A mixed bag of impressions.
The location was amazing, very central yet not noisy at all. Walking distance to the beautiful little shops, cafes and restaurants in picturesque Santanyi. The house is spacious which is great for a bigger group as there is plenty of space to spread out. The pool area is beautiful and the house has a lot of charm.
On the not so positive note: the property is rather run down and would need an upgrade. From broken locks on the bathrooms to stained pillows and mattresses for the pool area to more expensive upgrades such as the plumbing and the electricity. Many electricity outlets either didn't work or required that you found just the right angle to be able to charge anything. There was very poor water pressure overall, two people could not shower at the same time or you end up with a hair full of shampoo and no water at all. Even if you were the only one showering it was very weak water pressure. The dishwasher didn't work for almost half our stay which when you are a big group eating several meals at the house is a bit of an issue. Also there is no way to actually lock the property so during the night or if you are away anyone can enter the premises.
The main issue we had however was communication which became tiresome. It was always friendly but either too much communication, too little communication or miscommunication. Some examples:
- Too much communication: I was asked 3-4 times when our flight was departing and reminded that we needed to check out at 10. It should be enough to give information once and instead of sending a string of messages, the host could send one the day before check-out and remind of the check-out procedure.
- Too little information: on the day of arrival at 9 PM all of a sudden two strangers appeared in the courtyard, they didn't speak any English and we had no idea how they entered the house as we thought we had locked it (turned out it's not possible to lock the garage door and from there you can enter the whole house). They were there to check out the dishwasher which apparently was broken. It would have been great to get a heads up about that. Also when I asked for a lock for the garage door I was told that I would get one but it never came (we in the meanwhile found a way to jam the door with the help of an old rake). If the host changed their mind let us know otherwise I would expect agreed decisions to be honored.
- Miscommunication: I booked a cleaning mid-way months before arriving to the house. the week before I asked when the cleaners would arrive and was asked back who I booked the cleaners with. You, was my answer. They found then the booking and confirmed they would arrive. The day before the cleaning I specifically asked if the cleaners needed the key to get in and was told no. On the day of the cleaning I got a call as we just arrived in Palma telling me that actually the cleaners needed the key and I was asked how I could get a key to them. My answer was that I couldn't as we were now gone for the evening. I then asked that they give the cleaners the key the originally should have gotten. We arrived back in the evening and someone had been there but the cleaning was so subpar that it was virtually nonexistent. The host recognized this however and apologised, so far they have not tried to charge us for the cleaning. Another example of miscommunication was the payment of the tourist tax (which I was also reminded of time upon time), first it was 107.80 Euro and then the day before departure I'm informed it was 169.40. When I showed the message clearly stating 107.80 they corrected it. I don't even think it was done on purpose but another example of very confusing communication. i always had to double check everything I was told which is cumbersome and not really putting you in a holiday spirit.
Overall we still had a great time which is why I give 4 stars. We decided to not let the strange communication and the hick-ups in the house impact our family vacation and the house does have a lot of positive elements to it. I would recommend to keep better records of the information guests provide so you don't need to ask time upon time for the same info and also make sure you are up to date with what has been agreed on. I would also repair at least the obvious minor things in the house. then it would be a 5-star experience.