Vacation Rentals by Owner

LOVELY

Guest: patty q. (praire village kansas)
Date of Stay: 12/17/11 Review Submitted: 12/28/11

I just submitted a review saying that several things were not working while we stayed at this amazing place. There was some misunderstandings between owner and rental company. The owner has made us feel very comfortable with the things that occured and I feel assured that they will be fixed. Regardless of our situation, the house is just as the pictures indicate. The location is very nice and you can walk along both sides of the beach to interesting places. I would recommend this to anyone that is wanting a relaxing vacation on a beach..................and it is spacious! We did not use the chef but found wonderful places to eat near by.

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

BEYOND OUR EXPECTATIONS! AN EXPERIENCE WE WILL NOT FORGET!

Guest: travis (United States)
Date of Stay: 12/10/11 Review Submitted: 12/20/11

We recently stayed at this gorgeous home and cannot say enough good things about the entire experience. We have been in Punta Esmeralda in the past and stayed in the condos there, but this private home exceeded our expectations. The home is beautifully decorated and designed. The owner did an exceptional job of providing everything anyone would need to have all the comforts of "home", including beautifully decorated and comfortable bedrooms, living room, and a chef's kitchen for those that love to cook and entertain. The home provided us with a sense of peace, relaxation, convenience to wonderful restaurants, and a 10 minute drive to a mega-market where we were able to buy whatever we needed to enjoy our vacation. We have stayed in many beautiful vacation rentals throughout Latin America and other countries, and we can honestly say that this was one of the most beautiful homes we have every stayed in. There are jacuzzi tubs throughout the house, a private pool, an entertainment deck with built-in dining table and great grille to BBQ. The house has a bathroom for every room and then some. The sinks in the bathrooms are beautiful....in fact I wanted to find out where we could buy them for our own home. The home is a few steps down to the beach, where you can walk on firm sand for several miles and enjoy both the sunrise and sunset. The views are spectacular and the sounds of the ocean waves will lull you to sleep. The entire home has sliding invisible doors and windows to enjoy the sounds and sights of the outdoors. The beds are very comfortable, and the master bedrooms are so great! The showers and tubs throughout the home are big, including a shower to wash off the sand when you return from your beautiful walk. The owner was available whenever we needed to have questions answered. We were combining both a vacation break time and business time, so the WIFI was great to have available for us to hook up our computers and manage any business needs. There are flat screen TV's in most of all the rooms including a great big "theater" entertainment room. The on-site cafe offered breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks and is a short walk from the house. The chef is the from Masala restaurant in La Cruz which we recommend. Other restaurants we love is Karen's Place, Mezzogiorno, Adauto's in Bucerias. We will return...and we will recommend this home to everyone that would love a fantastic vacation rental. "Thanks for the memories!"

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, age 55+, girls getaway, romantic getaway.

Stayed November 2011 - Wonderful!

Guest: Pete (Boulder CO)
Date of Stay: 11/17/11 Review Submitted: 12/14/11

Our family group of 9 had a great relaxing 7 day stay here and loved it! Everything was clean and beautiful, our chef David was awesome! Claudia came everyday and made sure everything was perfect. We loved it and hope to come back again!

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

Amazing Vacation Home

Guest: Hilary (Oklahoma)
Date of Stay: 06/29/11 Review Submitted: 07/30/11

This home is an excellent property to serve as a vacation home. The pictures do not even do the property justice. The home comfortably slept the 8 of us who went, and there was even room for another adult couple of several children. Another amazing feature to the home was a gorgeous, open-roof courtyard right in the middle of the home. The views of the ocean were fantastic and un-obstructed. Being part of a resort community, there are added features that come with staying at the home: several beautiful infinity pools with views of the ocean, a cafe that serves anything you could want at poolside, and a workout facility/spa, as well as 24 hour security. Alberto, the concierge, made the stay even more enjoyable. He supplied us with a chef that cooked 6 meals for us while we were there - much tastier and a better value than any restaurant in the area. Alberto's wife, Marta, kept the house spotless with daily maid-service and fresh clean linens. Alberto also provided us with a gentlemen who was our taxi driver for the week - he was always there right on time and waited for us wherever we were to take us back home. Alberto also arranged for massage therapists to come to the home and provide us with amazing massages right in our own house. This was a purely luxury vacation with people who worked very hard to make our stay fantastic and stress-free. I would recommend this property to anyone searching for a wonderful vacation destination. Mark, the house owner, was always available to answer any questions and do his best to make our vacation perfect. Thank you, Mark for a beautiful home; and thank you to Alberto and his wife and all the others for working so diligently at creating the perfect vacation! We would definitely return!

