Beautiful 2-bedroom villa with private pool in a peaceful setting

Dear Debbie. Thanks so much for your glowing review, and for the shout out to the excellent staff in Phuket - I will be sure to pass it on to them. Thanks for being an excellent guest and I’m really happy you had such a nice time at the villa. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch (and ask for a loyalty discount ;-)). Fergus.

Thanks for your review Paul. It was a pleasure having you stay at Villa Lombok. You are making me miss the bath-like swimming pool! Thanks for the tip on the tiles and slabs - will speak to the team about addressing this. Do let me know if you might be in the area again for a returner’s discount :-). All the best. Fergus.

I’m disappointed to read this review from Markus, given how we ended things on what I thought was a positive note. I will also be looking to get this review removed based on its inaccuracy/unfairness. Starting with what is true: Exceptional rainfall hit Phuket in September 2024. Villa Lombok was holding up relatively well until the day before Markus’ arrival when the pool flooded the surrounding outdoor area. Some renovation work was being done on the paving around the pool at the time and the grout ended up in the pool, discolouring the water. Admittedly, the outside area was not in acceptable condition on the first day. Of course, I and the team locally offered our apologies, hinted at compensation and offered a move to another villa in the group very close by for the first 2-4 days, while Villa Lombok could be restored from the floods. My understanding was that Markus was taking us up on this relocation. At that time, he asked me for a refund and suggested an amount of €600. He then decided not to stay in the alternative accommodation and instead booked an expensive hotel. I felt that the €600 refund wasn’t enough and so offered him half the cost (my takings after fees) back - €950. He gratefully accepted. We wished each other well over WhatsApp. The experience with Markus was rather interesting from the point of booking but I won’t go into that here and now. The fact that 1) the floods were an act of god, 2) the villa could have been recovered in a few days (he was staying for weeks), 3) alternative accommodation was provided, 4) he booked a hotel without first informing us and 5) I gave him almost 50% MORE compensation than he even asked for means that, in my opinion, the 1* rating is uncalled for and unfair. Since Markus has no right of reply here and you, dear reader/potential guest won’t know whether to take my word for it, I am pasting below my communications with Markus exactly as they appear on email and WhatsApp: After arrival Email MARKUS: “Dear fergus, dear david (local villa team) First of all... Thank you for your and team quick and uncomplicated help today... We really like your resort.. So first... this 3 room Villa is to big... but please make me a offer so long its possible... Second... after that we would like to rent the honeymoon loft ... till we left to bangkok... at the 10 Oktober... Third... please make me a offer for total price... maybe Mr. Fergus will give for all that a Refound about 600 Euro... I am very pleased about your offer and that you can clarify this with Fergus Best regards Markus” —— WhatsApp MARKUS: “Dear fergus, Please excuse our decisions but this has affected us so much today that we no longer want to go back to your villa... i hope for your understanding... i hope a Refound of 600 euro is ok for you... was a really long day... warm regards to you and London... best Markus” FERGUS: “Hi Markus. I apologise again for the poor start to your holiday. I really wasn’t expecting there to be any problems at the villa and it’s the first time a guest has ever needed to move to another one. I’m glad David and Marc are there to sort this out for you. I hope you will be very happy with the resolution. I haven’t seen David’s offer to you but if you are happy to agree something with them then I am happy to refund you 600 Euros, no problem. Please just let me know once all is sorted out and I will happily refund that amount to you straight away. Thanks, Fergus” FERGUS: “Hello Markus. I hope you are comfortable now in your new accommodation. I see you chose not to stay in one of the other villas in the end. Are you sure you are happy to _only_ receive a 600 Euro refund? I think the Villa could have been made nice for you in a few days if you had been happy to return. But I completely understand your decision and will return more of your money if that would put you at ease. It’s very important to me that my guests are happy and I’ve really never had any problems like you experienced in 14 years of rentals.” MARKUS: Hello Fergus, I think it was the right decision not to go back there because it rains constantly. Another villa would also not be a good decision as many will have the problem with flooding at the moment. Thank you for your offer that you would like to return me more than 600 €. Just give me as much money back as you think is appropriate. Just give me as much money back as you think is appropriate. I hope for your sake that the damage to your house from all the water isn't too bad. I wish you and your family all the best. Warm regards Markus FERGUS: Hi Markus. I have returned half the money. (Half of what I received for the booking). Should be around €950 although I’m not sure what fees may be taken by Vrbo. Wish you all the best too. Fergus MARKUS: Hi fergus, Thank you so much... Greetings Markus 👍🙏👍

Hello Robert. Once again, I'm extremely sorry for the technical error and calendar mix up between my VRBO records and the booking records for the local villa management team who also advertise elsewhere. It shouldn't have happened and I was only made aware of it when I contacted you. I have been renting my villa for 15 years and this is the first time such an error has occurred. I will put in place additional checks in the future to ensure it never happens to a guest again. The delay in response was regrettable but since you were in Krabi and I was in London, sometimes it was unavoidable. I did put you in direct communication with the manager of the local team and I know they did the best they could. Unfortunately all the other villas they manage in the South were also booked up at that late stage. It was a perfect storm that you were unwittingly caught up in. As you stated, I took care of the additional cost (which was almost the same as your booking with me again, so I lost all the income of your booking plus about £700 from my own pocket. I hope you accept that this was the best I could do and the alternative of insisting on refunding your trip would have saved me £700 but put you in a worse position. I had hoped you might spare me the 1* for that but, equally, I understand it. Of course, I don't expect you to try to rebook in the future for the 'dream stay' you hoped for. But, in case you do, I'll triple check availability and ensure you get the best price. All the best.

Hi Aaron & Kat. Thanks a lot for your great review and I'm really pleased you had such a nice time at the villa. I'll pass on your feedback to the Easy Home guys as well. Hope to hear from you again in the future. All the best Fergus

Thanks for the feedback Paul. Glad you had such a good time.