Vacation Rentals by Owner

Great Family Reunion Weekend

Guest: Curtis (Boston, MA)
Date of Stay: 05/28/11 Review Submitted: 06/05/11

I just wanted to drop you a note to let you know what a great time we had at Villa Rosa. Our family had an amazing time and we enjoyed the house and the beach. Anthony the caretaker was great and very helpful. We look forward to doing it again next year sometime.

Owner response:Thank you for make our home yours. We look forward to seeing you next year. Please let us know if there are any special requests for your next visit.

Recommended for:Families with young children

Great Place For A Relaxing Vacation

Guest: Birthday Party (New York, New York)
Date of Stay: 04/21/11 Review Submitted: 05/14/11

I hosted a reunion and birthday party at the house and had an absolutely incredible weekend. The beach is beautiful, the house is great, and the weather was perfect. The house caretaker was extremely helpful and flexible. The only problems were with the internet connection (despite our best efforts). He mentioned there had been some recent issues with it, so this is likely a new issue. Having said this, if you're spending time indoors on the internet when you've got the beach right outside and the hot tub upstairs, there might be other issues...Everything else functioned as expected (especially the AC) and the beds were clean and comfortable. The surrounding neighborhood is alright, but you'll definitely need a car if you are with folks who don't like/can't walk 15 minutes along the beach for food. With our group, a car was incredibly valuable. The only real hiccup in the trip had nothing to do with the house - the whole area practically shuts down for most of Easter Weekend! Restaurants are open in the evening, but don't plan on doing any shopping! Bottom line, I would strongly recommend this house as a great place to stay.

Owner response:We are sure that you will enjoy this property as much as these guests did. You will definitely enjoy the beach that is right at your back door & the ocean waiting to invite you in. While there are sometimes internet problems on the island, they usually don't last too long and the internet company generally restores things quickly.

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, age 55+, sightseeing.

Family Reunion

Guest: betsy (Branchville, New Jersey)
Date of Stay: 07/17/10 Review Submitted: 07/30/10

Villa Rosa is a true home away from home! The house has everything you need to have a great time and more. The house keeper Heice is a doll she was so helpful and nice, the DVD player was broken when we got there she went to her house and got us one from her home, We had our grand kids with us and it was raining, she wanted to make sure we had somenthing for the kids to watch on the rainy days. Our weather was a problem but Villa Rosa is such a great place to be that we had many thing to do indoors. From the pool table to the ping-pong table,dominos board game and then some. A very clean house and very well taken care, My husband and I had the master bedroom, our kids were jealous, but after all I plan the trip, so the master bedroom was our. the room was a great get away not to hear anything but the ocean, like a dream. I planed this vacation for a long time, I wanted all the kids and grand kids to be able to spend a vacation together, but for everyone to have some space and Villa Rosa was the PERFECT PLACE. planning our vacation Ms. Rose the owner, was in touch with me at all times and very helful, I told her that we had a set of twin and if the house had a play pen for them to sleep and she make sure a crib was set up for them when we got there,Even when I mention to Ms.Rose if the house had a grill because my children love grilling she told me the house had a small one, To our surprise when we go to the house she had a great big NEW gas and charcoal grill waiting for us to be use for the first time. We had such a good time and even with all the rain we had it was great. My husband carved a lion on the sand the grandkids love it. My kids drove to the town of Luquillo and surf,the people were very friendly. Super market very close and drug store too, 40 minutes from San Juand , 10 minutes from El Yunque rain forest. I will like to thank Heice and Ms.Rose for making our vacation a success, I hope next time we get more sun, even with out the sun , this was the best place to be. Thank you, Betsy

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway, sightseeing.

Great Vacation Home for Three Active Families

Guest: Heather (western Pennsylvania)
Date of Stay: 07/07/10 Review Submitted: 07/25/10

We were a group of 6 adults (in our 30s and 40s) and 8 kids (aged 9-15) who spent 10 days at Villa Rosa in July 2010. The house fit our needs well, providing plenty of space to spread out, as well as common areas for gathering our large group together for meals and games. The ocean and beach in front of the house were just right... plus we enjoyed the extra bonus of the beautiful river just a short walk west on the beach, for dips in the cool, fresh water. It is apparent that the owner is working on updating and maintaining Villa Rosa, and we're sure that once the second floor bedrooms and bathrooms are updated with fresh linens and furnishings, the house will really appeal to those used to upscale accomodations. The location was perfect for our excursions: two days of hiking in El Yunque, two days in Old San Juan, a day-long snorkeling and sailing tour out of Fajardo, a night-time kayaking tour of the bioluminescent lagoon, and visits to many of the local restaurants and kioskos. Grocery stores are within a 10 minute drive in each direction, making it easy to prepare meals and snacks in the house. Best of all was the time we spent together, making beautiful memories with the people we love so dearly.

