Villa Pomos Mediterranean

Our experience of this holiday has been absolutely appalling and has completely ruined what should have been a relaxing first experience of Cyprus. We booked this holiday expecting a good standard of accommodation where we could relax and enjoy our time away. Instead, we spent the majority of our stay dealing with problem after problem, contacting TUI and ZedX almost every single day and feeling let down by the entire experience. We arrived in Paphos in the early hours of Monday morning. Upon arriving at the villa, we noticed several insects, including millipedes and beetles, crawling in underneath the doors. Initially, we did not make too much of an issue of this, as we had only just arrived and understood that the property was in a rural location. However, when we woke up the following morning, the insects were all over the kitchen. We again tried to be understanding and gave the property the benefit of the doubt. Unfortunately, things only got worse. After spending the day out, we returned to find the living room lights flickering and insects continuing to appear throughout the villa. We were left having to constantly sweep up and clean after them, which is absolutely not what you expect to be doing when you have paid for a holiday. To make matters worse, there was no insect repellent or insect spray provided at the property, leaving us with no products to help manage the problem ourselves. The insect problem continued throughout our stay, from Monday through to Saturday, without being properly resolved. When somebody eventually attended to address it, the solution was to put tape along the bottoms of the doors and seal the windows. This hardly felt like an adequate solution to a problem that had been ongoing for days. We also experienced electrical problems with the living room lights. We contacted both TUI and ZedX, and although somebody was eventually sent out to deal with the issue, this took approximately 24 hours, leaving us to deal with the problem during that time. On the third day, during a storm, the Wi-Fi went off completely. We contacted TUI and ZedX again. An engineer attended that day but explained that the issue could not be resolved until the weather had improved. We understood this and accepted that the weather was beyond anyone’s control. However, we then had to wait another 24 hours before somebody returned and fixed the problem. As if this was not enough, the following day we discovered approximately five separate leaks on the top floor of the villa. When we reported this to TUI and ZedX, the response was simply to send somebody with towels to put down to catch the water. Nobody properly assessed the extent of the leaks, inspected the ceiling or explained whether the property was safe to remain in. By Friday night, the situation had become extremely concerning. The leaks were so bad that we had to get up in the middle of the night and use water bottles to catch the water. The ceiling appeared to be cracking, which understandably caused us concern about the potential safety of the property. We reported this again, but nobody came out to inspect the damage or assess the situation. Instead, we were simply told that alternative accommodation would be provided. We also had problems with the hot water. No matter how long we left the water running, it simply would not get warm. This was yet another basic facility that we could not properly use during our stay. Furthermore, we were unhappy to discover that air conditioning was an additional charge of £2 per room, per air-conditioning unit. We do not recall this being clearly advertised as an additional cost when booking. Holidaymakers should be made fully aware of these charges before they arrive, rather than being faced with unexpected expenses once they are already at the property. Eventually, we were moved from the villa to alternative accommodation. We had understood that the villa was advertised as four-star accommodation, so naturally expected to be relocated somewhere of a comparable standard and with suitable capacity. Instead, we were placed in a hotel that, in our opinion, was nowhere near the standard of the accommodation we had originally booked. The downgrade was extremely disappointing and felt completely unacceptable given the circumstances. We were also promised a late checkout, only to arrive at the new accommodation and be told that they knew nothing about it. The staff were not particularly friendly or understanding about the situation either, which made an already stressful experience even worse. To be fair, we acknowledge that TUI and ZedX did send people out on the occasions we reported problems. However, this does not excuse the overall handling of the situation. In several instances, we were left waiting around 24 hours for issues to be addressed, and some problems were never properly resolved at all. Sending somebody out eventually is not the same as providing an adequate solution. The point of going on holiday is to relax, enjoy yourself and make memories — not spend every day contacting the travel company and property owner about a new problem. We should not have had to repeatedly chase different people, clean up insects, deal with electrical issues, manage water leaks in the middle of the night and worry about whether the accommodation was safe. We are also particularly concerned about families with young children staying at this property. The number of insects entering the villa was unacceptable. Young children naturally explore their surroundings, and there is a genuine concern about them picking up or putting these insects in their mouths. The fact that there was no insect spray or repellent available made the situation even more frustrating. Based on our experience, we would not recommend this accommodation to families with small children. Overall, we are extremely dissatisfied with both TUI and ZedX and the way this holiday was handled. We paid for a holiday expecting a particular standard of accommodation and instead spent our time dealing with ongoing problems, uncertainty and stress, before ultimately being moved to accommodation that we felt was significantly below the standard we had booked. This experience has completely ruined our first experience of Cyprus, which is a real shame, as we should have been able to enjoy our time there. We came away feeling disappointed, frustrated and let down by everyone involved. We would not return to this villa, and we would not recommend it to others. We are equally unhappy with how TUI and ZedX handled the situation. We hope these issues are taken seriously so that other holidaymakers do not have to go through the same experience.

What a beautiful villa. Private and quiet, Very luxury, Comes with everything you need, lovely welcome pack of fruit and wine, water, dishwasher tablets, washing up liquid. Views are outstanding, and the sunsets were unreal, lovely little rocky beach at the bottom of the cliff accessed from the garden. Some lovely taverns 5 mins walk away and a supermarket to get your essentials. Pool and hot tub were cleaned every couple of days, was able to book a late check out for our last day for an additional fee, such fantastic customer service.