An Affordable 'Real Jamaican Experience' Vacation in Falmouth

Thank you for your generous words

We are glad you had the "Real Jamaican Experience" as it is our goal to provide "clean, comfortable, safe and affordable accommodation to our guests. We hope you both had a comfortable journey back home and look forward to seeing you on your next visit to Jamaica.

Dear Conray We are very happy that you both had an enjoyable stay at our bungalow. We will consider your recommendations and where possible implement them to make our guests stay even more enjoyable. We hope you both had a comfortable journey back home and look forward to your future vacation with us.

Firstly, I must state the house keeper Margaret was very helpful and friendly. I believe our bungalow offering achieves our guiding principles outlined below. Cornwall Estates - Our service guiding principles S – Safety – The bungalows are located within a Gated-Community and every effort is made to safeguard our guests while staying at our properties. C – Cleanliness – Our properties are maintained to the highest levels of cleanliness. C – Comfort – We provide our guests with a comfortable environment to ensure that their stay is restful and enjoyable. E– Economy – We provide our guests with value for money holiday accommodation. This property is in much need of a refresh. I am unsure what is meant by “refresh” as we carried out our annual maintenance and decoration work at the bungalow earlier this year. Almost everything could do with being replaced including new pots, pans, cutlery, and the kitchen itself. Again, I am unsure about this statement. Pots and Pans cutlery are replaced when lids &/or handles are damaged or broken. Frying pans are replace when the non-stick coating has been scrubbed off due to washing. The kitchen is equipped with an electric stove (was maintained in recent annual repairs) Fridge/Freezer, Microwave oven, electric kettle and a full assortment of utensils, cutlery and pots & pans. What other equipment would be reasonably expected in a “budget” bungalow rental? The settee has seen better days. In fact, there's a single settee chair in property that is dangerous due to the fact that it has a deeply sunken base. Bedding and towels don't look good and have seen better days along time ago. The settee suite consists of a three-seater sofa and two single-seater sofa chairs which are covered with removable coverings and are washed at the end of each stay. Our housekeeper Margaret will check to confirm whether there are any issues with our settee suite seats as this is the first occasion that we have received any reports of a problem with the settees. Our housekeeper is very diligent in maintaining our bedding and towels. On my last visit to Jamaica, we replaced the bedding and towels in the bungalow! The air conditioning at the property is far from adequate. Jamaica has one of the highest price per kilo watt hour (KWH) of electricity in the world. Therefore, the cost of electricity and running air conditioning units can be very expensive. Therefore, in order to maintain our “budget pricing model” for our guests, we only provide an air conditioning unit in the main bedroom. Ceiling and standing fans are provided throughout the bungalow as an alternative to air conditioning units. We do have an alternative bungalow that has been developed to cater to a "deluxe" rental market. This property has three air conditioning units (one in each bedroom & living room) and is generally furnished to a higher specification for the deluxe rental market but is priced appropriately for this market considering the extra operating costs. I've personally seen much better properties for around the same price or a little bit more. I find this statement surprising as many other rental properties in the local area have no landscaping (including a number of fruit trees) and an outside dining area. Our recent increase in rental rates was based on a review of the market prices in the local area You also have to deal with roaches with a spray that's provided. Insects including roaches will enter the bungalow especially when the property is vacant. Therefore, our housekeeper inspects the bungalow before guests arrive to dust surfaces and clean away any insects that may have entered the bungalow. Jamaica is a tropical country and insects will from time to time get beyond of insects screens if outside doors are left open. This wasn't what we expected and would not be recommending due to the low standard and quality of what's provided. We didn't get too involved with this place as it looked too dingy to feel comfortable. Finally, I have compared our description of the bungalow on the website with the issues you have raised in your review. I do believe we have maintained our service guiding principles of Safety, Comfort, Cleanliness and Economy. We do believe that our “budget” offering provides very good value for money compared to similar properties in the local area. However, we have referred guests who are seeking a “deluxe” rental offering to our alternative property that has been developed to a higher specification and is priced accordingly. We are always disappointed when guests are less than happy with their stay at our properties. However, the at no time communicated their dissatisfaction to us. Therefore, we were not afforded an opportunity to address any of the issues raised by our guest. Finally, we are always open to discuss with guests issues with their stay. It is Cornwall Estates intention provided each guest that stays at this bungalow "The Real Jamaican Experience"

We thank you for your comprehensive review of our property and your stay and think that you have given a very fair assessment. Cornwall Estates endeavours to provide Safe, Clean, Comfortable and Reasonably prices vacation accommodation for the independent visitor who is seeking to experience "Authentic Jamaican" living within a gated-community. We look forward to seeing you for your next visit to Jamaica and hope you had a comfortable journey home.

We are very glad you and family had an enjoyable vacation at our bungalow. We look forward to see you when you next visit Jamaica.

