Villatel — Hotel in Miami

The worst vacation experience I’ve ever had. After booking a stay here for my daughter’s 8th birthday through an agent on the phone due to the coupon code on the website not working, I never received a confirmation email. I called back to ask about check in instructions and for a receipt. The woman I spoke with discovered the last agent had incorrectly typed my email address. She assured me she corrected it and sent the paid invoice. Fast forward to check in date- I reference the email for our check in info after receiving a confusing brief explanation (although it left us with more questions than answers) from a man at the gate. Keep in mind there is no “front desk” here.

After arriving at the same time as our uber driver with our $500 grocery order, we found the door code did not work. I called the number on the brochure I was given at check in. The woman I spoke with looks up my account and rudely tells me “We spoke to you ALREADY to confirm that your house was moved.”

What? I’ve been on a plane for the last 5 hours. After telling her there must be a mistake and this needed to be solved ASAP as I had a 4 year old and 8 year old who had been stuck on a plane for 5 hours and $500 worth of melting groceries .

The agent HANGS UP ON ME mid sentence while I’m stranded in the rain with my kids and our luggage and groceries for a week. I’m LIVID that someone would do that to someone with small children. I call back and speak with a different agent who says she sees it was changed and she can email me the new check in. she emails me the new check in and after a couple minutes I tell her I still don’t have the email. I remember the error at booking and ask her to read the email addresss. Of course, it is still wrong. I tell her the correct email for an 3rd time and FINALLY get the check in email. I ask her what I’m supposed to do with our luggage and groceries as the new house was several blocks away and our uber driver had already left. She says she will call someone and gave no estimated time frame. Shorty thereafter, 2 people who did not explain who they were showed up in an SUV offered to drive our stuff to our new house. We finally get inside only to find the pool, which we had paid $220 to have heated on arrival, is FREEZING due to being shaded (but not covered as it still rains inside the pool are. I call AGAIN and get the same agent who hung up on me and thankfully was able to get her name. She is so rude and blunt that I’m almost shocked. she tells me the pool heat will kick on but it takes 72 hours to fully heat and since we had been moved it hadn’t been on but for a few hours. The pool never heated and this was the primary reason we booked here. It was unusuable from being so cold and a total waste. Also it was so small it was unsafe for more than 2 people to be in it as I was constantly worried about my kids slipping on the super slick outdoor flooring. The worst part was there were NO curtains or blinds in the living area so my kids had to stare at the pool they couldn’t use for a week. Neighbors were extremely loud, walls were paper thin, the arcade games don’t have a shut off so all night your hearing arcade sounds. Next, every time we entered the “resort” the person at the gate had a different set of rules for allowing us in. Some said we needed the parking pass. Some said we needed to show a little card they gave us. Someone woman scoffed at this and demanded our IDs and the UBER DRIVERS ID just to get through the gate. The staff here are rude, extremely unprofessional and clearly don’t give a rip about your vacation experience you just dropped $3k+ on. The resort did eventually refund the pool heat but that’s it. This place ruined my daughters birthday and was hands down the worst place...

