Robbed in Ibiza! – Booked with jonnyibiza@live.com & Holiday Rentals

After searching around for apartments for our holiday in Ibiza, I found our apartment on the Holiday-Rentals website. This advert, surprisingly, has now been removed.

I contacted the owner, and had a reply from someone called Jonny Simons (jonnyibiza@live.com)

Everything seemed ideal – located in San Antonio, near to Kanya (a bar on the sea front) and Café del Mar etc…

The week before, I asked for the check in details, to which he sent:

Hi Alex,

Thanks for your email. The office contact number for your check in is +34 638 739 320, please call us when you are leaving the airport so we know when to meet you. I have you down as arriving at 4pm on the island, is that still correct? Please also let us know if your flight is delayed.

We will be meeting you on the road outside the Coastline Cafe, on the LHS of the Cafe as you are facing the sea and will take you up to the apartments from there.

Please make sure that when you are checking in you have the balance in cash of €945 + €500 refundable damages deposit ready or we won´t be able to give you the keys.

The latter we can accept the equivalent in GBP if it´s easier for you.
If you have any questions please let me know.

Kind regards,

Jonny

We got there, checked in, everything seemed fine.
We were instructed how to use the alarm, and lock the door etc…

2 days later (Tuesday, 25th August 2009) we headed out, and, as we did every night, locked the door, set the alarm (pathetically easy alarm code – I won’t post it here), and went off in to town.

We returned to the apartment at about 5am, and that’s when the problems started.

All of us had things missing.

For example:

• Ipods
  Ipod Dock
  4 Phones
  Cash
  Jewellery
  Aftershave
  Cameras

There was absolutely no sign of a break in.

I phoned Monica, the girl who had given us the keys, and she offered absolutely no help what so ever.
I asked her to come to the apartment, and help us (none of us speak Spanish) so we could of done with her talking to the police, but she wouldn’t even come and help.

We scoured the apartment, and found a police report, dated a couple of weeks before, which had the EXACT same thing happen. If only we’d of seen this on our first day! We would of checked straight out!

Eventually, I got hold of Jonny, who offered the same lack of care.

We were blamed for not setting the alarm, or locking the door.
This, is nonsense. There were 5 of us in that apartment, and we ALL know we set the alarm and locked the door.

It is quite obvious to me that it is an inside job of sort.
Somone has another key for the apartment, and the alarm code.

They wait for the occupents to head out at night, and enter the apartment, and take everything they can.

I shared my concerns with Jonny:

Hi Jonny

I’m very disappointed with the lack of customer care we received whilst in Ibiza.

We had the distinct impression that you, nor Monique cared at all.  You said you would call us, however never did.

As soon as i rang Monique and asked for help, she immediately tried to blame us!

Like i said, i work in security, and one of the other guys is a CCTV installer, so we’re all clued up on security. The ONLY way someone got into that apartment is with a key, and the alarm code.

Please can you send me the full details of the apartment, including address and booking company name, so I can begin the lengthy process of claiming from our travel insurance.

Alex

And got this reply:

Hi Alex,
Thanks for your email. I am travelling for a few days and will send you the address for the apartment shortly.

Please understand that myself and Monica work directly for the owner of the apartment, and we are the messengers. Everything that you have asked or said to us has been directly referred to him, and any replies have been related back to you. He has sent me a reply to your email below.

Regards,
Jonny

´ I appreciate your comments, and I am sorry that you feel you were not properly looked after, however I do not share your point of view.

There is no-one else who has a key to the apartment, and no-one who has the alarm code. As I said to you when you were here, the alarm company confirmed that the alarm was not set when the break in ocurred and that is why it did not trip. I have sent the alarm company to review the system and it is working correctly.

You have compounded your situation over here by denouncing myself, and also Monica, neither of whom are at fault for what happened. We appreciate that there was a break in in the apartment and we are very sorry that it has happened, however, had you set the alarm correctly and put your money in the safe provided, then this situation could have been avoided. ´

Now, let me show you this “safe”

As you can plainly see, after a camera, couple of passports and wallets had been placed in there, it was full.
How we were supposed to fit 5 peoples worth of valuables in there, is anybodies guess.