Response to Guest queries Wasn’t good. 1. We actually found that out after we locked it to go out. We got back to the residence, tried several times to open the lock tirelessly. Res_1 – This is the first time the paddock on the veranda security grill has been unable to open. However, due to the fact that Falmouth is a seaport, the sea air does corrode metal in the area. We will replace the paddock and periodically spray “WD40” an anti-corrosion spray into the locks to avoid this problem in the future. 2. I had to call the owner’s dad, which I’ve been calling from we have gotten their. Fortunately for us he answered this time around. The owner’s dad doesn’t seem to know the condition of the place when I told him. Nothing was explained to us by the lady who gave us the keys when we got their. Res_2 – My father is my property manager. We provide our guests with an information pack that includes two contact numbers for him. Our Housekeeper, who “meets and greets” our guests and provides an orientation of the bungalow, which includes how to operate the AC unit and when the WiFi passcode can be located. My housekeeper confirmed that she spoke to the Guest’s wife about the property. My housekeeper completely cleans the bungalow after the end of each guest’s stay. 3. I also had wi-fi issues. The AC wasn’t working well, including several other issues. Such a terrible experience, if it wasn’t for the next door neighbor Lindsay we wouldn’t had gotten in that night, or had a plumber coming by to repair the shower head. Res_3 – The Internet service provider (ISP) in the area is problematic but they are the only local service provider. We response as quickly as we can to the issues raised by our guests about Internet service because we know many of our guests work from the bungalow during their stay. These issues are immediately reported to the local ISP. Usually, the issue is a fault with the service in the area. We have also confirmed that there was no problem with the Air Conditioning unit as our engineer had recently carried out periodic maintenance on the units at our properties. The next-door neighbour mentioned does act on our behalf on occasions. In this instance we asked him to assist the guest with login onto the bungalow WiFi, which he did successfully. Again, as soon as our guest informed us of the issue with the shower head, we engaged a plumber to fix the issue the next day. 4. We would never recommend this place to anyone. We won’t be going

Inga we are very glad you can confirm Cornwall Estates' promise of clean, comfortable and safe accommodation at reasonable prices. We are so happy that you enjoyed your stay at our bungalow. We look forward to seeing you in December. We hope you had a comfortable journey back to the "Big Apple" and welcome you back to "The Rock" in December.

It is always unfortunate when our guests have not had a completely satisfactory stay at our bungalows. However, just to clarify the issues raised. 1. TV did not work - As a result of the two hour wait (beyond the agreed check in time) for the guests to arrive at the bungalow, my property manager was actually watching the TV when the guests arrived. Therefore, we know for a fact that the TV was working. 2. There was no hot water - I believe our guests may have had an unrealistic expectation of the water temperature. Depending on the time of day and the number of users the water will be warm or hot. We are surprised that the guests have raised the water temperature as an issue. 3. Light bulbs - My property manager realised that one light bulb had blown and was had arranging for the bulb to be replaced. We contacted the guest to arrange a time to gain access but the guests did not response to our e-mail until the evening when it was not possible to repair it that day. 4. Minor pest issue which creates discomfort and inability to sleep comfortably - We assume the guest is referring to mosquitoes, we do provide both mosquitoes spray and coils at the bungalow. Jamaica is a tropical island and our bungalow is near the beach. 5. You will notice that this bungalow has been a vacation home for over five years and has never received this level of guest review. Interestingly, our guest booked the property for a single person but three guests checked in. We explained to our guests that we need the names of all guests staying at the bungalow for security reasons as StoneBrook Vista is a gated-community and the estate security needs the information to register all guests visiting the estate. We have noted the guest comments and will review our systems,however, we do not consider most the issues raised to be valid.

You are very pleased that you enjoyed your stay at our bungalow and you both had a lovely time in Jamaica. We look forward to see you when you have your next vacation here.

Debbi & Albert We are very happy you consider your stay in Jamaica as "three weeks in paradise" as we believe we achieved have our goal of providing "the Real Jamaican experience" We look forward to see you for your next vacation in Jamaica.

We are always very happy when our guests have enjoyed their stay and give very positive feedback regarding our bungalow and service. We look forward to seeing you on your next vacation in Jamaica

We are always delighted when our guests are happy with our services while staying at our bungalow. We strive to provide quality, safe, comfortable and reasonably priced accommodation to visitors who want sample "The Real Jamaican Experience" that is an independent vacation interacting with local people in a modern housing estate. We really do believe in conducting our services with the highest integrity, that is, what we advertise is what we strive to deliver for your vacation experience. It was a joy having you stay at our bungalow and look forward to seeing you in the near future.

Thank you for taking the time to post your comments about your stay at my bungalow. We are happy that you had the "Real Jamaican Experience" and look forward to seeing you for your next vacation in Jamaica.

We look forward to seeing you on your next vacation in Jamaica

It was a pleasure having your family stay at my property. I am very happy that you all had a great time at the bungalow and in Jamaica. I look forward to seeing you all soon on your next visit to Jamaica

We are very glad that "T" and her guest had an enjoyable stay at our bungalow. Falmouth is an emerging holiday location with the recent Cruise Ship Twin-Pier development and Burwood Public Beach upgrade. The population of Falmouth is expected increase as the Martha Brae River is a major source of fresh water for urban expansion.

We are very happy that J & W had a great time at our bungalow. Thanks for your recommendation, we have now purchased a standing fan to supplement our existing ceiling fan in the living room area. We look forward to your return to our home.

We are happy that Pam & her family had an enjoyable stay at our home & look forward to seeing her family & friends in the future.

We are extremely happy that Anna and her friends had an enjoyable visit to our property. It is our hope to provide overseas and local holidaymakers with an affordable and friendly holiday property where they can sample the "real taste of Jamaica" a "warm" and beautiful place to visit.