I've stayed at a lot of VRBOs and while this one has alot of amenities it came with its share of challenges and disappointments. Let me first say the house was very clean and spacious and laid out nicely and comfortable, the theater room was a bit of a treat, and who doesn't love a good arcade game? We had technical challenges as follows: #1. Checking process was extensive and their app was not working well with the "live selfie" demand and multiple uploads required being rejected and redone, or if one part of the process had an issue the app would start all over, very frustrating and took over an hour ro get it done only to be told I need to redo it on checking day. #2. We booked 6 bedrooms to hold our 13 people and first night a fanlight in a bedroom was not able to be turned off due to the tech they use and there is no manual switch, so those guests had to sleep on couches which was not convient and disappointing. #3 outlets in all upstair bathrooms were not working. #3. Both the karaoke machine and basketball game had tech issues making them unusable for 2 nights until someone could come resolve, bummer as 1st night that was a plan for us and the kids to play with thoose. Between the fan and game issues we had maintenance people out 3 different times and one of which we were not there for which was unnerving. #5. We paid for pool to be heated but it did not ever get even lightly warm not to mention It is a much smaller pool than the picture on the VRBO site makes it appear to be, of which should have been able to be heated easil due to the smller size (they did refund my heating fee but we would have rather been able to go swimming rather than get that $ back). The pool was a very desired but unusable feature and one of the biggest disappointments. #6. The community entrance gate was not working and half closed so you could not drive through and akward to manuvere into the exit gate to gain entry. Other areas that were an inconvenience and disappointments were #1. Up to 16 people can stay at home but you can only park 2 cars in driveway, most of us had to park a block away and walk to the house, very inconvenience for those of us who have little kids or elderly, or arrived late at night. #2. For a 3 night stay for 13 people who like to cook, the kitchen is not equipped with proper pots and pans to accommodate cooking for large crowds, I had to go get some 2 larger pots just to make pasta and sauce. #3. They left us 3 garbage bags and 1 pack of dishwasher detergent and the cheapest sponge ever. We had to use grocery bags to dispose of trash until one of us left to go get garbage bags only to find out later that we can not throw grocery bags of trash in the trash bin causing us to dig those out and put in a bigger bag. Due to only 1 pack of dishwasher detergent, i washed almost everything by hand that weekend which sponge started to deteriorate after 1st day, and we bought more detergent just to run the dishes on check out day. Dishwasher was also not screwed in place and hurt me when the sharp bracket kept shooting out when dishwasher was being loaded sending it off balance. So frustrating to pay decent $ and have constant disappointments the entire weekend. The pirate bedroom was a nice feature, kids loved it but that in the end was not worth the other issues. I enjoyed my family and for that alone we had an ok stay but I was hoping it to be more memorable, and family agrees we have better choices for...

We were really excited for the trip based on all of the ads. We booked a larger home for 18 guests. When we arrived, there was damage throughout the house like parts of games broken, stains on carpets and furniture. We made sure to take pictures and report so we wouldn’t be charged. The pool was dirty and they offered to come out that day, but it took 2 days to get someone out to clean it up, which looked great afterward. The downstairs guests could only get cold water in their shower so they had to come upstairs. We reported it, but maintenance reported all showers at 90 degrees. I don’t think they checked the right ones, so those guests had to use other bathrooms during the stay. ALL bedding and bathrooms had black curly hair all over. The sheets smelled clean, comforters looked dirty, and that is disappointing to see hair wades in the beds and bathroom. I reported it with pictures at checkin and “sorry” was all we got. We washed all bedding the first day since there is a washer and dryer. The curtains were broke in 2 rooms, so we used hair clips to keep them closed.

The resort part wasn’t worth it. The Villatel village is far from the resort pools so you have to drive. Parking is very limited and they reached capacity every day. Think housing development pool size and a lazy river. The food was good there. You can reserve and rent cabanas. The groups there are very rowdy with people being asked to leave because of arguments and fights, so I didn’t stay long with the kids. This happened on more than one occasion.

Trash pick up is nice, but we were woken up each morning around 7am to the crews yelling and playing loud music with cuss words blasting each morning. Just not appropriate from staff in a family setting.

The location wasn’t as great as we hoped, but we originally planned to go to the “resort” more. Not much to do in that area and expect a minimum of 45 minutes of traffic to get to Orlando. 1hr and 45 minutes to Cocoa beach.

We extended one day due to needing to meet up for a pickup. Halfway through the stay we asked for their best rate since another group booked the day after. We were told no discounts were given. Checkout is 10am or you are charged double the max daily rate. That was fine, except a 50% offer was sent at 9:51am the day we would have checked out at 10am. When I called they said they couldn’t honor it. 59 minutes before checkout they send the offers to extend.

It is hard to find a large place to accommodate a large group. That is why I am giving 2 stars instead of 1. We really wanted this place to work for future trips, but I don’t think it will be kept up well based on it being new and already having issues.

**Reason for high ratings. If you select the frowny face in their review it won’t send you to Google reviews. Only smily face or happy customers get through. Annoying when...