The property is as appears in the VRBO listing but, as a previous reviewer mentioned, shows a lot of wear. There is no potable water and after check in, was warned it could get me sick. A previous guest had shoved plastic bags in loose window frames, I’m guessing to keep water out. Many windows weren’t working and the glass door to the deck was inoperable. Sugar ants, common in the tropics, made cooking challenging and I recommend storing ALL FOOD AND ANYTHING WITH FRAGRANCE in the refrigerator. While the house is well furnished, some things, like the couch, are near the end of their lifespans. Clean, functional, but sagging and uncomfortable. A/C units, TV, and wifi worked well. Experienced two daytime power outages in one 5 day period—-not the fault of the owner but would make any remote worker’s day challenging.
The view and neighborhood were nice. There’s a cute beach within a 20 minute walk (most beach is private in this area). If you’re coming to get away from it all and are cool with a part house rental/part camping bargain, this is a great place. If you need to remote work or need safe, reliable drinking water, no.
When things didn’t work, like windows, the manager was helpful and sent maintenance staff. However, is was disconcerting that anytime I brought up a challenge (like arriving to find many windows open and unsure how to close and lock them) I was asked, “Well, what did you do???” With so many repairs that needed a little TLC, I decided it was better to not raise the with the owner/manager.
I was frustrating to arrive at night and not have a bottle of water to drink—and learn from a note on the wall the tap water wasn’t safe to drink. The water cooler had been left unplugged and the remaining water in the base smelled unsafe to drink, with a bug floating in it. I spent a fair amount of money buying water every day—an expense that the listing didn’t make clear and the host didn’t point out when I said this was my first visit to the island.
Instead, I left five days into a monthlong stay. Unable to find another place on the island within budget, I left the island. I didn’t feel like, based on prior engagements with the host, like it would be a kind conversation talking about the challenges with the house.
To be fair, I don’t think they typically house remote workers. If you’re just going to the beach every day, eating out at a lot, and budget for water, this place could be a good fit.
