Tropical Villas — Hotel in Higüey

How could anyone not be drawn in by the photos of the colourful villas, luxurious pool and the many features promised on the property profile? Although it was more expensive than anywhere we stayed in Europe over the last 3 months, We were looking forward to enjoying a couple of days at Tropical Villas, operated by Caribbean Rentals.

We arrived quite late (10 pm) after a 20 journey from Portugal and what we found was: our taxi couldn't find the property... and as we got closer, even people in the neighbourhood didn't know of it - Tropical Villas isn't marked in any way and turns out its part of a series of properties operated by Caribbean Rentals our "studio with a garden view" was down a small alley opening directly onto a puddle-filled dusty road with traffic and facing a building being demolished - there was absolutely no "garden view" and we could not even see the colourful villas we weren't given access to the pool... or any of the facilities promised our accommodation was a musty, run-down room with broken furniture the only window was small and totally blocked by a tv we couldn't get working the tiny bathroom was filled with cleaning supplies, brooms and buckets the inside of the fridge was covered with mold there was an array of hidden charges, including a fee for each kilowatt of power used (anyone ever heard of that?) bringing the already high price considerably higher several other unpleasant, if not unhealthy, characteristics but you get the idea without needing more details

I was furious about the unscrupulous misrepresentation of the property. I requested a move to something that move accurately reflected what we were paying for but the receptionist just shrugged and invited us to go look elsewhere. I suggested an adjustment in the price given the level of misrepresentation and heard a giggle and series of reasons why that wasn't possible. I scoured the neighbourhood for alternative accommodations. Unfortunately, by then it was getting very late and I couldn't find anything so we begrudgingly accepted our fate while cursing the trust we'd placed in Tropical Villas, Caribbean Rentals and Booking.com.

I've written to Booking.com twice now, complaining about the property but have heard nothing... not even acknowledging receipt of my message. Clearly their commitment to serving property providers is significantly higher than to the customers. I am so disappointed in them and will likely use their service less frequently.

We've travel extensively for the last 40 years and Tropical Villas/Caribbean Rentals is by far the most flagrant misrepresentation of a property and worst value-for-money we've experienced....

How could anyone not be drawn in by the photos of the colourful villas, luxurious pool and the many features promised on the property profile? Although it was more expensive than anywhere we stayed in Europe over the last 3 months, We were looking forward to enjoying a couple of days at Tropical Villas, operated by Caribbean Rentals.||||We arrived quite late (10 pm) after a 20 journey from Portugal and what we found was:||our taxi couldn't find the property... and as we got closer, even people in the neighbourhood didn't know of it - Tropical Villas isn't marked in any way and turns out its part of a series of properties operated by Caribbean Rentals||our "studio with a garden view" was down a small alley opening directly onto a puddle-filled dusty road with traffic and facing a building being demolished - there was absolutely no "garden view" and we could not even see the colourful villas||we weren't given access to the pool... or any of the facilities promised||our accommodation was a musty, run-down room with broken furniture||the only window was small and totally blocked by a tv we couldn't get working||the tiny bathroom was filled with cleaning supplies, brooms and buckets||the inside of the fridge was covered with mold||there was an array of hidden charges, including a fee for each kilowatt of power used (anyone ever heard of that?) bringing the already high price considerably higher||several other unpleasant, if not unhealthy, characteristics but you get the idea without needing more details||||I was furious about the unscrupulous misrepresentation of the property. I requested a move to something that move accurately reflected what we were paying for but the receptionist just shrugged and invited us to go look elsewhere. I suggested an adjustment in the price given the level of misrepresentation and heard a giggle and series of reasons why that wasn't possible. I scoured the neighbourhood for alternative accommodations. Unfortunately, by then it was getting very late and I couldn't find anything so we begrudgingly accepted our fate while cursing the trust we'd placed in Tropical Villas, Caribbean Rentals and Booking.com.||||I've written to Booking.com twice now, complaining about the property but have heard nothing... not even acknowledging receipt of my message. Clearly their commitment to serving property providers is significantly higher than to the customers. I am so disappointed in them and will likely use their service less frequently.||||We've travel extensively for the last 40 years and Tropical Villas/Caribbean Rentals is by far the most flagrant misrepresentation of a property and worst value-for-money we've experienced....

On arrival at Tropical Villas the check in time took forever, for our party of 13 ppl spread out over 3 villas, they were clean but one of the villas was very dated. Some rooms didn’t have fans but all had air conditioning throughout. Drinking water is supplied and when you need more you just contacted the office and they were replaced, very efficient, staff at reception very friendly and spoke good English. |Had trouble with the hot water the first week showers and kitchen tap were freezing but again rectified quickly. The kitchen’s were amply equipped, I took t- towels and bought cloths and a scourer. Housekeepers came every other day. Supplied towels but they are not the best quality, for drying yourself.|Location is amazing literally couple minutes walk to the gorgeous beach. And the swimming pools were lovely, albeit one of them had no seating which was a pain so we just took a few chairs from our terrance whilst we were there. |With us being a large group found service at the eateries tricky as staff spoke little to no English and food took ages to arrive but once it did food was delicious.|We often ate off complex most nights the surround areas are rough after a certain time, my partner kept getting asked if he wanted drugs most nights which is not a nice experience and the locals do try to entice you to eat at their restaurants, we tried them all. Again service was slow but once food arrived it was amazing. Not much to do of an evening, kat’s corner was great and had a live band now and again. |I probably wouldn’t stay at Tropical Villas again just that there’s not a lot of family entertainment and it’s not close to anywhere, rely on taxis and tuk tuk. But staff were friendly and helpful. Mini supermarket on site was great but did not stock everything we needed. Tuk tuk to Jumbo for $500 - barter with driver, as they will try to...