Hotel Las Islas — Hotel in Bolívar

I STILL HAVE NOT RECEIVED MY REFUND. This hotel overcharged me $3428.51 in 2024 and I am still trying to get refunded! Do NOT just give them your credit card, you MUST LOOK AT EVERYTHING or better yet DO NOT STAY HERE something feels very off...If you see other reviews you will see they have done this multiple times. I knew something was wrong when a week there was costing myself and my friend (who shared a room, and the room rate was $480) $6680.83 for 5 nights. We are two women who didn't eat a meal every day and did not drink or get a lot of extras or spa services. They charged my card multiple times for; $608.30 $387.00 $2433.21 $3252.32

The ONLY correct charge is for $3252.32. I had to get my credit card involved to fight for me as this hotel STOPPED RESPONDING after saying they would have someone help me and admitted they should not have charged me for the $608.30. So far I have been refunded with my credit card's help the; $387 and $2433.21 but I STILL HAVE NOT HEARD BACK AND HOTEL LAS ISLAS WILL NOT RESPOND TO MY CREDIT CARD to refund me the $608.30 which I have an email from Hotel Las Islas stating they would refund that. I have sent over 20 emails and tried contacting them as well. I hope this review makes them reach out and handle this.

Here is a breakdown of it all; Hello, I am disputing four charges against Hotel Las Islas. I am using 4000 pesos to $1 USD. I am uncertain if that is the exchange rate or was when we were there, I can be refunded in pesos on their end, so it is accurate. I used this simply to get a grasp on how much we spent.

There are no itemized receipts from any of our ‘purchases’ such as lunch or dinner or the mini bar. We requested these and were never provided them. They double billed us for things. We are two women who split every dinner and lunch and breakfast was included.

Here are the case numbers below and the amounts and the dates they were charged;

D-873893200824 7/19/24 $608.30 D-876706200824 7/19/24 $387 D-877911200824 7/21/24 $2433.21 D-463155190824 7/26/24 $3252.34

Mary Banker and Danielle Weber stay at Hotel Las Islas

JULY 21 – CHECK IN, arrived at room after 4pm (no breakfast or lunch) Dinner only There are two charges at the restaurant, we had one dinner, there is only one tip shown which indicates we had one bill/one dinner we split There is a charge for 24,000 pesos that has nothing by it we have NO idea what that is.

JULY 22 Breakfast included Massage x 2 x 80 mins = 720,000 pesos ($180) Tip = 72,000 pesos ($18)

JULY 23 Breakfast included

NO LUNCH went snorkeling

Snorkeling 420,000 pesos ($105) Tip = 42,000 pesos ($10.50) 2 people, 45 mins/1hour – were told we would be refunded as the guide did not do his job, cut the trip short and took videos of us that we requested to be deleted. Never saw a refund.

DINNER there are two restaurant charges and one tip charged which makes no sense since Danielle and I shared every dinner and lunch. There would be one charge for dinner with one tip. BAR there is one bar charge and tip, no itemized receipt.

JULY 24 – Breakfast included 1 lunch (split) 1 dinner (split)

JULY 25 – Breakfast included 1 lunch (split) Café Charge 1 dinner (split)

JULY 26 – CHECK OUT (breakfast only) N/A Helicopter for two = 1,444,000 ($361)

TOTAL $3202.72 • Hotel Room Rate $480 x 5 nights = $2400 • Food/Mini Bar (3 items) /Tips for food = 1,956,880 ($489.22) • Spa $180 plus $18 tip = $198 • Snorkeling (told it would be refunded) $105 and $10.50 as tip = $115.50

They double billed for the rooms at the wrong rate; first charge $608.30 was for one night when we checked in and then again $2433.21. That would be 5 nights at a rate of $600.

The correct rate is $480 for 5 nights with roughly $800 in incidentals.

Please make the merchant correct their error. I have contacted them repeatedly, I was told I would be refunded $600 which you will see the email attached due to charging us the wrong room rate, you will also see the pricing for the services we booked and the email showing breakfast is included.

PLEASE REFUND THE REST...

This place cannot be more than a 2-star resort.

We were a group of 10 girls with 5 separate bookings. It was a logistical nightmare (among many other things) and we met other guests during our stay who experienced similar issues / arguments with front desk.

The property is immersed in nature, which is nice, but the amenities are not well maintained and the customer service is absolute TRASH. Initially chalked it up to language barrier, but oh man their defensive attitude, lack of training, and clear indifference towards helping out guests is shocking especially for a 5-star resort costing much more than average hotels in Colombia.

