Catalina Island was unique and charming. The Hamilton Cove Villas were stunningly beautiful on the hillside, and offered a wonderful ocean view with a pool and other amenities such as a workout room, croquet lawn and tennis courts. We really liked the layout of the 2-bedroom, 2-bath condo with spacious rooms and a well-stocked kitchen. Blake was responsive to our questions, even giving us a recommendation about a church to attend on Sunday.
We had 2 disappointments:
1.	Although we paid $2,177.37 for 2 nights ($1,088.66/night) for the condo, we did not have air conditioning. The first day the high was 88 and the next 2 days the high was 93 and 97. In the US, one expects AC when you pay that rate for a luxury condo in a climate that has these temperatures. While it did cool down into the upper 60s/low 70s at night, that was not sufficient to cool the unit to a comfortable sleeping temperature. Particularly problematic was the fact that there were no screens on any of the windows or doors, and there were hornets and bumble bees on the outside patio, so one could not keep the doors and windows open for any period of time because of the insects. Also, the ceiling fan in the smaller bedroom had a continuous clicking and buzzing sound that made it impossible to run at night when trying to sleep. The fan should be fixed, and the condo should have screens. Certainly the description should clearly state that there is no AC, as the default expected is AC, and this is highly misleading to the consumer.
2.	There were ants in the condo when we arrived on the countertops of both bathrooms and the kitchen. We were told that this was a problem in the city and that there was insect spray and gloves in the laundry we could use. We did not want to spray pesticide on areas where we were eating, brushing our teeth, and dressing. That should not be our job as the renters in a luxury unit, paying almost $1,100/night. The only way we could somewhat control the ants was to put everything, including makeup, toothpaste and all food and drinks—even if we did not want to refrigerate it—in the refrigerator. It was an inconvenience and a continuous, unpleasant problem. We even had ants in the master bed under the sheets that had to be removed.
This condo has the potential to be a lovely retreat, but it did not live up to its potential with us. We are asking for a refund of 20% of what we paid for the misleading description and quality well-below the luxury unit that it was stated to be.