“We booked a villa in Lanzarote for a week. Prior to arriving to the villa we went to a supermarket to buy some food. When we arrived, we noticed there was a hire car parked on the driveway and the code we were given for the key box was wrong. We managed to work out what the code was but there was no key inside. As it was Sunday afternoon, we called the customer service line and got through to the India team. We explained the situation and they said they will call us back. After a while they called back and said the local Spanish team will contact us. Again after a while the Spanish team contacted us but they were unable to explain what was going on and why we couldn't get in the villa. Then they said they will contact the maintenance guy- we thought he would be able to let us in but when he finally called us he said the previous guests extended their stay for an extra night. He said he spoke to James Villa multiple times to remind them that we were booked in that villa and they will have to sort something out for us. So they knew the whole time! We got this information after sitting on the driveway for over 2 hours. It was getting dark and late and the food we bought was going bad. We then proceeded to call the India team again to find out why they didn't tell us straight away that the villa was double booked and why they didn't contact us in advance. They said we should book a hotel room for that night. There was no apology or attempt to fix the issue on their end. Awful customer service. They should have been the ones sorting out the temporary accommodation for us instead of leaving us to do it all ourselves. We tried to go to the nearest hotel but as it was last minute they were fully booked and turned us away. We then received a phone call from the Spanish team who wanted to know if the maintenance guy contacted us. We explained what he told us about the double booking. As you can imagine we were extremely unhappy and stressed out at this point. The Spanish team found out that the villa directly next door to the one we booked was empty and we could stay in there for the night. We were relieved that we had somewhere to stay however we lost at least €40 worth of food and spent 2 hours on the street stressed out. And to top it all off the door to the villa next door was unlocked the whole time, the door lock was broken so the door wouldn't lock. We spent the whole night worrying that someone could easily break in. We were able to move into the villa we originally booked the following afternoon but the only "apology" we got from James Villa was "Sorry for the confusion." This was pure neglect from them and not a confusion! The cherry on top was when a pool cleaning man appeared out of nowhere and poked his head over the fence to find out if he can come in and clean the pool. The reason we picked this villa was because it was very private. I was sunbathing topless and as I didn't expect a stranger to show up, it really frightened me and I felt uneasy for the rest of the stay. We will not be using James Villa again and definitely do not recommend unless you want your holiday ruined.”
“Upon arrival the provided key code was incorrect. Once we had figured it out there was no key in the box. Rang customer services who passed us to the "local team" (3rd party management company), the "local team" gave us the phone number of the caretaker who told us that the current occupants had extended their stay by a day, and he had told them multiple times and had been informed it was solved and we had been relocated (we hadn't obviously).
I then had to go back to James villas customer support, who told us to book a hotel and they will reimburse us. We went to a nearby hotel and were sent away, when the "local team" rang and told us that the villa next door had been empty the entire time and asked us to go there. All in all it was 2.5h of sitting/walking in 30° heat after spending the entire day travelling by the time we got in. Then the following day we elected to move back to the originally booked villa as it was much more private and that's why we booked.
During the course of our time there the pool cleaner visited twice, both times just walking around without knocking on the door which really took away from any privacy we felt we had, putting a real downer on combined with the issues we had during our entry.
The villa itself was lovely, well appointed and very private and comfortable as expected, but James villas management and customer service leaves a lot to be desired, and we certainly won't be coming back to them.”
“Villa Achileas Chrystalia. Latchi,
No sign posting. Property down unmade roads. We were assured that the villa was sign posted.
Property not clean. Gruesome under beds and sofas.
Stuffing coming out of sofas.
Poorly equipped kitchen.
No baking trays, dirty frying pans, only one shelf in oven, no toaster or grill pan, a very dirty sandwich toaster.
Disgusting drawer under cooker with instructions for who knows. I wouldn’t have put my hand in to find out.
Dangerous electrics. Bedside lamps without bulbs, wrong plugs, and plugs loosely held together with tape.
Rusty bbq.
No hot water in the kitchen and although the owner showed us how to work the tap, the process took six minutes.