The question still remains – how did they get in the apartment in the first place?

Simple answer – THEY HAD A KEY!!!!

The full address of the apartment was:

Edificio Luna y Sol, 3,3
C/ Don Bosco s/n
Sant Antoni 07820
IBIZA

And the details we were asked to pay the deposit into are:

Mr George Allen
SOLBANK
Paseo Maritimo, San Antonio
IBAN – ES03 0081 7039 01 0001 0763 15
SWIFT – BSABESBB

If this article helps just ONE person from getting conned, It’s been worth my while writing it.

Heres a few more pictures illustrating my point – the MUST of had a key!!!

Tags: ibiza, Scams, theft

Review of Hotel Mediterraneo Hersonissos, Crete

Four of us (all of us aged 21 – 23) recently stayed at the hotel Mediterraneo in Hersonissos, on an all inclusive board basis for a week.

We stayed here from 29th May 2009 for 7 nights.

First impressions were good – we were delayed by 4 hours, so got to the hotel around 1am, and were greeted by Manuel – the night shift receptionist, who gave us some dinner, and explained about the hotel, dinner times, etc…

All inclusive isn’t as you would expect:
Air conditioning is charged at extra €6 per day
Fridge is also an additional €6 per day.

The drinks are the real let down. The only ones available on all inclusive were:

• White / red wine
• Rosé
• Brandy
• Mythos (beer)

That’s really the only bad point about this hotel, but for 4 guys, out for a good time, it was pretty restrictive.

The food on the other hand, more than made up for it.
Breakfast was from 7am – 9:30am, lunch i think was from 1pm – 2:30pm and dinner from 7pm – 9pm.
A lot of other reviews moaned about the food, which I’m sure the hotel must of taken note of, as I couldn’t fault it.

There are two pools: One, on the left of the hotel, and one on the right.
We spent every day by the one on the right, as it was much less crowded, less screaming kids, and more sun beds available.
The pools are however, saltwater, which was a bit annoying.

Our rooms were a decent size, double / single beds (one of each in my room – resulted in time share for the double bed)

Malia

The main resort for young brits is Malia.
This hotel is located a fair way out of the town, which didn’t prove a problem to us, as we simply got a taxi there and back each night. This cost €15 each way, which wasn’t too bad, as somehow we always managed to stay together.

Tags: greece, hotel review, malia, partying

Iberostar Punta Cana – Dominican Republic

The bus took around half an hour from the airport, and drove us straight to the hotel.

First impressions were good – nicely kept gardens,  people working on them etc…

After arriving at the lobby, we were given little envelopes with our towel cards, door keys (swipe cards) and instructed to stick stickers that were inside the envelopes on our cases.

We were told that things in the mini bar were included! what a bonus! We’ll see at the end of the week though I guess.

We were also told that the safety deposit box would cost $2 a day… not a lot of money, however I’d expect the use of this to be included in a supposedly 5* hotel?

Also, the “introduction meeting” it was announced, would be at 9am the next morning, in the lobby. Early start, then.

We then found our way to our room (5275)

Here’s what we found:

 

[pics coming soon]

 

The bed was huge! And very comfy.
Decent sized bath and shower, and our balcony overlooked the gardens. Very nice.

Now, if only the weather wasn’t so shit, it would be perfect!

However, 2 small things:

1. The TV doesn’t work
2. The bathroom door – once closed, it’s very difficult to open! Essentially, you’re locked in!

Surely, these things will be easy to fix.

As always, when arriving at hotels of this size (and it is huge) we then walked around it, checking it out. Checked out the beach, pool area etc…

Tags: dominican republic, hotel review

Flight & Arrival in Dominican Republic

Although we live a short (45 min) train journey from Gatwick airport, we decided in light of the recent shit weather, to spend the night at Travelodge, Gatwick, to ensure we were there on time.

