Without exaggeration, Villa Plus are the most untrustworthy, unprofessional, vile company we have ever had the misfortune of dealing with. Our family of 8 (half of whom had flown all the way from California) booked one of the company's 'luxury' villas in Portugal based on their shiny marketing, marketing we now know to be full of camera trickery, photoshop editing and outright lies.
The moment our car pulled up to the property, our hearts sank. Talk about first impressions, the external gate itself was worn and broken, only opening from the inside. After being let through by a leaving car, we could only stare in silence at the unkempt, cluttered gardens that led towards the villa itself. It was at this point we noticed just one of the sharp cliff-drops overlooking the woods below, a drop that would certainly have killed any child unfortunate enough to be playing nearby. Villa Plus knew our booking included two small children, but clearly felt this to be an acceptable risk for the money they were making from us.
As if that wasn't bad enough, the villa itself can only be described as absolutely disgusting. Walking through the front door your eyes are immediately drawn to the chipped marble, filthy tile-work, mould and half-finished paint jobs throughout. The property was so utterly derelict and uncared for, it was reminiscent of a cliché haunted house. The kitchen was particularly shambolic, with a mismatch of equipment, all of which filthy to the point where the hob itself had rusted over with baked-on food remnants. Same can be said for the outdoor 'barbecue area'.
All bedrooms had ancient, crusty mattresses that were irreparable, with sheets which looked disease-filled. Windows were painted shut and dirty towels lay anywhere and everywhere, each room being worse than the last. The final straw was finding faeces upstairs. There was not one redeeming feature on the entire grounds, and after a few minutes of stunned silence we knew we couldn't possibly spend a single night in this awful place. We are by no means snobs, but as a family with a background in property, we could not see any conceivable way to rectify this villa other than to knock it down and start again.
We drove to the nearest bar and desperately searched for a nearby hotel. Upon informing Villa Plus of everything we'd encountered they sent a representative, who photographed the same shocking scenes we had ourselves already photographed, and clearly sympathised that we'd been put in this situation. Having said all that, it's now months later and the powers-that-be at Villa Plus are still refusing to refund the considerable sum of money we handed over for a property that was not only un-stayed in by us, but generally unsuitable for human habitation. Do not pay attention to their clever marketing and fake reviews, this is a borderline criminal organisation who deserve to be investigated and shut down permanently. Needless to say we are seeking legal advice and will be sharing our experience with absolutely everyone. read more