Downstairs hand basin leaking badly. If it had been cleaned the cleaner would have noticed. Owner did rectify this halfway through the holiday.
Bedrooms were advertised as having balconies. No furniture on the balconies though so standing only.
Supposed to be three umbrellas for shade around the pool. Only two, one of which was held up by a broom handle.
Customer service was disappointing. Basically told to sort the issues out ourselves.”
“Villa Alisa (Francia) - Puerto Del Carmen
* Villa electrics are dangerous! - Electrics throughout this villa require inspecting and maintenance
Bedroom lamp black power cable dangerous - crackling/ arcing sound - light turns on and off with slight touch of the black mains cable to the lamp and not the cable switch or mains plug - dangerous
Bedroom main lighting turns off and on depending on whether you are using the bedside wall mains sockets or not - bizarre and dangerous
The utility room wall mains socket is loose and easily comes away from the wall - when removing the iron we had to hold the socket firmly with one hand to stop the socket and its internal wiring coming away from the wall and remove the plug with the other hand - it is loose and very dangerous
All wall mains sockets are filthy and grimey
* Villa front gate - no security or access lighting to the villa or gate at night in the dark - gate arch wall has single block of x3 switches at waist height which do nothing and do not work - block's plastic cover is also off and so there is no protection from the elements, also means in the dark you are unable to see the villa gate lock or bolt lever to insert the villa gate key, push open the villa gate or walk securely through the villa gate entrance
* Villa front gate - extremely difficult to open - RHS section of the gate sticks/ does not open properly and requires brute force with an adult shoulder to open - requires lubrication and maintenance
* Villa front gate - again extremely difficult to open particularly in the dark, as you have to stretch your arm through the gate, use one hand to move a slider bolt bar right and push with brute body force the RHS section of the villa gate to gain access to the villa grounds
* Villa keys are unlabeled - both villa keys - x1 for the villa gate and x1 for the villa front door are exactly the same visually and so it is hit and miss if you use the correct key for the correct location each time
* Table tennis - the table tennis table and accessories should be disposed of and a new one purchased by the villa owner - the tennis table and accessories are an utter disgrace - the table it is extremely warped and marked all over, when the table surfaces should clearly be flat and not totally weather worn - you cannot play table tennis on this table tennis table - why is it not covered from the elements as with other villas? - the table tennis bats and balls are in a poor condition/ shape and require replacing
* Pool table - the pool table should be disposed of and a new one purchased by the villa owner - the pool table is an utter disgrace - x3 of the x15 balls are missing - the top felt surface has large rips and is totally weather worn - you cannot play pool on this pool table - why is it not covered from the elements as with other villas? - the pool table and table tennis table were x2 of the mandatory requirements when we we were searching for a suitable villa
* Toilet door - the toilet door handle is broken and loose and you are required to slam the door firmly to close the toilet door
* Bedroom window brown plastic shutters - the RHS bedroom shutter mechanism is broken and so the shutters do not open and close correctly
* Villa toilet paper and bin - there was a distinct lack of toilet paper in the villa for x7 nights stay - we used less than x3 humans would expect to use over this period of time and ended up having to use our own paper hankies over our last x3 days - there were no bin bags
* Villa vacation time reduced - we paid a very large amount financially for this villa until vacation at 10am on the final morning - the villa cleaners however, tried to gain access to the villa at 0930 last morning, with no warning or knocking - this was outrageous and frightening - we were finalising our suitcases inside the villa, when we could hear someone attempting to unlock the villa front door at 0930 - our keys were in the door and so they failed - I had to cautiously open the villa front door to ascertain who and why someone was trying to enter the villa
* Villa cleaners - as we were loading our car before 0930 - 1000, outside the villa gate on the final morning, we had to avoid a long and large rolling pool of deep dirty water and rubbish bags all along the villa paths and the villa gate with our suitcases and belongings, as the cleaners swept the villa path with a large amount of water/ hoses and water brushes
* Toilet seat loose - the toilet seat is very loose and requires repair/ replacing
