Villa Altamira, Vieques

Truly an island of enchantment. Love the property and the home.

We had an amazing time in Vieques and loved our stay at Villa Altamira. The house was clean and had amazing views and the pool was great. We had a dog who visited daily. So cute! We loved the horses and dogs walking all around the island and waking to the sounds of roosters crowing. The property manager Melyssa was sweet. We had a bit of a language barrier, but she tried hard and answered all of our questions. She didn’t meet us at the airport but did send gps location. One night we lost power around 8:00 pm and didn’t get it back until 9:30 the next morning. There should be a backup generator. The house got very hot and we were worried about our refrigerated food.

Other tidbits: One queen bed dipped in the middle, and a mini fridge is not really an efficiency kitchen. The air conditioning in the bedrooms feels great when you walk in, but warms up quickly. Air conditioning on the main floor would be great. A good thing to mention is that the stores are all closed on Sunday. We were thankful that we had gone to the store on Saturday when we arrived. Walking into town for breakfast and dinner was really nice. Even with the hills. We really loved the outdoor Mexican restaurant, the burritos were excellent. We were there off season (first week of October). It was the absolute best time to be there. We had the beaches to ourselves, it was like we were on our own private island. With that though, many restaurants were closed. Luckily the ones that were open were all fabulous. Our 2 favorites in Esperanza were Lazy Jacks and Bananas. There was no outdoor speaker system, koi pond, or fruit trees. So maybe the description should be updated. Unfortunately the coffee maker stopped working mid week. Suggestion, maybe have a back up coffee pot. Fortunately we made some manually. WiFi was a bit sketchy. Didn’t work on ground floor or top floor. Hot water didn’t work good on ground floor and water pressure was weak at times. I’d suggest bringing a tube or raft for the ocean. We bought some and left them there for others. The house did have snorkeling equipment, chairs, and an umbrella which was great. Most beaches don’t have much shade. Although, some of this sounds negative, none of it affected our stay. (If we couldn’t have coffee, that would have been a deal breaker. Lol). Just suggestions to make the stay even better. The house was cozy and comfortable and perfect for 3 couples. We all had our own space and privacy. We definitely recommend Villa Altamira

We will start with the positive: the view is amazing from any of the decks, and the pool was a pleasant relief after a day at the beach or walk around town. However, Villa Altamira was not what we were expecting. The very first night we emailed the owner stating there was not any water pressure in the house nor any hot water in Master Bedroom. This was the owner John’s response “The plumber had assessed the water pressure issue LAST WEEK and ordered the cold water pressure tank. You are right things always take a lot longer on the island. There should be water pressure at some of the outside showers or spigots closer to the front of the house with the waterline entrance.”

This issue was already identified by the owner and we were not notified there would be an issue with water pressure upon our arrival. We were not taking showers outside. The water tank was fix on Tuesday, 5 days later except the water pressure tank that was replaced is too small and the water pressure was not adequate for that size of house. No compensation was offered by owner. The hot water was never fixed in the Master bathroom. Every bed in the house has springs that can be felt threw the mattresses. The twin beds downstairs frames were both broken and leaning. The queen mattress was a hammock and springs popping threw as well. The living room furniture is old, the cushions are nonexistent so you cannot sit on them for very long, extremely uncomfortable. The living room had two electrical outlets that are in the floor and there are no covers on them so children beware. Huge SAFETY issue for children especially if they are coming in from the pool. The concrete deck around the pool is painted dark grey. By 11am you are unable to walk on it in bare feet, due to the sun heating the deck surface. Another SAFETY issue for children, they will definitely burn their feet or body if they touch the deck. The stove is old and rusted and the cabinets are in rough shape and have curtains for doors. The sink in bathroom downstairs is broken and falling apart, the shower curtain does not completely surround the shower so water is constantly being sprayed on the floor. The towels all need to be replaced, bath and beach towels had holes or were frayed. There were no wash clothes in the house and there are not enough blankets for the amount of people that it sleeps. We had to shower in downstairs bathroom for hot water our entire stay. We did not sleep well at all in this house.

It was smooth had everything we needed.

Lovely Villa, very roomy. Beautiful views!!