa Bali, Brian Bratton, who runs Tamarindo Luxury Villas. After a noise complaint on New Year’s Eve (warning was given in advance, it was New Years Eve), Casa Bali management Brian Bratton took the opportunity to withdraw their promise and cite the noise complaint as a justification. No matter how unprofessional and childish this reasoning is, it does not compare to the plague, blackout, and drought of biblical proportions that they have already faced. They came for the sun and good times and instead they got Lyme disease and lies (they haven’t got Lyme disease yet). If they had Villa Oscars, Casa Bali would no doubt take home the best horror show.
A lot of things in a tropical paradise are forgivable, you can have amenities that don’t work (the Spartans weren’t big on them, they did well). It is understandable that nature is difficult to control in a jungle. A few bugs won’t kill you (as long as the bites are small, right?). Things happen, entropy attacks everything (in hindsight it might have been stupid to bring your Sunday best). Unacceptable as it is, the reality is that people lie (after enough years on this planet we have got used to being lied to, enough time to see some political debates). Keep all the money paid (money will be made back at some point). But if you want to tell the customer they’re wrong, if you want to tell them to give their opinion where the sun doesn’t shine, at least don’t be a sneaky coward and insult the hurt by not doing so Tell them in the face. This level of disrespect, unprofessionalism and cowardice is not to be expected when venturing into the realm of luxury villas. The manager I will name Brian Bratton declined to personally discuss a just solution. It’s easier to hide behind a screen when you’re doing something you know is unethical. Failure to address or acknowledge well-founded complaints from customers is truly a travesty of the highest pedigree. It is a pity that the fake memories there have been tarnished by what constitutes apathetic property and immature management. Here is a video link to prove it: https://youtu.be/e18W_yNghI8