* No soap or shower gel - no soap of any form existed in the villa which you would expect for basic cleanliness
* Ensuite shower drain cover not attached - the silver metal floor waste water cover is loose, not attached and is highly dangerous - we slipped numerous times whilst showering
* Ensuite window view 'plant' - the 'plant' (what can only be described as a long unsightly dead looking branch like stem) on the outside of the ensuite shower glass wall next to the brick wall, is a disgrace and is foul to observe - it requires disposal and replacing - the area also has what appears to be pipes and or electric cables with blue tape on them - bizarre and all unseemly
* Lounge wall large canvas painting - the lounge wall large canvas painting requires disposal and replacing - it is meant to be a large black and white canvas tree terrace only, but is covered with large splashes/ brush strokes of white decorating paint - unsightly and disgraceful
* Utility room iron - the iron plate is covered in some kind of black brown mess - the iron plate needs cleaned or replaced as villa users cannot risk ironing their clothes with the iron in this condition
* Beds - all beds were too hard for a good sleep, pillows were small, inadequate and smelt profusely damp
* Replacement villa towels - during our stay in the villa, the towels were replaced mid-stay, but the replacement towels all smelt very damp and were so thin that they were inadequate for their purpose
* Villa paint and decoration - the villa requires painting and decorating throughout - it is obvious the inside of the villa looks very tired with the white gloss paint flaking off throughout
The villa is very tired and requires suitable maintenance, decoration and item replacement
One is most definitely under the impression that James Villas and the villa owner are more than happy to take money from the villa holiday occupier, but not care about safety or maintaining the villa and at a condition suitable for this cost
We would not stay in the villa again and do not recommend it”
“Where do I start. We moved into Dolce Vita Villa, Son Bou, Menorca.
Monday 26th, unpacked and within 30 minutes, 2 strangers enter without notice. They told us to leave as the balcony is collapsing. The maintenance man said this been this way for some time, the agent said it’s only just happened. Bear in mind we have just unpacked all of our belongings. We were then downgraded and separated into 2 villas. Bear in mind this villa was £550 a night, James Villas is giving us a £40 a night, Travel Lodge service. We were told we can move back into the villa Friday morning following a phone call on Thursday afternoon. Well it’s Friday now, all packed up ready to move. 50 minutes before moving back over, taxis arranged, airport transport rearranged. We receive a call to say we can not move back. This is twice they have left it till last minute, messed us around and no apologies, the agent finds it funny, laughing. we had to constantly chase James Villas for updates throughout the week, promised calls back, yet nothing. Mangers would not deal with it and palmed it off to the lower ranking members. Compensation or not, this has ruined our entire holiday. We had adults and children, we can not split them apart like they made us do. I WOULD AVOID AT ALL COSTS!”
“NO WATER FOR 4 DAYS- JAMES VILLAS -TINTORETTO - NO REFUND
APPALLING SUPPORT JUST PASSED THE BUCK
The villa was neglected full of health hazards and even the basics that you would expect omitted.
We travel for work and personally and this was the worst experience/rental we have ever had, ruined by neglect and indifference
No hot water as they had removed the water boiler recently expecting solar/roof tank to be suffice.
4 days without hot water and then we had to be available for them to access the property. Constant interruptions with calls and visits to arrange repairs. Not a peaceful relaxing holiday because we had to accommodate them.
Mould in cupboards, broken shower poles, pool was freezing with rusty bolts in the bottom and filled with insects, not as expected for a few days but obviously not cleaned or filtered for over a week. No pool cover to retain heat.
Villa is all very tired not worth money paid, no niceties like soap, washing up liquid, dishcloths, we had to buy all these to keep the villa clean, literally it was stripped bare. Towels were old faded and like cardboard. Toilet rolls only one per toilet left. Doors off kitchen cupboards.
Left early due to constant interruptions.
When we asked for a partial refund for the lack of hot water for 4 days we were offered £50 ! That is not even one night in hotel so we could wash. Resorted to boiling the kettle to wash ourselves.
Half the holiday with no hot water constant interruptions a sub standard villa and little support from James Villa’s . Note terms and conditions say they are not liable for faults or refunds they just pass you back to “managing agent” so you have to deal directly with the people/owners you are complaining about. . All very awkward.
