Thank you taking the time to provide a trip advisor review. I am sorry that you were obviously coerced by your travel companion, Petejayne! how do I know this? well it is almost word for word identical to the review that was removed from airbnb due to its false claims! I will however respond here, this will be a long post.
1) THE DOORS WERE MISSING FROM THE CUPBOARD IN THE LAUNDRY AREA
There are no doors in the laundry area, so these are not missing! there are two Louvre panels that screen off the mops & buckets.
2) TOLD ONLY TO USE THE TUMBLE DRIER ON ONE SETTING AS IT DID NOT WORK PROPERLY
The tumble dryer DOES work! If it is full of heavy wet towels it can struggle with the tumble, but it is set on a slower tumble speed so this does not happen.
To tumble dry wet towels or washing would take an hour plus, in temperatures over 80 degrees they take just a few minutes on the line!!
The guest complained that this ruins the pool area??
They also had another option, in the beach hut there is another two washing lines, which could have used had they wanted to look at them around the pool!!!
3) THE SWITCH WAS MISSING FROM THE OVERHEAD FAN CONTROLLER
The manager acted very professionally he apologised to the guest, he explains that it it not broken and that the plastic switch for some reason was not there. He was baffled!
He said he will go and get another switch asap, The guest complained that the fan would not be working over night!! Every bedroom is fitted with fully controllable air conditioning!!
The next day the manager returned with a new switch. As AGREED he left the switch on the patio table rather than enter while they where out. so when the guest arrived back it could be easily pushed/clicked back on.
The guest makes this sound like she replace an electrical unit!!!
4) SWITCHES ON THE BEDSIDE LAMPS IN BOTH BEDROOMS WERE BROKEN
There are 2 bedside lamps in the main bedroom the guest complained to the manager that ONE was not working, he checked it and on/off twist button was MISSING?
This was again a surprise to him, he was becoming more and more baffled with the list of growing problems. There was another lamp in the room, a main light and several lamps in the villa. The manager checked all lamps and they were ALL in perfect working order!! The on/off switch was located under the bed after they checked out!
4) THE SMOKE ALARM WAS FOUND ON TOP ON THE WARDROBE, DISCONNECTED WITH NO BATTERIES
It is clearly stated on airbnb that the villa is NOT fitted with any smoke alarms and never was! So they have NOT been removed, The guest sent a photo to airbnb of the ceiling?? To back up her story that it was REMOVED!! This was a photo of a dehumidifier outlet, the pipes of which run inside the loft area!
5) THE SHOWER WASTE
Aruba has no mains water on the island all waste water is collected in tanks.
The property has 2 external waste water tanks, toilet waste in one and shower/sink/washing machine in the other (for recycling water). So it is IMPOSSIBLE for flushed toilet water to bubble up in the shower as the guest claims due to the plumbing pipework!!! Also this would not happen on occasions! It would happen every time as the water has nowhere to go!! Another instance of the guest creating a totally untrue issue!!
6) NOT AN ELECTIC SHOWER
Wow what can I say! THE SHOWER IS ELECTRIC!!! IWhy would a plastic box be fitted in the shower??
It works when water passes through it, there is an ELECTRICAL ELEMENT inside that heats the water!!
When the manager explained it did not have a water heater he was referring that it did not have a hot water tank that fed the unit. The guest jumped on his statement and created another issue!!
BUT I SAY AGAIN THIS IS AN ELECTRIC SHOWER, it heats the water as it passes through the unit!
7) LARGE PIPELINE AND WASTELAND
The pipeline you refer to runs practically the whole length from San Nicolas to the airport (several miles), it is above ground because it's close to shore the ground is CLIP (solid rock) I have never seen this mentioned on any other reviews written for the many hotels and rentals in this area, it's like complaining about the lampposts!
The land opposite the villa is not wasteland, it is owned and looked after by the Aruba government. It is never unsightly or overgrown, The people of Aruba do not fly tip, they are very proud of their beautiful island.
8) NO REMOTE CONTROL TO OPERATE THE MOOD LIGHTING
The guest was shown how to operate the remote controls for both the pool lights and the column lights upon arrival and these both worked perfectly.
9) THE POOL TURNED GREEN
This is Aruba’s rainy season, when there are heavy downpours the rain water in the pool affects the PH levels and the water rapidly goes green in the sunlight!
The pool maintenance people were called immediately, they added a salt solution to the water and returned the following day to clean the pool.
This was a weather related problem that was impossible to avoid.
10) THE VILLA WAS VERY SHABBY
All items are checked by the cleaning team!, for cleanliness and any missing or broken/chipped items that would need replacing before the next guests arrive. The cleaning team spend a minimum of 4 hours. We constantly receive excellent reviews and are never described as shabby, I have to disagree with your statement "we left the villa cleaner than when we arrived" due to the uncleanliness of the villa when you checked out!
11) VERY DISAPPOINTING FOR THE PRICE WE PAID.
I am very pleased that this was mentioned, In the first instance you bartered hard for a discount off of the original price, as you were staying 14 nights I gave you a 10% discount, the taxes in Aruba are payable on arrival this equates to 14% but when you arrived at the villa you told my manager that I had taken the taxes of too! no such thing! at the end of your stay I offered a further 10% refund, this was for the issue with the pool only, even though it could not have been avoided. you declined this offer, invented many issues and approached airbnb asking for a refund, after their thorough investigation it was found that your complaints were unfounded.
I was advised not to offer any refund.
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not TripAdvisor LLC.
