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Casa Cielo-DO NOT STAY HERE!
Culebra, Puerto Rico
Author: Samuel Robert (162.96.105.---)
Date:   05-26-10 22:31

Not as advertised! The house is in a state of disrepair. Upon arrival we were greeted by hundreds of mosquitos and crickets throughout the house. The screens in the bedroom, kitchen and living areas were torn in multiple areas resulting in constant bugs during our stay. The screens in the kitchen, bedroom and bathroom were covered with dead bugs and were rusted. We had to patch holes in the screens with paper towels and wash cloths. We spent the first several hours of our trip cleaning floors, the bathroom and kitchen and had to remove dozens of large crickets. The whirlpool was fill of filth and debris and was unusable. The property grounds were unkempt with garbage scattered throughout. The beach equipment including beach chairs and umbrella were old, covered in dirt and barely functional. The shutters in the bedroom were riddled with bugs, rusted out and did not stay open.

After expressing our frustration and disappointment to the owner of the house she accused us of lying and offered no solutions. After asking for a refund she hung up on me and subsequently did not answer or return any of my phone calls. Since we prepaid for the week we were committed to staying despite the disappointment and ended up staying in another hotel on our last night as the mosquito bites we sustained were too numerous to put up with any longer. Since returning the owner has not returned our security deposit and has not responded to repeated attempts at contacting her.

We travel frequently in both austere and developed locations and in all our years of travel have never been treated as rudely as we were at this rental property. This property is not as advertised, is far overpriced and should be avoided at all costs.
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Re: Casa Cielo-DO NOT STAY HERE!
Culebra, Puerto Rico
Author: SunnyBabe (---.stratoserver.net)
Date:   05-27-10 16:44

What a bundle of joy you are. It sounds as if you have never rented a home before. Most people expect to freshen things up to their needs. Sometimes in
St Marten for example, a homeowner hasn't been at their property for awhile and you expect to air it out, tidy up a bit. It seems you are more a hotel type, need some catering and coddling.

Now it just so happens I have stayed at this exact place last year, the owner lives in the states, is elderly, but a very warm and personable woman and very professional in every way. I have two stateside rentals my self and I must say
if you approached me with that attitude I would tune you out too, nobody wants to listen to someone who cannot be satisfied.

What you failed to mention was the location and the house itself, pure escape,
spacious, lovely balcony, and more. I was very pleased

Here is a link to that property, although I booked with a Culebra friend
http://www.cyberrentals.com/rental/p121370

You need to stay at hotels and get a new attitude. I cannot get over the fact that you want no one to ever rent there again, all because you were not pleased. This was not a review. It was a vendetta. I'll bet you were a slob as a child. Something is driving this anger and pettiness.

May be we should have site where we review guests,
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Re: Casa Cielo-DO NOT STAY HERE!
Culebra, Puerto Rico
Author: Arroz (---.att-inc.com)
Date:   05-28-10 10:12

Sunnybabe,

When I went to the url in your posting I see that two of the four posted reviews have similar complaints to those posted here. I fail to understand why, whenever someone posts something negative about Culebra, the original poster gets attacked.
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Re: Casa Cielo-DO NOT STAY HERE!
Culebra, Puerto Rico
Author: SunnyBabe (---.stratoserver.net)
Date:   05-28-10 13:24

"two of the four posted reviews have similar complaints" and
"whenever someone posts something negative about Culebra"

Did you mean to say that there were only two negative postings about Culebra?

I only post when I have time and nothing else to do and I see someone that has taken the opportunity to post a review without any balance. There are "troubled" people in the world who travel and are impossible to please.

They are easy to spot, they are vindictive, petty, unrelenting, unyielding, they see their vacation as an opportunity to vent, be critical, be in charge.

Samuel Robert's use of the word austere was interesting. Was it a simplistic socio-economic description of places he dared to visit and suffered rather well? People and places defined by their relative worth compared to his, but now handily used as proof of his (faux) egalitarianism?

Arrogance pure and simple. Does he really care about the next travelor, how could he, he cared little to give a compliment to anyone or anything in Culebra.
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Re: Casa Cielo-DO NOT STAY HERE!
Culebra, Puerto Rico
Author: Arroz (---.att-inc.com)
Date:   05-28-10 22:23

a) When I said that two of the four, I meant of the four reviews of the guest house posted on the URL to which you referred the original poster

b) I did not mean to be picking on you. It is just that over the years I have been reading the Forum it seems to me that whenever someone has a negative comment about Culebra, be it about a guest house, a restaurant, or litter on the street (for instance), someone seems to jump right in and attack the poster, usually on an ad hominum level, e.g., YOUR expectations were wrong, YOU have never been out of a resort, YOU don't understand laid back Culebra, etc. (I apologize in advance for the caps, I'm not shouting, just wanted to emphasize the personal attack aspect.)
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Re: Casa Cielo-DO NOT STAY HERE!
Culebra, Puerto Rico
Author: SunnyBabe (---.stratoserver.net)
Date:   05-29-10 02:18

I take your point as you intended.
I do think that there is a defensiveness to some posters. I think it is out of a desire to protect Culebra from the everyday hustle and bustle type of tourism. These review boards are a sign of the times and that new "been there, done that" type of tourist that use them.

While interesting, they are way out of balance in the sense that a vicious review tends to stand out and hardly presents a business fairly. As I said there are "troubled" people who travel too. In the case of Samuel Robert above, it is clear
in his tone that the only thing he thought was important was his displeasure. Did he take time to tell us about the other guest house, where he ate? He is such a complainer that I assume if we didn't hear about it, it was OK. Which brings me back to my point on balance.

Back to Culebra, the Island is full of little Guest Houses and residences that
rely on tourism, these are not all well-heeled owners or large asset Corporations that can sustain an unfair hit and re-energize their advertising or public relations. Most of these complaints should be settled privately.

A complaint to the tourism office or health department should be enough for most people, but a post titled "DO NOT STAY .." is trying to get even and punish way beyond reasonable compensation.

I'm serious, maybe there should be a bureau of whiners and complainers, not to be vindictive, but for the little operator to avoid potential problems with these
"troubled" tourists who want to annihilate a business if something does not please them.

A few years ago, there was a series of posts that attacked a couple who ran a Guest House in Culebra, it was nasty and vindictive. I eventually met the couple, they are absolutely the nicest fun loving couple you would ever want to meet. They get high ratings all the time for personal service. For awhile the posts were so vicious they thought of leaving the Island, now they are one of the most popular hosts on the Island. (For you Culebra lovers its J&M)
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