Note ABTA does not cover you for this.
Will never use James villas again , as I thought they were trustworthy and it’s obvious they are just selling as a broker without backup for their client
Gave them a list of issues and owner/management denied mould, breakages etc. well photos prove otherwise. A little more conversation and negotiation would have been nice but £50 and a bowl of fruit does not cover the loss of the holiday we so badly needed.
We are now seeking legal advice as we have tried to negotiate.
Save your money don’t pick this villa , save your sanity don’t use James villas.”
“2 days before holiday they said villa not available put us in a villa miles from anywhere villa was filthy no WiFi no pool heating and they could not be bothered to sort problems out never book with them again totally ruined holiday”
“Great location. We have had many villa holidays in Coral Bay & honestly this villa has been the worst which is such a shame. Nice modern villa in great location but definitely not being maintained. From the aircon leaking (after previous guests reported this). We arrived at 4am with water streaming out over one of the beds. Iron had water pouring out of the bottom (dangerous) bed in the ground floor bedroom collapsed even if you just sat on it. Washing machine flooded the kitchen floor. Shower in downstairs bathroom flooded the floor. Some patio doors didn’t lock properly. Maid service once in 2 weeks & pool cleaned twice in two weeks. We bought our own net (as non provided) to clean the bugs & leaves from the pool. No Gardner in two weeks so leaves constantly blowing into the pool. Dinning chairs all ripped & sunloungers torn also. Such a shame as this could be a lovely little villa. We did report some issues which were resolved but didn’t want to spend our days trying to contact James villas through their call centre as there was no James villas reps in Cyprus.”
“Following a two week holiday At Villa Bini Cala Menorca , which started with a number of issues including a damaged seal on fridge freezer , still not changed when we left , not surprisingly due to age of the Fridge, as told by the person looking after property, seal missing on shower causing flooding on floor, slip hazard, was replaced eventually, nearly a week later, black mould in pool where tiles are missing ,hose damaged on shower unit , again not repaired when we left , the real disappointment was the 1970s style outside seating which was uncomfortable and so far behind the times , I would not visit this villa again , especially with the £4500 cost for the holiday .My frustration with James Villas is the lack of customer support, they just passed the complaint on to local management company , I booked with James Villas not the owner of the property so James Villas should deal with issues , especially safety concerns, but our issues prove to me that they do not inspect or monitor condition of villas throughout the season , happy to take your money though , due to the covid situation this was not the villa we originally booked , which was a higher standard, we were offered this as a compatible villa , definitely was not, we have used James Villas many times , not sure We will again, and won’t be recommending them”
“Taken 2 weeks to receive a refund. Still not received it. They keep fobbing me off saying they have processed it. Then they haven't then they have then they haven't. Really annoyed and upset. Unfortunately I had to ask for my refund due to finances changing and they aren't in any rush at all to help me receive my funds. Don't think I'll ever book with these again.”
“Scammers
Please note that James Villa also offers its villas on Airbnb but beware of the big scam because they accept the reservation and cancel it not even a week before the beginning of the rental. All this to realize that they put it back online 3 times more expensive!”
“Rated 2 out of 5 stars
Terrible Communications, zero responses.
We stayed in Villa Fenia in June 2022, a party of eight including young children.We contacted James Villas by email during our stay and several times afterwards all without any response. Just acknowledgement of receipt and a message, “we haven’t forgotten you” Even an email to the founder, nothing back. The issues we had was about terrible mosquito and insect bites that caused pain and discomfort plus cleanliness in the external area which didn’t help. My main objective was to get furure guests warned so that they would take precautions but their customer services ignored me completely. There was also a problem with the iron leaking red lipstick onto clothes so they were ruined. Again told James Villas and left notes for the owner and in the Villa to try and warn future guest. No responses from anyone. They are great at taking your money but no after sales service.”
“Very disappointed with the standard of maintenance at the villa we booked in Alcudia. We quickly realised that the pool hadn’t been cleaned or maintained to a level of cleanlinesses that would be safe for adults let alone two babies. Despite complaining from day one it took four days before it was cleaned adequately. There were also two air conditioning units in bedrooms that didn’t work and didn’t get repaired after complaining and to top it all the gas bottles ran empty two days before leaving so no hot water!!”
