Avis Romantic Caribbean Hideaway with Awesome Views Perfect for two

VRBO’s Health and Safety team reviewed our report submitted in response to Jasmine’s claim for a refund. They found no basis for her claims and closed the case - then discovered that she had initiated a full charge-back with her financial institution which VRBO is disputing on our behalf. Our report provided receipts showing regular pest control inspection and maintenance visits for 2024 and throughout 2023, the most recent in July 2024 just before Jasmine’s arrival. Photos showed our new mattress protected by a zippered cover; the guests who stayed immediately before Jasmine left a 5-star review on Airbnb; the VRBO dashboard showed that we flagged the rainy season brought the possibility of mosquitoes. Our cottage is fully screened with bed-nets but we also provided tips for protecting against mosquitoes outdoors. Despite the horrible experience alleged Jasmine completed her 5-night reservation. She had phone numbers and email for me, my property manager and housekeeper in St Lucia and never raised a single concern instead telling the housekeeper on property that her stay was good. I provide many messages to our guests related to fun things to do, grocery shops, restaurants, banks, safety and so on to support preparations for their visit. These are not new rules. Having spent a 5-day holiday at our home Jasmine is trying to extract a fully paid vacation at our expense. This is dishonest. We feel fortunate that VRBO is disputing the charge back. I am proud of our status as Première hosts with VRBO and Super-host with Airbnb and are thankful that most guests are decent and honest. I invite you to read our wonderful reviews on Airbnb and VRBO. And – while we have powerful ceiling and standing fans - happy to note by December 1st 2024, AC will be installed!

We think our cottage is amazing too - but nothing beats a guest’s affirmation ! Thank you Zoe - we enjoyed having you as our guests and look forward to the pleasure of welcoming you back!

Lori was a lovely guest to host ! But her visit to the tropics coincided with an unprecedented heat wave felt in many parts of the world - including the Greek islands were unprecedented heat set off fatal fires not only there but across swathes of Europe, Hawaii , and elsewhere. Fortunately - the islands did not experience that level of heat - but even so - long time local residents across the Caribbean - for the first time complained of heat levels which are not normal for us. Climate change is certainly making for extreme weather events - drought, floods, heat, more frequent storms - around the world . September for example was the hottest on record since the 1800’s in Europe. Here in the Caribbean, while July and August are our warmest months - it is not normal for us to be afflicted by very hot temperatures. Fortunately - we have entered the cooler months of October through June and respite is in the offering . Last December a few of our guests recommended that we stock light blankets since the evenings were cool enough to warrant them! This year is also a period of the El Niño weather system which makes for more extreme air and sea temperatures. Since we do not expect an El Niño event next year we are hopeful that life in the tropics trends as expected in non El Niño years!

We thank Alexandria for her fabulous review! And while geckos have been mentioned , (and we note that they are not harmful to humans) we were a bit surprised since previous guests have not raised this an issue. We nonetheless took the opportunity to seek guidance from our pest control provider who services our cottage every quarter. The company notes that the outdoor rather than the indoor environment is the natural habitat for these small lizards who prey on insects, so that venturing indoors would not be their normal practice. However, we understand that there are some natural scents which geikoes do not like which we had applied in a precautionary manner to the main door entry - since other areas are screened. We are happy to note that housekeeping have not reported any further visits:) The tropics provide a wonderful environment in which to live - both for humans and the array of tropical flora and fauna which together make up this type of ecosystem. However, while lizards for example - consider mosquitoes to be prey - which is good news for keeping the latter in balance - we prefer that they stay outdoors:). Our first goal is to make sure that our guests are comfortable.

Thank you Mike - for making hosting you so very easy!