They told us when we arrived that our 2-bedroom bungalow that we booked 3 months ago was under construction. No prior communication of this. They messed up the room assignments and switched two girls’ rooms - did not properly check passport names against their hotel booking system to know who booked what. Many girls arrived at a room they did not book. Then they blamed us for it lol. The spa is under construction so it wasn’t fully opened. The resort had many parts (paths + building new bungalows) under construction. A few of us woke up to construction noises. There is NO YOGA instructor on site (for more than a year already!). They said people bring their own instructors onto the resort? Didn’t bother trying to help us with contacts or figuring out how to find an instructor. The 2nd mini island was closed off on Saturday we were there for a private event. They didn’t tell us at check in. We planned our day around it and they only told us when we arrived at the lobby that we couldn’t go that day. One night while we were on the clubhouse rooftop they turned off the elevators and just told us it was broken. Things would just stop working. Our room’s phone and internet turned off for two nights, we had to go to front desk to ask them to fix it since we couldn’t call them. Also hot water doesn’t always work. Beware of the bungalows more inland. They get no air, no breeze. The stairs for these have no lights so it’s hard to go up and down. Bicycle wheels are deflated. We were a group of 10 girls with 5 rooms and a few of us had bikes with deflated tires making it hard to ride them. Massages AVOID KENNY AND AMALIA. Across ~10 massages our group got, no one enjoyed massages from these two. They just rub you and missed the neck and important parts of the body. Golf carts take forever to arrive. The property is big so you can call the lobby requesting a golf cart to take you to places, but it takes on average 20 minutes to arrive… They messed up billing… a lot. We each spent a lot of time at front desk double checking what we were charged. Lots of charges were on our bill, like 8 different spa services. When we made the booking at the spa, we gave each person’s room numbers, as we did when we signed checks at the restaurants, so not sure what caused the mixups still. They kept confirming with us the transportation bookings, then when we check later the booking would not be in their system?? Happened multiple times. Food sucks except the breakfast buffet. Ceviche wasn’t very fresh nor tasty. The one only restaurant for dinner sucks but you don’t have any other options. Best you can get is the beef burger or the curried quinoa. Service is SLOW. Expect to wait a long time for food. Order even before you get hungry because you will be by the time the food comes out.

The nice things: Breakfast buffet is delicious, fresh and a great view while on this terrace space above water They provide insect repellant Free kayaking and paddle boarding equipment

This resort needs to close for 3 months, train all the staff, finish construction, update the pool and public areas a bit, and then start fresh.

FYI car transportation one way was 330k Colombian pesos for an economy car and 605k pesos for a van fitting up to 6pax. For a boat transfer, it was about $65 USD per person one way.

For $450+ a night, it’s sooooo not worth...

This hotel overcharged me $3428.51 in 2024 and I am still trying to get refunded! Do NOT just give them your credit card, you MUST LOOK AT EVERYTHING or better yet DO NOT STAY HERE something feels very off...If you see other reviews you will see they have done this multiple times. I knew something was wrong when a week there was costing myself and my friend (who shared a room, and the room rate was $480) $6680.83 for 5 nights. We are two women who didn't eat a meal every day and did not drink or get a lot of extras or spa services.|They charged my card multiple times for these amounts ONLY ONE charge is correct;|$608.30|$387.00|$2433.21|$3252.32|The ONLY correct charge is for $3252.32. I had to get my credit card involved to fight for me as this hotel STOPPED RESPONDING after saying they would have someone help me and admitted they should not have charged me for the $608.30. So far I have been refunded with my credit card's help the; $387 and $2433.21 but I STILL HAVE NOT HEARD BACK AND HOTEL LAS ISLAS WILL NOT RESPOND TO MY CREDIT CARD to refund me the $608.30 which I have an email from Hotel Las Islas stating they would refund that. I have sent over 20 emails and tried contacting them as well. I hope this review makes them reach out and handle this.|Here is a breakdown of it all;|Hello,|I am disputing four charges against Hotel Las Islas. I am using 4000 pesos to $1 USD. I am uncertain if that is the exchange rate or was when we were there, I can be refunded in pesos on their end, so it is accurate. I used this simply to get a grasp on how much we spent.|There are no itemized receipts from any of our ‘purchases’ such as lunch or dinner or the mini bar. We requested these and were never provided them. They double billed us for things. We are two women who split every dinner and lunch and breakfast was included.|Here are the case numbers below and the amounts and the dates they were charged;|D-873893200824 7/19/24 $608.30|D-876706200824 7/19/24 $387|D-877911200824 7/21/24 $2433.21|D-463155190824 7/26/24 $3252.34|Mary Banker and Danielle Weber stay at Hotel Las Islas|JULY 21 – CHECK IN, arrived at room after 4pm (no breakfast or lunch) Dinner only|There are two charges at the restaurant, we had one dinner, there is only one tip shown which indicates we had one bill/one dinner we split|There is a charge for 24,000 pesos that has nothing by it we have NO idea what that is.|JULY 22|Breakfast included|Massage x 2 x 80 mins = 720,000 pesos ($180)|Tip = 72,000 pesos ($18)|JULY 23|Breakfast included|NO LUNCH went snorkeling|Snorkeling 420,000 pesos ($105)|Tip = 42,000 pesos ($10.50)|2 people, 45 mins/1hour – were told we would be refunded as the guide did not do his job, cut the trip short and took videos of us that we requested to be deleted. Never saw a refund.|DINNER there are two restaurant charges and one tip charged which makes no sense since Danielle and I shared every dinner and lunch. There would be one charge for dinner with one tip.|BAR there is one bar charge and tip, no itemized receipt.|JULY 24 – Breakfast included|1 lunch (split)|1 dinner (split)|JULY 25 – Breakfast included|1 lunch (split)|Café Charge|1 dinner (split)|JULY 26 – CHECK OUT (breakfast only) N/A|Helicopter for two = 1,444,000 ($361)|TOTAL $3202.72|• Hotel Room Rate $480 x 5 nights = $2400|• Food/Mini Bar (3 items) /Tips for food = 1,956,880 ($489.22)|• Spa $180 plus $18 tip = $198|• Snorkeling (told it would be refunded) $105 and $10.50 as tip = $115.50|They double billed for the rooms at the wrong rate; first charge $608.30 was for one night when we checked in and then again $2433.21. That would be 5 nights at a rate of $600.|The correct rate is $480 for 5 nights with roughly $800 in incidentals.|Please make the merchant correct their error. I have contacted them repeatedly, I was told I would be refunded $600 which you will see the email attached due to charging us the wrong room rate, you will also see the pricing for the services we booked and the email showing breakfast is included.|PLEASE REFUND THE REST...