Kayleigh Zendarski

Review of Villas Sol Hotel & Beach Resor...

Let me start by saying I was already prepared for ...

Let me start by saying I was already prepared for the worst after reading the reviews on this place and boy were they right. My husband and I purchased a travel membership through an agency in Daytona Florida called Suite Journeys for $5000.00. They are now facing litigation through the state's Attorney General for being a scam and have had their assets frozen. Apparently Suite Journeys uses HSI to make their money. Part of Suite Journeys' promotion was that we would receive a free stay at an all inclusive resort in Costa Rica. We redeemed the promotion through Suite Journeys and they set up our stay at Villas Sol. Upon our arrival at Villas Sol we were told that we needed to attend another presentation in order to receive the promotional stay. We informed the woman in charge at that time that we had already attended a presentation and purchased a travel membership and that's why we were staying there. She said she had no record of this and that we had to attend the presentation. We assumed it was for a time share and moved forward with our vacation. The presentation was actually for HSI, a scam package almost identical to the one we purchased from Suite Journeys. I'm assuming they operate in Costa Rica for that reason since the contract we signed said the promotion is not valid in states where it is illegal, to include Florida. Our room at Villas Sol was small and very warm. Even with the setting for the AC on 10 degrees Celsius, the room was unbearably hot and humid making it difficult to shower, get dressed and sleep. Our towels never dried. The bed was old and simply a mattress on a platform frame. The bedding was stained and the pillows were quite flat. The remote for the tv never worked. The resort itself is old and run down. The food was often recycled from previous meals and nothing to write home about. We opted to eat elsewhere on more than one occasion. Birds, feral cats and bugs joined us often for our meals at the buffet. We booked a trip through the resort to Guacipaline and found out later that the same package costs much less at the travel stand down the road. At the presentation we were required to attend, we realized very quickly that what they were offering was something almost identical to what we already had with Suite Journeys, not a time share. In an effort to be forthcoming, I told the woman trying to sell us the package that we already had something similar with a different agency. She immediately asked for the name of the agency and got her supervisor. His name was Matt and after speaking with him we were told that we did not need to move forward with the presentation. We asked three separate times if we would then incur any costs and he insisted we would not. He lied.
Upon check out we were told we owed Villas Sol an additional $600.00 because we were never "eligible buyers" of their scam. Not only were we completely eligible, the documentation my husband signed said NOTHING about not being allowed to already be members of another travel service to qualify. They tried to use the signed documentation against us but anyone who can read can see that we agreed to no such terms. Apparently their inability to communicate effectively with our travel agency and vice versa meant we were expected to pay the price. My husband was forced to pay with a credit card or we would miss our flight. They insured we could not leave without a specific leave receipt for our driver. So if you make arrangements for a ride to the airport with Villas Sol, the driver will not take you without that receipt. Very slimy, but very smart.In the shuttle on the way to the airport I cried thinking about all the money we wasted at the expense of the people at Villas Sol. My husband is a US veteran and we have been married for only a year. We're a new family just starting out and we really could have used that $600.00. I am so disappointed in myself for not knowing better and I hope anyone who reads this learns from my awful experience.