We booked our all inclusive holiday to the Iberostar Punta Cana, through First Choice (using yourholidays.com)

The flight was ok, nice amount of leg room on the 767 (Thomson Airways)
They charge you for EVERYTHING they possibly could – you can “upgrade” your in flight entertainment system, they charge you for drinks, snacks etc… (although 2 meals are provided…)

After landing in Punta Cana (through a lovely layer of cloud) we were hurried through Customs? where you’re forced to pose for a photo, with 2 girls with an array of fruit for a hat. Initially I thought this was the start of something of a “souvenir” however I know reckon it’s for security purposes… a somewhat “stealth” CCTV like system, as no body tried to flog me the picture of me looking tired and angry after a 9 and a half hour flight.

Oh, you have to pay $10 per person for the privilege of entering the country, much like a nightclub.
First Choice kindly forgot to tell us about this, at any stage of our journey.

As soon as you’re on what you would think is the home stretch, your bombarded by scores of men trying to take your luggage for you – just tell them no – it’ll cost you, and you’ll be walking around 100 metres (if you’re bus is “at the back of the carpark” as ours was)

Drink Prices In Stockholm

Now, everybody knows that drinks are pricey in Stockholm… but what does an "average" drink cost?

Well…. depends where you are:
GK (Göta Källare) which is in Södermalm (in Medborgarplasten metro station) has an event called 360 on a Friday night. The age limit is 20 according to the door staff, however some people I was talking to in the club were 18/19
They seemed to have a kind of happy hour, where the bottles of beer were 25-30 SEK, a vodka red bull was 98 SEK all night

Left is a receipt from the bar.

Another thing worth noting, most clubs accept payment by debit / credit card.
I would recommend getting a Nationwide Flex Account – as you are not charged by the provider for using the card abroad, either in shops or cash machines.

In Stureplan, drinks were a lot more, around 120 – 200 SEK for a vodka Redbull.

Tags: Money, partying, stockholm

Stockholm – Helpful People!

After arriving at around 6:30pm in Centralen (Central Station) I had a rough idea of where to go.
Walking around aimlessly with large suitcases isn’t much fun, so after admitting defeat, I decided to find help.
Help came in the form of a giant man, dressed in a long trench-coat.
I asked him where Tulegatan was (the road our hotel – Birger Jarl) is on, and he immediately whipped out his I-phone, tapped it into Google earth, and gave me accurate directions.

Considering this was the first (and only) person we asked for directions, we were pleasantly surprised.
Goes to show just how helpful and friendly the people in Stockholm are!

Tags: sweden

Arriving In Taba

We arrived at Taba Airport around 7pm, and, after a short (we’re talking 30 seconds) bus ride from the plane to the terminal, we were put into various que’s. One for people who wanted a visa, and one for people who didn’t.

If you intend to leave the Sinai, you’ll need a Visa.
That means, if you intend to go to Cairo, you will need one. If you only want to sit by the pool, you don’t.

There’s a big sign above the visa desk saying $15 however, the guy charged us

Marriott Resort

First impressions of the resort were very pleasant.
Although we arrived at night, the grounds still looked good.

We had filled in a check in card on the coach, so were checked in within literally 5 minutes, and shown to our room by a friendly chap.

I’d read that the staff here seemed to be miserable, however I didn’t find this the case.

After around 10 – 15 minutes, another man arrived with our cases. I gave him the customary $1 US bill tip, and took a shower, and headed down to dinner.

Dinner Time

Dinner at the Marriott (for those staying Half / Full Board) is provided in the Al Alandalus restaurant, located near the pool.

It’s a “help yourself” buffet, with many different things to choose from – various meat dishes, salads, homous, bread, pastas, fish (the fish by the way, is excellent)

For desert, they have on offer one of the larges selections of cakes etc… I’ve ever seen.

The same goes for breakfast. Large selection of fruits, cakes, hard boiled eggs, ceral, cakes and pastries.
Theres even someone cooking fresh omlettes if you want them.

Sickness

On our third day here, Michaela woke up to an upset stomach.
We took it easy, as the following day we were due to go to Petra. All day she drank water, took tablets & medicine, but to no avail.

Now thursday, 2 days after Michaela’s outbreak of illness, I myself have also fallen victim to this “Taba Tummy” bug.