“Exactly What We Wanted!”

Response from the owner Thank you for choosing Casa Marfil! You and your family are always welcome back and we are here to serve you in what ever capacity we can! Please do come back to visit soon!

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not TripAdvisor LLC.

“Awesome!”

“Casa Marfil”

Response from the owner Thank you for choosing Casa Marfil and for being such great guests! We are very happy you enjoyed yourselves at Casa Marfil and hope that you will return when you visit Puerto Vallarta. It's family like yours that make us love what we do to provide a great place to stay close to shops and restaurants and beaches. Trust and good faith between our guests and ourselves are what make for a great vacation for our guests and a pleasure for us to host and help make great memories. You are always welcome back!

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not TripAdvisor LLC.

“Amazing and authentic”

Response from the owner Thank you so much for choosing Casa Marfil! Your group was a joy to host and we hope that you will come back and stay with us soon. We show our love for returning guests by offering a Returning Guest discount and you are warmly welcome anytime. Integrity, respect and friendliness are qualities we hope to share and love it when it is returned. Authenticity is a quality we appreciate as well. Thank you so much for coming and staying with us. See you soon! Nuestro casa es tu casa :)

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not TripAdvisor LLC.

“House is ok, extremely rude owner”

Response from the owner This guest booked her reservation through another site, as mentioned, but the supervisory department reviewed all of the written comments between the guest and myself and determined to delete her account of what transpired based on the level of inaccuracies, prohibited language used by the guest and my own good standing with that other site. As a result, the guest decided to go through the trouble of leaving a bad review here on TripAdvisor. I did not investigate the guest online, no need, her work email contains the law office where she's employed. I suggested her knowledge of the law in the United States may not be the same in Mexico. In response to her complaint that the bedrooms are hot, we've added another mini split air conditioner to the first floor bedroom. The remaining rooms already have air conditioning and the one on the second floor is serviced by the mini split on the second floor. Yes, it's hot in Mexico in the summer. And rainy, and humidity is very high. For that reason it's considered our low season and the rental rate per night is almost half off the normal rate. Unfortunately, there are some people who arrive and if they are new to Mexico or more accustomed to all inclusive resorts, then it may be more difficult for them to adjust to the more independent setting of a vacation home. The views in Puerto Vallarta is constantly changing, we are experiencing a great amount of growth. The skyline can change greatly from year to year. However, what everyone says when they enter Casa Marfil, the third floor where the kitchen and dining room is located, or the garden area located on the fourth floor, are always the same, "what an amazing view!". The large condos popping up closer to the beach and the house that was built in front, but remains only two stories high, has altered some of the view, since we first published the description several years ago, but the fact that we remain a bit off the busy Malecón as well as our being located higher on the mountain, allows Casa Marfil to remain a very attractive vacation home, quiet location and many folks have come in the last ten years to enjoy the home, the beach and have had no problems. Summer guests inevitably have a bit more difficulty with the humidity and the heat, and we do our best to accommodate them.

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not TripAdvisor LLC.

“A most divine and relaxing stay immersed in the culture of Puerto Vallarta”

Response from the owner Casa Marfil was truly blessed to have been able to host this wonderful group of ladies. It's not often I get to the meet our guests at Casa Marfil however, I made the drive to meet in person, these extraordinary ladies, and am so happy that I did. Our team in Puerto Vallarta is an excellent team of caring people who work to make our guests feel supported to stay in an organized and clean environment and to provide extra cooking services to those interested. It's always a pleasure when that extends to sincere and warm feelings and it reminds us that the work we do in providing accommodations to travelers is the best work in the world. We love sharing this amazing and beautiful village by the sea and the culture that is Mexico. Some of our guests speak Spanish and others, not a word, but it is our greatest joy to be able to open our home to some of the most wonderful travelers in the world. These ladies bring sunshine and love everywhere they go and have a redemptive quality to bring a fresh renewal to those they touch. Have a wonderful 2017 and we hope to see you soon on your return travels to Puerto Vallarta, where you truly have a home, away from home. Warmly, Sherryl H.

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not TripAdvisor LLC.

