We rented this villa as an all inclusive vacation - including food and drink. When we arrived at 4:30 in the afternoon on Saturday, there was nothing in the house to eat or drink except for some sweet bun and tin cheese, even though we had advised that our arrival time would be early afternoon. Since there was no food for dinner until the housekeeper went shopping, dinner was not served until after 9:00 that evening. Since we were traveling with small children, this was completely unacceptable and not what we agreed to in our contract. Additionally, since we were traveling with children, including a year old baby, we stressed the importance of and were guaranteed that there would be a gate around the pool and a pool alarm to help ensure the baby's safety. Imagine our dismay when none of these safeguards were in place. During dinner, the electrical wires coming into the house broke and caused a fire outside the house - resulting in barely any electricity, including no air conditioning - causing everyone, especially the children, to have an extremely uncomfortable night. Additionally, the live wires were left unattended right outside the house. This was not repaired until mid-day the next day. On Monday, the food situation continued to be a problem until the housekeeper finally went out at 5 PM to purchase groceries. We had a telephone discussion with Susan, the local manager, that night stating our displeasure and during that conversation, she arbitrarily cancelled the all inclusivity of our contract. The next day, while we were out, she unlawfully trespassed into our house without our knowledge or permission and took out whatever food and alcohol that was remaining in the house and left $300 on the table as a "refund" for the food. To add insult to injury, and as a way of rationalizing her actions and the amount of the "refund", Susan also said that she did not include meals for the 1 year old baby in the rental rate. She then stated that she withheld an additional $350 for gratuity for staff which was already supposed to be included in the rental of the villa. Interestingly enough, when we mentioned to the staff what the gratuity included in the rent was, they were shocked. Apparently, they do not receive all of the gratuity that is supposed to be allocated to them if they receive any at all. Susan had also promised before arrival that $250 of our rent would be refunded for the airport transfer that we did not use since we rented a vehicle. She later refused to refund this money. The incident of her entering the house without permission was reported to the police. However, she has been unable to be found by local police. Oasis Places, the English company, based in London, that controls this and many other villas in Ocho Rios, Montego Bay, and Negril, point blank refused to refund us any of our money. Additionally, the Jamaica Tourist Board stated that they could do nothing to enforce the contract. My advice if you go to Jamaica and rent a villa is to be careful about where you are renting at - to do research and get recommendations from other people who have stayed there. Especially, avoid any vacation destinations controlled by Oasis Places. If you are unhappy with your stay or if someone has trespassed into your rental, you will receive no assistance from the Jamaica Tourist Board. Because the controlling company is based in England, you will receive no satisfaction unless you are willing to travel and arbitrate in England at an additional trememdous cost. You might want to consider renting from an American firm, where you at least have a fighting chance of receiving satisfaction if displeased.
If you own or manage Mammee Bay Villas, register now for free tools to enhance your listing, attract new reviews, and respond to reviewers.
- Manage your listing
