Look Elsewhere
Submitted: March 29, 2013
Stayed: January 2013
My wife and I just completed a 75 day in CVA this winter from Jan 6 to Mar 21. I inspected this home last Aug. on a trip to Cozumel for 30 minutes early one afternoon and it seemed fine at first glance but I really wish I would have stayed in the unit for a night or two before finalizing the rental.
First, the street the unit is on is VERY noisy and what I did not know from my brief visit there in August is that this street is a major commuter street for locals. From 7AM to about 9AM it is a continuous roar of loud scooters, motorcycles and cars. It slows a bit during mid day but by 4PM it starts up again going the other way until 6PM. On Friday and Saturday evenings is also bad so sleeping is challenging as the loud noise and speeding vehicles are very annoying.
Second, the two ladies living full time in the unit next door (who were not there while I visited last August) are pleasant but also noisy at times with their surrund sound entertainment system they turn up loud in the evenings with all doors and windows open. On one occasion, I had to tell them to turn it down as we could not sleep which worked for a while but then it got loud again over time. They also run a "massage business" out of the unit so women clients are coming and going during the day on a frequent basis parking infront of the unit and ringing the gate bell. They tend to aggressively shut their doors and screen doors and have a couple of dogs that are nice but bark when out in the front yard area at other dogs.
Third, the unit is advertised with a BBQ grill and hot tub. The hot tub is inoperable and has been for a long time I am told and takes up almost half the patio space. The BBQ grill is a "wheel rim" on three legs with a very small grate so do not plan to BBQ a lot of food at once as it will not fit on the grill.
Fourth, the unit seems to be settling a lot. When we got there we could see were a lot of fresh paint/patching that had been done to the interior stucco by one of the owners in December and when we left the end of March, a lof of new stucco cracks appeared in every room in the home to the point one bedroom door upstairs would not close without hitting the floor. A friend of ours owns a unit in the same complex and confirmed foundation problems with these homes.
Fifth, there was always a musty sour smell coming from the laundry room closet.
We will not be back again as there are simply to many negatives irreguardless of price mainly the traffic noise.
Owner's Response: As owners of Casa Vista Azul since it was built six years ago we take issue with the reviewers comments and feel it is only fair for VRBO customers to hear our side of the story. We believe the reviewers comments are inaccurate and go too far and are simply a case of “sour grapes” because we were not able to rent the property to this person for the same (very reasonable) rate as his previous rental period with us.
Potential renters of Casa Vista Azul should be aware of a few facts:
1.) Our property is fairly new (only six years old) and everything at our property is in good working order (except the hot tub which I will explain in a minute). Not too many places for rent in Cozumel can say that. The cracks in the ceiling the reviewer mentioned are a normal aspect of cinder block construction covered with plaster and paint…that’s how they build houses here in Mexico. The door that doesn't close effortlessly, well, yeah, it doesn't, and it hasn't since the day we bought the house. Its not a deal breaker.
2.) Our ad on the VRBO website has not listed the hot tub as a feature of the property for over a year now, and the reviewer rented the property only after inspecting it and KNEW the tub was inoperative (as well as why we chose not to keep it running for now).
3.) We bent over backwards to make this renter happy before he stayed at our property. He requested a wall safe so we installed one. He asked for a table to have on the top floor Palapa so we bought one. He requested a charcoal BBQ grill so we had one made (handmade locally but apparently not up to this persons' standards). So sorry.
4.) As far as the noisy street the reviewer complained about, well sorry again, this is Cozumel and there are people that live and work on this island and some of them just happen to drive by our house on the way to and from work. We've rented to dozens of people in the past 6 years and never had a complaint. Our ad states the residential area. And the “noisy” neighbors?.....well, we've never had someone complain about our neighbors either (anymore than the guest in a typical hotel). Apparently this renter shouldn't rent property where there are any people around.
I hope that prospective renters will take the reviewers comments for what they are (sour grapes) and look at Casa Vista Azul for what it is: a very nice place to stay on the island of Cozumel for a very affordable rate.
Helpful votes: 1/1
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