“Beautiful house, high maintenance owner”

Response from the owner This is the same guest, posting a review twice that they were not happy. The fact that they post twice for one group is exactly why I found them so confusing. The same family, grandparents and adult children citing the same complaints here but now I'm having to respond to the same complaints twice. From the beginning, this guest and I were not able to communicate well. The balance is paid 90 days before arrival. This guest paid her initial booking fee, 50% of the rental. When I asked and sent email from Home Away requesting that she make her final payments, she never responded. I asked for over a period of 10 days or so for final payment and she never responded at all. I informed her I was going to have to cancel her booking for non payment and non-response. Nothing. Finally, and this was a first for me, I had to cancel the booking. Finally she responds in full alert. I informed her that I still had her dates and that we could re-book her reservation. We did so. Later when I was following the stream of many emails to determine all the accounting was complete before her arrival, I had some trouble following all of the emails. I asked her to let me know when she made the final payment. This booking occurred from the summer of 2016 to her arrival in December. Following all of the emails asking for payment, canceling, re-booking, payments being made, payments being refunded, payments made again...it was not easy. Then she knows that 12 people is the maximum that Casa Marfil can manage and she wasn't honest and had 15 people there. The air mattresses, both, broke during her stay, when the group right before her, they worked. My employee told me she had to ask the children to stop jumping on them as this guest didn't seem to notice. Whenever a guest asks for an extra night and that they want to pay cash, I get very nervous. The Home Away platform protects both the guest and the homeowner from misunderstandings. I don't want to chase money from house guests, that is why we use Home Away. It's safe. This guest asked for an extra night and then wanted to pay cash. Then when she arrived, she said the extra night was not needed as her son's flights were canceled. Then her son arrived but she didn't tell me. When I thought her son didn't arrive, I thought she no longer needed the extra night. I had planned to do some maintenance work on the electrical box and cables as the dishwasher also stopped working during this guest's visit. When this guest told me the air mattresses were broke, I asked my employee how could they be using the air mattress if half of their group didn't show up. Then I found that there were in fact 15 people in the house. And that they would need the extra night. Now I have to chase money for the extra night. Please understand, paying cash for rentals is not the desired agreement. The agreement via Home Away is used for protection of all involved. My employee became anxious and sick, having to go to the doctor, because she said that the stress of dealing with this guest was making her ill. The triangulation between the guest, my employee, and myself was very uncomfortable. I offered the tequila as a form of apology when I coudn't locate her payment. Then later when I found there were so many people in the house, the last thing I wanted to do was to purchase tequila and offer it to someone I didn't think was being honest with me. I purchased a high chair for the 9 month old grandson and was told that the tequila would have been a better way for me to provide support and gratitude. I have explained all of this on the first poor review given by this guest. I hope I don't have to write another one for another one of their party. I hope we can all move forward now. It's unfortunate, but sometimes it happens all wrong. And it did with this guest. We all work hard, as homeowners, to provide the best service and good support for our guests. I've had all great reviews except the one person back in 2014 or 2013. And now I have another one. The reviews are provided to let guests and homeowners know who is coming or who they are going to be dealing with as a homeowner. It affects our business and our employees. Unfortunately, sometimes things go very bad. This guest also informed me that she and her family are missionaries but I found her complaint that I didn't give her tequila and opted to purchase a high chair for grandson just as confusing as the rest of our interaction together.

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not TripAdvisor LLC.

“Beautiful house, difficult owner”