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, families with teenagers, girls getaway, sightseeing.

Beautiful setting for an unforgettable wedding

Guest: New Mrs. (Lancaster, Pennsylvania)
Date of Stay: 06/26/10 Review Submitted: 07/24/10

Sorry I took so long. I wanted to thank you for our wonderful time spent at Villa Rosa June 25th- July 1st. Everyone that was with us thought the house was great, a perfect fit for our group. It was big enough that no one felt crowded, but we were all close enough to make planning things easy. A lot of time was spent right on the beach, but the location of the house was great, close to so many neat places like El Yunque and Farjardo and San Juan. The wedding went wonderfully. It rained a little bit during the ceremony, but that made it interesting. We will never forget it. The beach was a beautiful setting, I am so happy we choose to do it there. We had ordered food from a nearby restaurant, my husbands aunt made the cake, and it was so relaxing to have everything right at the house. I couldn’t have asked for a better trip and I thank you so much for everything you did to make it so special.

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway, sightseeing.

Our Christmas Vacation

Guest: Right on the water (Trinity, florida)
Date of Stay: 12/17/09 Review Submitted: 01/20/10

My family had a wonderful time at Villarosa. The pictures you see accurately display how nice the home is. Just steps away from a beautiful beach, so nice to have it just out the door. Also the view out toward the water is spectacular. The houseworked great for us, and is close to a number of excursions we went on. And 85 during the day, and around 70 something at night is hard to beat. The owner was great to work with as we made plans to go to PR, and the caretakers were very accomodating during our stay. We had an A plus Christmas. La Parilla is a must for dinner, of course a view of the water.

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, families with teenagers, families with young children, romantic getaway.

Great Place for Friends/Family Group Vacation

Guest: Gbanga (Washington, DC)
Date of Stay: 05/27/09 Review Submitted: 06/09/09

The house is modern with all of the conveniences that comes with a home back in the continental United States. With cable television, Wi-Fi- and laundry facilities, not to mention the wonderful second floor hot tub that comfortably accommodated seven people, one could not ask for more. The third level of the house is the master suite that is truly amazing as can be seen from the photos. Even though smoking is not allowed in the house, there is open air porch on the second level which I as a occasional cigar smoker took advantage of after meals and whenever I had my occasional scotch on the rocks. It did not feel quite the outcast I am made to feel like stateside when I have to go far away from everyone when I needed a smoke. For me that was more than I expected. The caretaker of the villa, Carlos is absolutely God send. He was always available when needed and went above and beyond the call of service and was at our every beck and call. We especially enjoyed the beach in Luquillo (Playa Luquillo) with all of the kiosks selling local food (which we thoroughly enjoyed and took advantage of regularly. Lastly, we felt very secure in the house as it has a full alarm system. We definitely plan on returning to Villa Rosa. It is a great value for the dollar.

Recommended for:Families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway, sightseeing.

The pictures are real!

Guest: Toks (New Orleans, LA)
Date of Stay: 05/25/09 Review Submitted: 06/29/09

You know how you go on vacations and beforehand you see the pictures of the place and when you get there it is completely different, this house is not that way, what you see is what you get. The appliances are new and the house is well set up and huge. I was very pleasantly suprised at its size. Master Suite has a Jacuzzi tub and lest i forget there is a hot tub in the house, so hop out of the ocean into the hot tub and back, nice perk, especially after a hard day of hiking El Yunque. There is a beach volley ball court set up in the backyard on the property which was really nice and can i mention the back yard is the beach... no really it is... that was so convenient. In the local area are some kiosks that sell from souvenirs to food and everything in between and to top it all off its an easy drive to the San Juan. All in all its definately a thumbs up

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway, romantic getaway.

great place

Guest: faisal (new york city, new york)
Date of Stay: 03/23/09 Review Submitted: 07/26/09

we took our very first family trip ever. one baby. two teenagers. 6 twenty somethings. and two parents. Wonderful time. There was something for everyone in the house. the lawn was wonderful, and we had great family games, particularly "kabadi", an indian game. the hottub was great, although i wish it had warmed up quicker, but perhaps that's how hottubs are. the internet was giving us some issues, but that got resolved fairly quickly after a visit from the internet provider. the place is very clean, and basically has it's own private beach because it seems the neighbors are hardly there. very close to the kioskos. not far from san juan. great location. again, the place was a lot of fun. it went by way tooooo quickly. also, close to a very nice casino. it has some good restaurants, particularly there all you can eat buffet. we also really liked both the indoor and outdoor dining tables. they are big and can seat a lot of people, which was great for us. there's a basketball court that's right next to the house. also, it's very close to a really nice beach, where you pay like $5 per car. Not sure what the name is but i am the sure the owner must know. we had a great time. it helps to have a fun family, but the place was great. it has a lot of games and activites to keep everyone busy. faisal

