Overseeproperty Reviews 41

We booked our villa through HomeAway (Property ID 8146948) and I am so glad that we did as we had a very difficult time with the villa owners. It was only due to the excellent support of HomeAway that we didn’t feel that we were left high and dry.

The villa owners are Felix and Lisa Moakler of Oversee Property. They own another property and manage several others, so if you see a property managed by Lisa – it could be these people!

On arrival at the dirt track which leads to Villa Jara AKA Keryneias, the taxi driver was reluctant to proceed due to the major curb/ramp. He was very worried about damaging his car and wanted us to walk – he took some persuading and was not at all happy when, after navigating the track, his spoiler was damaged. There are no warnings as to the potential risk and if you were to damage your hire car, you would be liable.

We arrived at the villa at the end of a dirt track and it was pitch black. No exterior lighting was available to be activated externally, and we struggled to locate the key box as we only had our phone torches.

At this point, we discovered we had been given an incorrect code for the key box by the owners due to sloppy administration. At this point we were really concerned that the whole thing was a scam because when we called the owner’s emergency number to report that we were unable to enter the villa, despite making 8 phone calls and sending one text, we were unable to reach the owner.

We were about to leave the villa and seek alternative accommodation when, after 45 minutes and on our 9th attempt, Felix answered the telephone. He seemed almost disbelieving that Lisa could have sent us an incorrect code but finally accepted it and gave us the correct code.

We entered the villa and found a welcome note. Handwritten on the bottom was a note from Felix saying that the hot tub was out of action, as he was waiting for a pump. We had actively sought out a villa with a hot tub as we have one at home and wanted to replicate the experience – naturally we were extremely disappointed.

We were further disappointed and somewhat alarmed that despite the listing claiming that the villa has a safe, it doesn’t. We requested a key for a lockable cupboard and this request was continuously ignored.

On arrival the patio doors were unlocked, as was one of the lower ground windows – despite the warning in the welcome note stating specifically not to do this.

We went to the kitchen to be greeted with an infestation of ants. In our experience, ants do not come without invitation and in this case, we finally located it, after watching their route. One of the higher cupboards was crammed full of half eaten food ranging from open packets of crisps, breadsticks, peanuts and cereal. We cleaned out the cupboards, leaving only sealed food, and the problem disappeared.

In the morning (Saturday) we tried to take a shower however both showers were so furred up with limescale that there was only around 15% of the water coming out. We reported this to the owner and on the Monday, Felix arrived and descaled them. This resulted in about 30% performance – it was better, but really not great.

The owner also informed us during his visit that the hot tub actually required 3 pumps and said that with Cyprus being Cyprus, he wasn’t sure when they would arrive.

By now the 12hr window had expired in which we could have sought alternative accommodation and we were very unhappy because of the above and also due to the following points:

Both shower drains were full of hair and sludge and we had to clean them out during our initial shower, in order to prevent the shower trays from filling up.

The en-suite bathroom had a smell of blocked drains and four cockroaches visited during our stay.

The en-suite toilet seat was stained.

The master bedroom is spacious but needs some tlc. I was fast asleep one night when a load of plaster fell off the wall and landed on my head.

The main bathroom has mould on the ceiling.

The exterior of the villa is tired. There is mould by the pool (strategically hidden by a plant pot in the marketing material).

The side of the villa which leads to the hot tub is strewn with rubbish, including a wheelbarrow, tiles, boxes and broken equipment.

The pool filter lid located by the pool steps is warped and raising.

The tiles are incredibly slippy and the pool is definitely not suitable for young children. The slippy roman steps drop dramatically after the third step and there is no warning of this.

The BBQ is an old tin creation and is not gas as stated in the literature.

The satellite system comes without instructions.

The remote control was without batteries.

The ice machine is inoperable.

There are loads of DVDs but no player and judging by the cobwebs surrounding the DVDs on the mantelpiece, there hasn’t been for some time.

The villa is located next to a busy road and you can hear the traffic very clearly at all hours.

There is very limited sunbathing area in the morning and in the afternoon if you wish to capture the sun you have to lie on the raised area and your view is of a wall.

The view from the patio doors is of a bush.

There is not a lovely green lawn to the rear – it is more of a barren wasteland with flat airbeds and pallets discarded in the bushes.

The villa has more of sea ‘glimpse’ than a sea view due to the unruly vegetation at the bottom of the garden.

We pursued the hot tub repair and the lack of a safe with the owners via the HomeAway website and via text to the emergency number. The website communication was ignored but Felix did reply to our text to offer a meal out and our return to the airport by way of an apology.

We accepted this on a goodwill basis however when we arrived at the restaurant, no reservation existed.

I wished to speak with HomeAway as we were seriously fed up by this point however, I could not access my booking. HomeAway confirmed to me that the reason for this was that the owner had accessed the booking and amended my email address to one of their own. This would prevent me from accessing any of the details or leaving a review. HomeAway restored my email address and I retrieved my booking and have subsequently left a review. I am not sure if this has compromised my password and my credit card details but it is deceit of the highest level.

On our last day, the gardeners arrived at 0830hrs and started strimming hedges front and back and leaf blowing. This curbed our use of the garden and we had no notice that they would be arriving.

Upon our departure we were not collected as promised by the owner and had to utilise Coral Bay Taxis. The driver could not locate the villa as it is not on the “prestigious Keryneias Road” as described in the literature, it is in fact on a dirt track that runs parallel. The driver eventually located the villa but again was reluctant to attempt the track due to the curb/ramp.

In the welcome note, you are encouraged by the owners to book direct in order to avoid the 10% commission charged by HomeAway. I strongly suggest you do not do this as you will be on your own. In fact, my honest advice would be to avoid these people at all costs.

I have written and photographic proof of every aspect that I have detailed.