Disappointing stay at Casa Valerie, P.Vallarta

[ghadirr]

Unfortunately, I have to pass on a disappointing trip recently to this equisite villa in P.Vallarta. What's worse, is that Luxury Link (LL), despite three reminders, have done nothing about it.

I guess their comission is more importtant than my goodwill.

The good bits:

vThe location,is afab perch atop an incredible bluff. The rooms too were craftfully appointed, massive and very comfortable, as were the beds?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" />

vThe gem, of the housekeeping staff, was Maria, Luis wife, who went about her business with quiet, meticulous efficiency. The rooms were kept to a high standard of cleanliness and order.

v Catering was of an above-average standard, with special praise for starters. They were varied,healthy and filling. The soups were great &desserts first class. Mains were good, but see comment below. We assumed honesty, and as such didnt reconcile shopping receipts with him (paid about US$1200 for food for the week 2 lunches we dined out).

vHouseman, Luis was always charming, attentive and usually present. He was reactive,.

vSky TV in every room is a fantastic boon for CV, Also, each room having a dvd player is great.

Bad

In general, when one is asked to pay a gratuity of [almost] 15%, one expects near Four Seasons service. I dread to think of the expectations levels for a full villa (10 guests at $200ea), as this becomes 21%!

As a family were fortunate enough to travel 5 star around, and other than the ?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" />US, this gratuity (15%) is above anywhere weve been on any continent. To be asked to pay in advance was, in hindsight, wrong, but a condition we accepted in good faith giventhe villa'srelationship with LL. We understood that the previous house man was keeping the lion's share!

The main gripe was the hygiene levels in the kitchen, larder (pantry?) and fridge. On self-catering day, my wife was horrified to see the grime, & filth on the counter tops, inside the cupboards and drawers, and around the foodstuffs (mayo isnt even refrigerated). In the fridge, food was sitting unwrapped; and different categories were stored atop one another (ie cheese next to chicken slices).

Chef's main courses often repeated . We had the same accompaniments almost every meal: meat/fish withrice draped with fried peppers & carrots.

The staff would leave [for home] every night without clearing the dining table, leaving [empty] glasses, napkins and side plates there before departing at about 8.15pm

The clarity of the pool water deteriorated at a steep rate as the week progressed. We did have a couple of overnight rainfalls, but that shouldnt stop the chemistry. Again, I refer you back to the advance gratuity. In fact we were reluctant to let the kids in on the last 2 days.

I think its incumbent upon the either LL or CV to notify intending guests of the construction going on at the adjacent block (even at a discounted auction rate). Other than Sunday, the peacefulness is totally spoiled by the noise of the project.





Paying nearly US$12k for a week anywhere I would expect 5* service and amenities. Whilst the bricks and mortar element is unquestionably stunning (and perhaps more, save for the effeteness of Casa Valerie), the service falls well below the US$ prices.

I guess the real slug is LL customer service dept not even following up on my complaints (6 weeks now!). Shame, as it was my first experience with this company, & had hoped to use them time & time again.

[omegaet]

ghadirr...have you sent a note to Valerie Neblett at www.casavalerie.com informing her of your disappointment? Have you detailed your level of dissatisfaction with one of the LL_Moderators at LuxuryLink? What do you feel LuxuryLink should do to correct the situation? Should Casa Valerie be dropped from LuxuryLink?

[LL_Customer_Service]

Just to clarify, when a LL Moderator sees a Customer Service issue in the Community Forum,
they will forward to Luxury Link Customer Service Department.
Luxury Link Customer Service Department will then be in direct contact with the customer to assist in resolving the issue.
Senior Management has been in communication with ghadirr to resolve this issue.
Luxury Link
does all possible to work with all parties to come a mutual resolution.
In the unlikely event
Luxury Link is unable to come to agreement with one of its travel providers, will it then be removed from the web site.
Depending on the circumstance, one complaint does not constitute removal from the Luxury Link web site.





For prompt attention to Customer Service issues, please send an email to:
[email protected].





Thank you.

LL Customer Service

[omegaet]

LL_Moderators....great decision!

[[email protected]]

LL Community-

I was a member of a four couples stay at Casa Valarie in late March. Nearly silent construction was occurring on either side of the villa......NOT affecting one of the most spectacular views of the Bay of Banderras that one could imagine.

The complaint about the kitchen is valid in that it is the only part of the Villa that seems to have been allowed to age....loose drawers,etc. We felt the other issues are all cultural (I saw no warm Mayo!)

The staff was fabulous and the chef prepared EXACTLY WHAT WE ASKED FOR EVERY NIGHT!!!!!!

Interestingly enough--if you read the entire thread- he trained at the Four Seasons Punta Mita. I wonder if we were the only guests who enjoyed his wonderful personnality!

We loved our stay.

[angenj]

We were married at Casa Valerie 2 years ago. Our friends and guest were in awe at the beautiful views, we still feel we couldn't have made a better choice in location. We visited the villa months prior to the wedding to make sure the pictures matched the location. We did notice the outdated kitchen but were assured that the stove and microwave would be replaced by the wedding and drawers fixed. The walls, planters and floors were dirty from the rain but once our time to return came, the villa looked absolutely beautiful.

The stove, microwave and TV were not all fully functioning but we figured oh well, weren't there to cook and watch TV. The kitchen was clean, just outdated and in need of many repairs. There were DVD players in each room so we kept occupied with movies. The service was unforgettable.

The chef did request cash upfront to prepare the meals that we requested. Twice we didn't have the cash in hand and he gladly covered the grocery run until we settled at the end of the week. We did share the home with 4 couples so we were all well prepared for the $200 a couple service tip. The staff worked hard running food, drinks, even a high chair up and down 5 flights of stairs daily. We traveled with 3 toddlers and daily our clothes were washed and waiting for us neatly folded on our bed. She would even iron my outfit for the day when requested. The tip was on the high end but we all felt how hard the crew worked for us and it was well deserved.

[michael_choe_ll]

more information and guest reviews posted on their page:

http://www.luxurylink.com/luxury-hot...tml?pid=110076

[jmbklj]

I stayed at Casa Valerie 2/09. I would not go back or recommend it. You will notice it is no longer offered on LL.

[paularec]

i too stayed at cv w/ somegood and some bad. but it is back on LL now with significant price increase! wonder what improvements to justify? i was there 10/09..........

[brendarivera]

I spent a long four day weekend with my husband and four other friends to celebrate my birthday and our wedding anniversary. Casa Valeria was the perfect fit! We loved everything about it, especially the pool, views and the entertainment area and outdoor dining.

Everyone that joined us love to cook so we all brought food and each person chose a meal to sponsor. The kitchen was CLEAN and well appointed. We lacked for nothing and the gas pro BBQ was an added bonus. The staff was great and everything was perfect.
We spent a few evenings watching movies and having wine and left overs, chit chatting and play cards- before a late night dip in the pool under the stars.

We stayed November 2010

I cannot say enough about Casa Valerie. We wish we would have had at least a week to spend there but the time we did spend there was memorable, unique and worth every Peso! Also this would be a GREAT villa for a wedding, a big group or a family get away!