The apartment itself was lovely - light, clean and spacious. The outside area was a real highlight. The pool is shared with two other apartments, but as it sits on a lower level from the ground floor, with multiple outside dining areas, we all still felt like we had our own space. The surrounding area is generally really quiet as it is residential - with the exception of a few barking dogs at night and roosters in the morning.
Hiring a car to get around is a must. The closest shop (SPAR), bars, restaurants and beach are a 20 min walk, but everything else (larger supermarkets, the centre of Santanyi and other beaches) are all approx a 10 min drive away. The local coves are beyond beautiful and, despite being a bit further out from the main resort area, this was a great base for all our exploring.
Unfortunately we were pretty let down by the check-in experience. The day before our arrival we were told that a new kitchen was being fitted and wouldn't be ready til 6pm. We were given no actual check-in instructions prior to our arrival, including which apartment entrance was ours. As there were builders and a cleaner inside when we arrived, we managed to get into the open house and drop our things whilst we waited. The welcome papers in the living room were in German only so we were unable to take any information from them.
We were given a link to check-in via Whatsapp and other house info 1 hour after our arrival. Upon completion of the online check-in, an email was automatically sent to me with a code to access the lockbox outside the front of the gate. Because we weren't aware of this process, before seeing the email I asked how to collect the keys, but didn't get a reply until 9pm. Luckily we found the email pretty quickly - but think this could've all been made clear to us from the beginning.
Whilst waiting for the builders and cleaner to finish up, we walked around the local area trying to find a cash machine to pay for the tourist tax as instructed for our arrival, not knowing that we'd just be sent a Paypal link to pay for it instead the next morning.
When we got back the kitchen work still wasn't complete, and we were told that the builders would need to come back on Monday to finish up. We had no choice but to eat out that evening as the kitchen/dining area was out of use whilst the cleaner put everything away and cleaned. As we were getting ready builders were still walking past our rooms and the cleaner was hoovering until approx 8pm. We were also left with no running water in the kitchen that evening.
The next morning the flush also broke. This didn't get fixed until 2 days later (the only toilet being shared between 4 people.....) It was on this fourth day that the builders also returned to finish off the kitchen.
For all the disruption we encountered, we received a refund of £20 each, which just about covered the first meal out. We didn't think this was a fair compensation and thought it was extremely cheeky that the owner was carrying out refurbishments during peak season when we were paying for full use and privacy within the apartment.
As the apartment is hosted through an agency, the experience felt generally less personable than communicating directly with a host. Everything felt more like a business transaction and asking for help felt like we were being an annoyance. This also put us at a bit of a disadvantage when requesting compensation as the host just being the middle man, could only apologise
on behalf of the owner with no direct responsibility or authority.
This disappointing experience was of course quite specific to our situation, so I'm sure for others - who require minimal assistance from the host - this would be a pleasant stay. My advice to the host for future guests would be to reach out with clear check-in instructions before their arrival to make the experience smoother