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway, tourists without a car, pet owners, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

Our personal experience in Feb 2009

Guest: novicejr (Dallas, Tx, USA)
Date of Stay: 02/14/09 Review Submitted: 03/17/09

I waited a few weeks after our trip before writing this review because I wanted to as objective as possible and not let any emotion to influence the review. Our party consisted of 9 adults with three children ranging from three to seven years old. First, the positives about the house: 1. Nice location with a marina only 15 minutes away and San Juan about a 40 minute drive. 2. House is nicely furnished with a pool table, HDTV, each bedroom with an AC unit which works very well and of course the beach right in the back yard. House is in a reasonably clean state given the humidity and locale. 3. Carlos, the assistant, did come out mid week to rake up new leaves and clean up the outside. Now for the negatives: 1. Microwave broke down on the third day of stay. While the owner didn't specifically said it was somehow our fault, her quote was " It's funny how it stopped working when you guys came." It was not replaced for the remainder of our stay. We're talking about at most a $150 appliance and she'll have to replace it eventually anyway. 2. The downstair area has two AC unit. One was already malfunctioning on the night of arrival but the other unit was bigger and with it on, it was not a big deal. However, the second unit also gave out on our second night (sunday). We notified the owner the night. Now, there is a cool breeze and with the windows open, it was okay until you factor in 12 bodies generating heat with the TV and lights on and after a few hours, it did become slightly uncomfortable. Again, we told the owner of the problem on Sunday and given Monday was president's day and apparantly a holiday, she told us she would call someone tuesday morning. When nothing happened by wed, we called her. She told us she did call on Tuesday morning but when the repair person came out later that day, no one was home so they left and now can not come back until next week because they are so busy. First of all, when Carlos came out Thursday, he told us he called the number the owner gave him for the AC repair but it was not a correct number. Secondly, she never called us and told us we had to be there for the repairman and in addition, we don't think it was our responsibilities to be there for the serviceman. To summarize, there are inconsistencies with the owner's version of what happen and the bottom line is, the service should have been better.

Owner response:I can understand your frustrations with your vacation. It began with your cars not being at the rental company when you got there. I wanted nothing more than for you to forget that experience & have an incredible time at the house. This is why, 1. When you called, I went online and found a car Rental Company that had mini vans available. 2. I waited with the caretaker for 4 hours to show you the house. He was a new hire and I wanted to make sure everything went well even though I had a 2 hour drive back to Arecibo. 3. I drove you to the supermarket and a restaurant because it was now dark and I did not want you to get lost. 4. I refunded your entire security deposit despite the coffee table and counter stools being written on in markers and the large gouges made in the master bedroom furniture. 5. I gave you a substantial discount on your rental. I wanted to mitigate any bad feelings of your vacation. Why would I not get the A/C & the microwave repaired if I could have during your stay? There was no cost to me. They are both new and under full warranty. After all, it is to my benefit to have these things working for my guests. I am truly sorry that these things happened and wish none of it had. But I would like to offer up a few counterpoints to your comments. 1. The first two days of your stay was a Sunday followed by a holiday eliminating 2 days. 2. I never expected you to wait for the repairman. I drove back (2hrs) to do so. We did not connect. I told you that. 3. There was no conflict in what Carlos told you and what happened. I asked him to follow up on the service call. When he tried the number I had given him, all he got was a busy signal. We found out when we finally called their Bayamon office, that they had consolidated their offices, eliminating our service center. Unlike the States, there’s no recording giving you another number, only a busy signal. 4. I told you that I did not think you broke the microwave or the A/C. How could you have? You said you guys were fine and would be out of the house most of the day anyway. In summary, I wish Carlos had had a petty cash fund to buy a countertop microwave until the hooded one was fixed and that I had caught the A/C repairman in time, but it was certainly not due to a lack of effort or desire to give you great service. I fell short of my goal. A petty cash fund has been set up and the repairs made. We hope and expect that your next visit will be totally without mishap.

Recommended for:

Simply Amazing, I would love to go back

Guest: beachtravelerashton (Houston, Texas)
Date of Stay: 12/26/08 Review Submitted: 01/10/09

Very beautiful beach front property. I had the pleasure of staying in the house for vacation with my family. I love being by the beach so this house was quite the treat. Quite literally, if you were an Olympic long jumper, you could make it to the beach with a running start in the house. The beach is the back yard. The people are friendly and there is always a gentle sea breeze. This is a great vacation spot.

Owner response:I am glad that you and your family had a great time. The house is a great place for family reunions such as yours. We told you, it is right on the beach. We also find the Puerto Ricans to be very friendly and helpful. They will go out of their way for you. With all the things to do on the east coast, I hope your family will come back to continue your adventure in Puerto Rico,

Recommended for:Age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, romantic getaway, sightseeing.