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

Great home for family reunion

Guest: Sally (Arlington, Texas)
Date of Stay: 04/17/11 Review Submitted: 05/12/11

We just spent 7 days at this incredible home. It was one of the best properties that we have ever stayed at. Four out of the five bedrooms had unbelievable ocean views. I am a caterer and I have never seen a kitchen so well equipped. We had breakfast every day in the outside dining area enjoying the wonderful breeze. Additionally, we had a great housekeeper that kept the home sparkling clean during our stay. Overall, it was an excellent property for our family reunion. We are already making plans to return soon.

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

Disappointing Stay February 19-26, 2011

Guest: E (Longboat Key, FL)
Date of Stay: 02/19/11 Review Submitted: 03/22/11

Firstly, this house is located much closer to the town of Bucerias and some distance to Punta Mita, despite its listing category. We recently rented this house for a week to celebrate a special family get together and although this is a handsome house in a nice development, we were very disappointed with several operational aspects and safety concerns. We had hot water two of seven days and had NO water three times. The pool was NOT heated and the adjacent jacuzzi not heated and not functional. The Master Jacuzzi was not heated or functional. The stove ran out of propane one time due to a broken outdooor furnace. The security safe was broken upon arrival. There were exposed electrical outlets in the stone flooring surrounding the pool. On the living room floor there was a dislodged outlet with exposed wiring. The access to the beach is very primitive. Broken slate steps dug into the side of the hill serve as a stairway, certainly not suitable for the elderly. The bed sheets were extremely old and not at all hotel quality. The pillows were flat, and also seemed extremely old. There were no bars of soap in any of the showers. No napkins or paper towels upon arrival either. It seems that if the house were maintained properly and managed by a professional with hotel experience it could actually live up to its potential. We paid a lot of money to bring in guests for what should have been a four or five star experience. We wished we paid more notice to the comments of Sue of Colorado Springs also posted here on VRBO 9/1/10 review. Dave and Ellen Longboat Key, FL

Owner response:Please read the following 9 reviews, all are rated 5 of 5 except 1 as a 4 and my home always exceeds averyone's expectations! Most guests refer others and also many return themselves with other friends. Unfortunately this objectional review was from a guest that was waited on hand and foot, yet believed he could treat my staff and everyone else who helped him out like dirt. I was called numerous times during the entire stay with a "I am here to be waited upon attitude" (they did get waited upon like none other for the entire stay) everything mentioned was taken care of (nearly immediately every time). Things do go wrong; like the town not supplying water (I then had it trucked in quickly), propane running out (refilled with-on hours) Even with the comments which came from my rejecting a FULL REFUND for their large group which they demanded but only AFTER their stay along with comments of how they will damage me if I did not give them all of their money back. This is what comes back, still with all the issues in the guest's note; a 3 of 5 rating. Things do happen and I have always taken care of issues RIGHT AWAY! The home is in fabulous shape and we work hard to keep it that way!!!

Recommended for:

Bucerias

Guest: jeanie (sedona az)
Date of Stay: 12/16/10 Review Submitted: 12/30/10

This house is fabulous--the decorating is awesome, the staff is very accommodating, the location is a bit far from Bucerias, but cabs are available at the front gate. The beach is rocky, but it is a good walk for those who want some exercise. We had 10 in the house, and it was very comfortable for everyone. The great room is to die for. Bus service is available for trips to Sayualita--or the public beach, or Punta Mita.

Recommended for:Families with teenagers, families with young children, tourists without a car.

Awesome place to stay!!

Guest: Patricia ortiz (Guadalajara mexico)
Date of Stay: 09/24/10 Review Submitted: 01/23/11

The house is just beautiful! Pictures don't do justice and we will definitely be back. Both Mark the owner and Alberto were super nice and made thee booking process and our stay great!! Thank you. We highly recommend this home is wonderful, lots of space and very fair price.