“Terrible and unprofessional. Booked Florida villa 10 months in advance, yet told 20 days before holiday, given refund and £50 inconvenience payment as they no longer had the villa!! No options provided !! Awful, go elsewhere to book your holiday of a lifetime”
“DONT EVER USE JAMES VILLAS IF YOU WANT A HOLIDAY
Holiday Reference: 6417362
We booked a holiday at Villa Venere in Cyprus
The complaints we have are as follows
• The electrics tripped at the mains multiple times - (this obviously happens a lot as a notice in the property advising what to do if this happens)
• The pool was FILTHY with thousands of flies and small creatures in it. The Pool was also falling apart with large chunks of plastic hanging off the sides (trapping more animals).
• I question if the pool even had a filtering system in place. Clearly the pool has a major issue as the hose pipe left running into the pool is constantly on – adding more water to the pool.
• The hot tub was grimy – full of dirt, flies and it smelt terrible – obviously hasn’t been emptied and cleaned for months (or longer)
• The washing machine didn’t work
• The BBQ was not a BBQ but a metal trough – clearly parts missing
• The front door was ill fitted leaving large gaps at the base of the door, this resulted in multiple visits from slugs and other slimy creatures
We don’t expect the house to be perfect, but it’s clearly a dated house (photos are from years ago and the house looks NOTHING like the pictures), but this was NOT on!
We contacted you by WhatsApp as per instruction email sent by James Villa – advising your expert team are on hand 24/7 to answer any questions…. We kept doing this every day but got no answers.
We had to stay at alternative accommodation as this was not a habitable property.
When we returned we requested a full refund and offered that a simple refund would be enough as long as The matter was resolved within 7 days.
29 days later they offered me a full refund but refused to pay me for my added expenses of having to book alternative accommodation”
“We have just returned from our Villa holiday at Capistrano Blue Cinco in Nerja, Spain.
We have booked accommodation with James Villas on several occasions and usually take a remote villa in the hills with a pool. These do tend to be a bit old fashioned inside so this time we wanted to opt for a more modern villa with contemporary lines and thought Capistrano Blue would fit the bill.
There are some positives to the villa, yes, it is more modern with contemporary furnishings, Netflix and YouTube on the TV was a plus and the air conditioning worked well. This I’m afraid is the extent of the plus features.
The villa is a two-storey villa but there is no mention of the several steps up to the villas. Not a welcome start when carrying heavy cases.
There is no welcome booklet giving information about the villa – WiFi Network and password, where bins are, taxi numbers, local restaurants and places of interest etc.
As described, it is “Bright and open plan, the welcoming ground floor living area has large windows letting in lots of natural light”. Yes, it does as there are only net curtains on the windows meaning the strong sunlight streams in and you can’t even sit at the dining table in comfort or watch TV without wearing sunglasses.
The kitchen is poorly equipped with cheap utensils, not even a tin opener. The kitchen cupboards are so high even my husband at 6’1” found it a struggle to reach the crockery on the top shelf. Toilet roll is the cheapest quality.
“The bedrooms on the first floor are all furnished to a high standard” I would say basic. The bed is very hard and the sheets don’t even fit. Apart from the mirrors in the bathrooms there is no dressing or full-length mirror.
There was no ladder for the pool.
At 4’8” it was impossible to use the pool on my own as I couldn’t get out. My husband had to lift me out and at 69 I wouldn’t expect him to lift me out of a pool every time.
No sun umbrellas next to the loungers as stated in the description
The sprinkler system went off at 12:30 when we were sunbathing soaking us and the washing we had drying on the clothes horse
There was a trip hazard outside the side door.
This I would say is the more serious of all the faults. I found this when I did trip over it and nearly landed on the grass. If I had been walking in the other direction it could have been down the metal staircase and on to the slabs next to the pool causing serious injury or worse.