Response from the owner This guest informed me that she reviewed all of the Casa Marfil reviews to find an one review back in 2014 where a guest was unhappy with their stay that suggested to me that she may be a problem; it happens, sometimes people arrive already wanting to find things that are wrong. Casa Marfil is a great house, clean and yes it's true, there is not central air conditioning in Mexico. It's not a "thing" here, there are mini splits in the kitchen that supplies air to the dining room, kitchen and in what is known as an open floor plan. The second floor has a mini split in the master bedroom, again, it's an open floor plan and supplies air to the second floor and a 3rd mini split found in the 4th bedroom. This guest initially told me that they were 12 people, which is the maximum number of guests the house can comfortably sleep with 4 bedrooms and two air mattresses. Each queen sized beds. Then she told me her son, with his family, a baby and two little girls, would not be arriving as their flights were canceled. She had asked for one extra night and by chance I could accommodate her request as the next guests weren't scheduled to arrive the day this guest was scheduled to leave. Later when she and my employee told me that the two air mattresses were broken, I thought how, half of her party didn't show up?...I asked my employee how many people were in the house and felt the pressure to immediately remedy the air mattress situation to go and purchase two more from Costco.....not thinking about catching her in a falsehood, but instead feeling that I was going to have a negative review based on the air mattresses not working....and lo and behold, there are not 12 people, as she had originally told me, but 15 people as her son, whose flight was not canceled, did in fact show up and that with them, the total in the house was now 15 people. My employee told me that she had to ask the little girls to stop jumping on the air mattresses....and that is how they broke. This guest defended her granddaughters by telling me how much they weigh and that they couldn't have broken the air mattresses. The equipment has built in pumps, so jumping on them is not advised anyway, it could damage the seams or the electric devices. My employee, who was overwhelmed at the number of people in the house and the top to bottom chaos of disorder from toys and clothes strewn from the first floors to the top, sent a photo to me, which I didn't request her to do, she was asking for help. I asked this guest if she wouldn't mind be more conscientious to my employee as she was just one person and I offered her if she would want more support that I could have a second maid come to assist but that would cost a nominal fee for her time. This guest didn't respond to my respectful request that the house be kept a bit more orderly and didn't respond to my offer for more support. The dishwasher, the third in 5 years, again suffered from a surge and has died. This unfortunately happened during this guests' stay. On top of everything going wrong, this happened. I will not be replacing it immediately. Most houses don't have dishwashers because of the expense and electrical issues in Mexico, appliances take a beating with the constant electric surges. Even if you have surge protectors, they eventually give out. I offer the cooking services to guests and they pay the cook directly. I inform my guests that there is a cooking service and that they can let the cook know when and what they would like to have for breakfast and dinner. I am not receiving any money for this service, I simply inform the guests that there is a cooking service available. The price changed due to the cook changing her price for the new year; she has maintained her costs now for the last several years and changed the price this year. I let the guest know as soon as I was informed of the change. The communication with the guest was very difficult. I felt that either the communication was either opaque, flights canceled, not canceled, number of people in the house - when I found out there were more people, I could have easily charged $50.00 extra per person per night, but didn't. I purchased a new baby high chair for this guest's son who has an infant of 9 months old and this guest instead of thanking me for the high chair asked me instead for the bottle of tequila I offered in consolation of the mix up in the beginning of the booking. In the beginning of the booking, she was scheduled to make her second payment to pay for the balance of the booking and I had to ask her to make payment over and and over and over, until finally, I canceled her reservation and sent her money back to her via Home Away. Then she responded in full alert that her reservation was canceled due to non payment. She explained that she already had her flights booked. This was in late summer, early fall for a December booking. I explained that I still had her dates, but that she now needed to pay for the booking in order to keep her reservation. We re-initiated the booking. She paid. Later when I was trying to follow the stream of the many emails to make sure all of the accounts were finalized, I asked her about the payment. I was confused, true, because that was what I felt constantly with this guests. Back and forth, booked, canceled, re-booked, paid, and following all of that over many months was not easy. Sometimes guests arrive and it is an easy, clear and pleasant transaction from beginning to end. Sometimes guests arrive and there may be a slight issue to help or assist and things get resolved, every one is happy and feels heard and respected. Sometimes guests arrive and they look for problems and they find one that happened three years prior in the reviews and you know then, it's going to be a rough ride, no matter what you do. It helps if people maintain a posture that everyone is doing the best they can, even in the face of what seems like deliberate and intentional misdirection. I simply remember why I love doing this job, for the many guests who come and they are interested in experiencing Puerto Vallarta and Casa Marfil and they simply want to come and have a good time. For those guests, it's all worth it. And when or if it becomes less value than the worth, then I will reconsider. But for now, the happy guests that arrive far outweigh the bad apple that comes occasionally.

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not TripAdvisor LLC.

“Beatuiful house in a great location!”

Response from the owner Casa Marfil had a great experience hosting Paradise, she is the perfect guest! Paradise and her group of friends were all very polite, respectful and friendly. We welcome her and her friends back at any time and hope she does return to visit. Thank you again for choosing Casa Marfil!

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not TripAdvisor LLC.

“Gorgeous, large, riverside retreat home in jungle with views, warm welcome, fantastic find.”

Response from the owner Thank you for your comments and please know you are always welcome to your casa in Puerto Vallarta! Come home any time you want :)

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not TripAdvisor LLC.