Julia D
Google
Beware of Le Collectionist. They only have the villa owners interests at heart not those of their customers.
We rented Villa Léger in Sifnos through them although it is actually The Wheatfield House (owners’ website) and on with another company as Villa Echo. It was supposed to be a romantic birthday celebration for my partner but was ruined. A beautiful villa but the various websites describe different amenities/services that it offers and therein lay some of the problems. We feel duty bound to warn anyone else so they can avoid a dreadful holiday.
These are just some of the things encountered:
- A cat that we were told could be removed if needed, was not despite our request. Transpires Le C had promised something they couldn’t deliver. Cat lives there, non negotiable and according to owner helps catch/keeps vermin & snakes away.
- Owners insisted on stopping by the morning after our arrival to store items - despite them having stayed there the night before.
- The hob was difficult to ignite - even the owner’s wife had problems when demonstrating it as I videoed her. Oven could not be opened during cooking only at end of a timed period.
- Pool was advertised on some websites as heatED and heatABLE but when we asked for it to be heated were told variously by local rep, pool maintenance, the owner and Le C that it would not be instant/would take a week/couldn’t be heated - too expensive. It had not been cleaned and had algae in it.
- The master bedroom had a raised platform for the bed and on one side the ´clearance ´ to get out of bed meant you could easily just go straight off the edge. Dangerous. Especially at night. Many steps and staircases with different levels. Not child or older guest friendly.
- The electrics seemed faulty - kitchen light would flash on and off randomly and the complicated ‘zone system’ for lights control meant that all lights would be switched off at once. Twice I was plunged into darkness in the shower. No dimmer switches or ambiance - bright lights.
- ´Superior sound system’ was described on some sites as being operational in the living room and outside pool area. Not in the living room! Potentially music could be played by hooking Spotify to the TV but owner couldn’t get any music working inside. As we regrettably experienced 5/7 days of gale force winds (enough to cancel ferries & flights) we could not use the outside area for eating nor swim in the pool nor venture into town. Stuck in a luxury Villa with no music until local rep kindly got us a CD player & 2 candles so we could have some romantic ambiance for the birthday dinner.
- The worst of all was that despite the awful wind being widely forecast for days in advance no measures were taken to secure outdoor furniture, close windows & shutters and we literally spent the first two nights up several times a night securing their pool & balcony furniture which was being thrown across balconies & into the pool. Trying to identify which shutters were banging etc. No sleep AT ALL for 2 nights. Owners didn’t care - said we shouldn’t have bothered!
- The electric security gate kept jamming open so the property - and we - were left vulnerable/not secure at night sometimes. The villa is quite remote.
- Owners came across as rude and arrogant, not interested in our questions/grievances.
Whilst the local rep did his best to try and sort things, most were not able to be rectified during our stay. Even the special meal I’d planned to cook for my partner’s birthday had to be changed as l wasn’t risking cooking with an oven I couldn’t open until a timer finished.
Le C have offered €500 towards another (are you kidding?!) holiday with them. They dispute that the services/amenities listed on THEIR website were correct and what the owner/other websites offered was irrelevant. So, then, the owner should make sure all descriptions are the same, surely?
Read some of the other bad reviews, they’re spot on - it’s hit & miss. Absolutely NOT the luxury experience one expects for a five figure rental.
Plenty of better villas and rental companies out there.