The above four issues were reported on the Saturday we arrived. I had to call again on Monday afternoon and two men did come on Monday evening about 9pm with the umbrellas. They also brought some extra artificial grass to fit round the pool. We didn’t mention this but they obviously knew it was unfinished. They adjusted the timer for the sprinkler (but it did go off again at 12.30 a couple of days later). They said they would be back the next day to fit the pool ladder. As for the trip hazard, they acknowledged it was a safety issue and that the ground should be level but just shrugged their shoulders as there was nothing they could do. At the very least there should be some trip hazard tape on the area.
They did come the next evening, after 7pm, with the pool ladder so it was Wednesday before I could use the pool.
On a positive note, the Customer Service team were very supportive in trying to resolve our issues.
As this was our first holiday abroad in over two years, we wanted something a little special and opted for a Signature Villa.
Of the six Capistrano Blue Villas, Cinco is the only Signature villa however looking back over the descriptions of all the other 3 bed villas, they are exactly the same with the same features.
According to James Villas “Signature villas each have at least one wow factor feature that will really make your holiday. Large portable or built-in barbecue, at least one of the following - amazing views, stunning location, landscaped grounds and gardens”
We didn’t see any of the above that made this a signature villa.
The landscaped garden was a patch of grass with one plant or artificial grass around the pool.
We had views of the sea in the distance over the tops of the graffitied rubble and building work and the large portable barbecue was a rusty metal box that could just about grill two burgers.
The maintenance support did come to check the pool on Friday but this was unannounced when he just appeared when we were sunbathing. A little warning or a knock on the door would have been courteous.
On the whole this was a very disappointing experience for our first trip abroad after Covid and certainly our worst with James Villas. I have written to James Villa with my complaints and I’m currently waiting on a response.”
“VILLA MARIAM CYPRUS
The pool table only had one cue which was broken , table tennis table only had one ball which was split, tv wasnt a smart tv as described and also only channels were foreign so we couldnt use pool or table tennis or watch tv
there was no table on upstairs balcony so couldnt use that area, one of the bedrooms the air con poured water out of so couldnt use that room , the beds were so uncomfortable my girlfriend spent 4 days sleeping on the couch, everything is dated, the sun umbrellas were obviously stolen from walls ice cream, the holders for these were broken, the fence meshing was all torn and blowing off, the sunbeds were ripped, the outside furniture was cheap 20 year old plastic so couldnt lounge outside, the BBQ was simply a rusty metal box which at some point was just a spit roast, with a dustpan and brush left in it , it was so dirty i think i caught salmonella just walking past it let alone cooking on it, which you wouldnt or couldnt do, there was no welcome pack explaining how to use things and where things were, we contacted james villas 4 times and nothing was done , the pool had a scum line all the way round the water line , sitting outside all you can see is a brown metal fence so no view of the sea, there was a great view from the balcony but as there was no furniture up there you couldnt spend any time up there. You only get enough hot water for one shower so have to wait until the booster heats up again , the pool towels were just towel s from the bathroom
i could go on and on but i think you get the idea..
if you are planning on renting this villa ....dont .....give your money to charity instead!!
and another thing there is no air con downstairs so very hot”
“My girlfriend and I booked a villa on the small island of Paxos. We wanted to book it for the month of July, but by accident we booked it for the same timeframe in the month June instead. We immediately recognised it our mistake and told them. So literally 3 minutes after the booking was made, we requested a cancellation, telling them the wrong month was picked by accident and that we are sorry. Instead of getting a response to our cancellation request, we got confirmation for our booking instead. After a while we finally got a response, which wasn’t very satisfying. They refused to refund us ANY money, duo to their policy’s. In the end our money was gone, what totally ruined our holiday plans, because they did not refund a single penny. I am so disappointed in humankind after this experience! Yes, a mistake was made, but i can’t believe this shady shady business manners. Big time bad Karma for this evil people.”
“Villa that was booked in Pernera Cyprus was absolutely disgraceful
The villa was very tired with numerous safety hazards ie bare electric wires. Outside tiles loose and a trip hazard, cooking facilities absolutely a joke, stayed in many villas over the years but never experienced such a run down dilapidated villa in all my years”
