SPECTACULAR VIEWS, HILLTOP PRIVACY, LARGE POOL

The above is the more apt description of this house, the owners and agents who manage it, and my experience in renting it. I should have known when I saw (in 3/11) that the availability calender hadn't been updated since 2009 that the owner (an attorney, I believe, but why would that matter) was not very attentive to detail. The initial contract was a price inflated from the advertised price (a "mistake"). Until prompted, she never acknowledged receipt of my deposit; I was never forwarded directions to the house (there is no address), and never forwarded until less than 24 hr. before my arrival the contact number of her on-island agent, and that only when I had to prompt her for it.

Here's the best part, though: the on arrival contact telephone number was completely wrong (all seven digits!). So here I am, with my party of four other adults, w/the wrong number and no address, on the wharf of the ferry pier at dusk on a Sunday evening in this dusty little town. On the other hand, the lessor's number listed in the ad was only available 9-5 on weekdays. Both the agent and the owner, both of whom had my cell number, failed to contact me when I was unable to contact them, upon my arrival. Only the following morning, did they contact me when the weekday telephone number was answered. We on the other hand, thru many requests w/ locals and the car rental agency were able to finally locate the property and track down the keys hidden in the washer shed by 10:30 p.m., five hours after arriving, only to be awakened three hours later by three police cars with lights flashing rumbling up the long drive to the property (no sirens, no one got out just, a 1:30 a.m. visit from the local constabulary for what reason I don't know).

The house is typical island shabby, the linens third-rate, the third bedroom inaccessible (it's really a basement with an outside access, not thru the main house, and when you see some of the tarantula-like spiders that traverse the living areas, a dungeon would be a more accurate), defunct internet access, washer/dryer in an outside shed, police and island waterworks attendants traversing the isolated property at odd, always early hours (yes even the water was off for a few hours inexplicably).

The pool is excellent and the views stunning.

Vieques is beautiful and the locals extraordinarily friendly; don't however be seduced by the blandishments of this place.