4 BEDROOM HILLTOP VIEW HOME WITH PRIVATE POOL

While this client seemed to be very nice, I believe that there are some inconsistencies, which need to be explained. Also, if the "experience at the house was nice, very clean when they arrived," we should not have been given a rating of "one star." The client said that there were "small bugs" at the house, when she arrived for her stay at the end of October. Another client was there for two weeks at the beginning of the month, and we, the owners, were there for almost the next two weeks, and there were no bugs. We left a coupe of days before this client arrived, and we personally did deep cleaning of the house with our housekeeper. The client called a few hours after she arrived and said there were "small bugs." The client stated that she was allergic to them and could swell up, and that she was already taking antihistamines, and that they wanted to go to leave and go to a hotel. We told them to try some bug spray, since it was late at night, and there were no nearby hotels. Our housekeeper was unable to come up to the house at that late hour, but we said that she could come early in the morning. We spoke with the client early the following day, and she was still anxious about the situation. After speaking on the phone with VRBO, we granted the client a full refund including the cleaning fee, although she had stayed the one night. The cleaning lady went up and did not find any bugs at that time. However, we did hire an exterminator service, and they now go to the house twice a month. We are not sure if other vacation rental are offering this, but we did inform VRBO that we now had this service in place. We spoke about the incident with VRBO, and we said that we did not want to give the client a negative review, if she indeed had allergic problems, although we realized that she would probably give us a low score. VRBO said that since the reservation was a "cancellation," that neither party had to post comments about each other since the exterminator service had been hired and the problem resolved. However, they still chose to post this client's comments, anyway, so we are responding.

Yes, we, too are not happy with that short stretch of road to the house. Unfortunately, the road is under the jurisdiction of the Municipio de Vega Baja, which means that the local government is in charge, and the private property owners cannot do anything but appeal to that government agency. The road was repaired in 2017-2018 after Hurricane Maria, but then another storm caused damage. The residents of the area have publicized the issue on the news and have continued to go to the mayor and our representatives, however, we are still waiting for them to act

We advertise this house as a rural property. We also speak to them directly by telephone before they travel there. People who are familiar with Puerto Rico know that the roads in the rural areas are winding, that many interior parts of the island have hills, and that the roads are not always well maintained. The upkeep of the roads is the duty of the municipal government, and they are far behind in doing repairs. We wish that we had more power to change the situation. So, while this is unfortunate, it is not anything that we have the ability to repair, as the roads mentioned by the client are on public property.

The power outage was Island wide and involved tens to hundreds of thousands of customers. We did tell them where the generator was located and how to use it. We also contacted our handyman, but he was not able to get to the house the same day because of loss of power at his own house and heavy rain. He later got the generator going and he did fix the dryer, which may have been down due to a power or post outage issue. We respond-promptly to all of our customers calls or text messages. We are in the process of installing a complete solar system that will activate power in the event of an outage, and it should be completed soon. We also put in a cistern in case water service goes out, which could happen if there is no power. Our cleaning crew goes in the day before the guests arrive and the day that they leave. The house was clean when the guest arrived, as we always check in by phone with the crew. The cleaning crew does not provide service every day like you would have in a hotel. Yes, there are sometimes bugs and roaches in Puerto Rico due to the humid climate. We did tell them where spray was, and we could have had the cleaning lady go back if it was a major problem. The house is located about 12 minutes from the freeway, and, yes, the road is winding. The website clearly says that is is a rural hilltop home. That is why you enjoy privacy, quiet, and great views that you could not get in a city location. If customers write with questions about the location prior to or after booking, we provide them with the information. Most people have commented "winding road, but well worth the drive." There is a table on the patio with four chairs and lounge chairs around the pool at no extra cost. If you want an event or family gathering, yes, there is an extra charge for the tables and chairs. Also, the grill is a four-section super-grill that we have to pay to have cleaned. We discuss all of these extras with the clients when they book, and it is their choice as to whether or not they want these extra services.