Crystal Rentals Spain, www.crystalrentalsspain.com Review

Overall Rating

The apartment was in a very central location, in the centre of the port area. The resort of Puerto Banus is very beautiful, amazing boats and beaches.

The drink is very expensive, typically 8 Euros for a vodka, 10 Euros in some places. Other than that, the resort is great. The apartment on the other hand was a disaster! We booked with Crystal Rentals Spain, an agency that claims to have high quality villas and apartments, available directly from the owners. When we booked they quoted us 699 Euros for the apartment, then they found out there was 7 of us and they said they had to charge us for an extra bed 80 Euros, this wasn't needed when we got to the apartment as there were enough beds in the rooms for 7. When they found out we were arriving late they charged us another 50 Euros for an out of office hours service. So now we were being charged 829 Euros! The week before we were due to arrive they called to say our apartment had been flooded and so we'd have to move to another one. We didn't kick up any fuss as it was in the same area, it wasn't as nice though decor-wise but we thought we were being understanding, given what had happened. When we arrived, we were brought into the apartment by the owner, given the key and he took the money, which they had insisted on getting in cash and off he went. He never made any arrangements for check out or showed us how anything worked. The apartment was dirty and smelled bad, especially in the kitchen. The fridge didn't work properly, the TV didn't work and there was rubbish under the cupboards in the kitchen. One of the girls found a sock beside her bed in her room, which showed the apartment obviously hadn't been cleaned properly before us and there were bulbs missing in the toilet. We made the best of it, thinking that the standard wasn't great but for 829 Euros it was cheaper than most places in the resort. On the day we were leaving, we hadn't been contacted about moving out, so we contacted the owner again who told us just to leave the key and he'd check the apartment later on. When we arrived back home, I contacted the agency to ask when we'd be getting our 300 Euros damage deposit back and was told that the owner said we'd cracked a tile in one of the rooms and the cost would be deducted from the deposit. We definitely did not break a tile, we would remember it. So when I disputed this with the agency, they just told me to deal with the owner. I rang the owner to talk to him about it and he was extremely rude on the phone to me, speaking over me, telling me that the crack wasn't there when we moved in and so we'd pay for it whether the cost was 5 or 500 Euros. My point was that if the apartment had been checked properly before we moved in then the sock in the room would have been spotted along with the other things we had noticed, so if they missed the sock and the broken bulbs then they definitely would have missed a crack in a tile. Since I knew none of us had caused it, then it had to have been there beforehand, if there was any crack at all! He was extremely rude and unprofessional, talking over me and being sarcastic, telling me I had some cheek ringing him and being horrible. So I had no luck trying to explain my side of the story and eventually had to say goodbye. We're guessing that we won't see a cent of our 300 Euros now, it's probably a scam he runs, getting that money for his so called cracked tile from every group who stays in his dirty apartment and unfortunately there seems to be nothing we can do. So I'm leaving this review to warn others. The agency were no help either and when I questioned being charged the 80 Euros for the extra bed, which we didn't need nor were provided. She told me that although the apartment slept 8 people, they charged as if there were more than 6. How does that make sense? Especially since the apartment actually slept 7 not 8!

The resort is lovely, if a bit expensive but if you are going renting an apartment in Puerto Banus, avoid Crystal Rentals Spain!