THE WORST RENTAL I HAVE EVER HADI rented a condo in Playacar, a development near Playa del Carmen, Mexico, for January, 2016. I even traveled to Playa for 2 days to look at condos in October, 2015. On the surface, this looked like a very nice rental. It was in a nice area .. a little far from town and the beach .. but there was parking and it seemed secure. I agreed to the rental price of $3000 for the month. Little did I know ...
I arrived late on Saturday night, January 2. The check-in was right in the middle of Playa del Carmen, a 24-hour place, and there was no parking for blocks all around. I had to walk in the dark to the check-in point. Once there, I was given keys, some toiletries, and a map to the Playacar entrance, but no directions to the condo itself. The person with whom I checked in said he did not know where it was and that I should ask the gate guard. I had no choice but to hope that I could find it, especially given that by now it was 10:00 p.m.
I did eventually find it (by total accident and not a little luck). When I arrived I had to get the guards in the gate house and lobby .. who are nice but speak no English .. to help me find the parking because I had no instructions about that either.
When we arrived, we found that we had been given the wrong information for the wifi. That meant that the girls traveling with me could not message their parents that they had arrived safely.
WEEK 1 After collapsing into our beds (which are quite hard and very uncomfortable) we tried to recover from the ordeal of getting here. I arose the next morning, walked out of my bedroom, and into 3 inches of water all over the floor. The hot water heater had given out. While the Bric staff was responsive to the emergency, it was nevertheless a serious, and messy, issue. They could not do anything about replacing the heater until Monday. They cleaned up the mess but since the water was still dripping they left buckets to catch the water. Unfortunately, they left us to deal with the buckets and they soon overflowed so we still had a mess.
We also discovered that they had left us next to nothing in the way of supplies -- one trash bag, very little toilet paper, and no salt, pepper, or other spices, no oil or cooking supplies. None of the kinds of things you would ordinarily buy once every three to six months at home. I had to buy all of those things for the few meals I would cook in the condo. The sliding glass door did not lock and that the hot tub was dirty and not filled. When we got the instructions on how to fill the tub, it was more difficult to use than it was worth. We were not been given anything for the windshield of the car to identify us as residents; that meant that we always had to go through the visitors gate and explain to the guard that we were renting a condo.
Nevertheless, I thought that the worst was over and I would have a wonderful month in Mexico. I was so wrong ...
WEEK 2 We came home from sightseeing one night to find another car in our parking space; it even had a cover over it, as if it was settled for a long time. I got the guard to take a look and he said he would take care of it. I thought that meant it would be towed but apparently it meant nothing at all. I parked in a visitor's parking space (thank goodness there was one!) and contacted our concierge. When he got back to me it turned out to be the owner's car! He said the car would not be moved for three days and so we had to park in the visitor's space until then. Fortunately, the car was moved in two days but having it there at all was not acceptable because the visitor space was far from our condo.
Then .. THE WIFI WENT OUT. Now, those of you who know me will know that this is the most serious thing that could happen, and I make no apologies for that. I have a business online (www.seniortourist.us) and I do many other things on the Internet. It was out for FIVE days. There was service in the Business Center, and that is what we used, but that was terribly inconvenient.
WEEK 3 I got up in the middle of the night tonight to use the facilities and discovered that we have no water. Now, I don't mean the purified water provided for us to drink .. I mean tap water for showering, flushing, doing dishes and laundry. There is none .. nada .. nil. I have been awake for an hour writing this and it has not come back.
WEEK 4There won't be one. I have had it with this condo. I will be leaving early .. on Wednesday. I will not use Bric Rental again and I cannot recommend them to anyone. I will be asking for some kind of compensation for all our troubles; I will report again as to whether or not they provide some refund.
Final Report --
Not only did Bric Rental refuse any refund, they stopped responding to my inquiries at all. This incredibly rude and poor business behavior is not acceptable. I cannot recommend this company at all.
The only person helpful in all of this was Isaac, our concierge, and he was wonderful. read more