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

Our summer stay @ Casa Sueño del Mar

Guest: German (Chula Vista, CA, USA)
Date of Stay: 07/28/10 Review Submitted: 08/16/10

We had a great time! The house is clean, well furnished and has all expected ammenities. The kitchen has everything that we needed and, with the help of a hired cook and the housekeeper, we didn't have to 'work' at having a pleasant stay. The view from the pool is spectacular (looking south at Bahia de Banderas) and the resort facilities make a stay at this house as complete as any good hotel. Nos la pasamos muy bien! La casa está limpia, bien amueblada y tiene todas las facilidades esperadas. La cocina tiene todo lo que necesitamos y con la ayuda de un cocinero y de la ama de llaves, no tuvimos que trabajar mucho para pasarla bien. La vista desde la alberca es espectacular (hacia el sur de Bahia de Banderas) y las facilidades del resort hacen que la estancia en esta casa sea tan buena como la estancia en un buen hotel

Recommended for:Age 55+, families with young children, tourists without a car.

Beach House

Guest: Sue (Colorado Springs, CO)
Date of Stay: 03/28/10 Review Submitted: 09/01/10

This home is beautiful - on the beach and very private. Unfortunatly many things did not work: outdoor grill, jacuzzi, infinity pool had to be maually filled with water, kitchen water purafication system. The home is advertised as having two king beds - misleading advertising - only one king bed in the house. Best find was Alberto and his family - Alberto arranged our surprise wedding, music, private chef, judge, etc. Alberto is an amazing gentleman and handles your every need - from drivers to jet skiis. Make sure everything works in the house - but make sure you contact Alberto!

Owner response:Owner reply, Why would a guest post something on my web page regarding a minor issue with the pool that was taken care of right away even though the resort was having some water problems. Please read everything else posted regarding my Casa.

Recommended for:

Guest: Anonymous
Date of Stay: 02/17/10 Review Submitted: 02/17/10

WOW! we couldn't believe how fabulous this house was- it was even more beautiful than the pictures. we loved that we could walk the beach to town yet appreciated being in a gated community too (and all the ammenities it provided us!). best of all was the amazing concierge, Alberto, that Mark connected us to. Alberto helped with buying us groceries and he arranged for a wonderful cook to come to the house and make lunch and dinner for us a few of the days. The maid service was exceptional too. We loved this experience and hope to rent this house again next year. Thank you!

Recommended for:

Guest: Chris & Lorraine Barth (Mount prospect Il)
Date of Stay: 04/13/09 Review Submitted: 04/13/09

This is a "Wow" house, it's stunning..the views..the absolute top of the line in everything! from the 9 foot doors to marble everywhere.We had 12 in our group and stayed this past spring break...Lots and lots of room for everyone...Being a Chef owner of a small Bistro I was blow away by the gourmet kitchen.. Viking Everything..It had everything.I can not begin to tell you what a wonderful time we had..Thanks again,Chris & Lorraine Barth

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Guest: christopher9 (Mt. Prospect, Illinios)
Date of Stay: 10/29/08 Review Submitted: 10/29/08

We stayed last Jan. in the 4 bedroom villa and just loved it. Lots of room, great kichen, loved this dipping pool and having 4 full bathrooms was great with 2 families. We have rented the new home they have bilt in punta esmerelda and are very excited for March of '09thanks again

Recommended for:

Guest: Howard Karr (Arlington, Texas)
Date of Stay: 12/11/06 Review Submitted: 12/11/06

We rented this great villa in July 2006 and absolutely loved it. If you are looking for first class accomodations this is it! Thanks and we loom forward to renting it again.

Recommended for:

Guest: Rick Jorgenson (Johnston, IA 50131)
Date of Stay: 10/28/06 Review Submitted: 10/28/06

The Villa we rented from Mark Novak at Punta Esmeralda was absolutely GREAT! The villa was very clean and well kept. The villa is in a gated community. Our villa had dipping pool right outside the family room. We had a larger pool right below our dipping pool and terrace. There were also pools to the left with a cabana and another pool to the right plus a very nice beach in Banderas Bay. We also had a BarBQue on our terrace and a great Kitchen with all the modern conveniences and appliances. If anyone is looking for a great family vacation requiring 4 Bedrooms, I would highly recommend this villa at Punta Esmeralda. Rick Jorgenson

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