In Reply to: Will I or Won't I - Villa JBR ? posted by Colleen on Friday, 23. April 2010 at 02:32 Bali Time:
may have struck again!
Sadly there are so many "private residential villas" being let to unsuspecting tourists and getting the whole Bali Villa Market a bad name. If the Villa had been licensed (something intending holiday-makers should firstly ascertain before confirming a booking) and a member of the Association, you would have had some recourse.
I personally would have been "out of there" on the first day - when a preliminary inspection revealed so many inadequacies - to find alternative accommodation and seek compensation from my card provider by reversing payment.
Colleen's unfortunate experience should be taken as a lesson by others reading her reports. Be extremely cautious when booking through a website particularly if is a "single villa" operation. Ask for written acknowledgement that the Villa in question holds an appropriate licence to operate commercially before parting with any money as a deposit.
This will also indicate why the owners of BTF - operators of exclusive, well-managed (and licensed) villas of world-class standards take exception to the promotion of unlicensed villas on BTF which result in a number of posts about these being promptly deleted.
The operators of unlicensed villas pay no taxes and really should be stamped-out and wouldn't last long if everyone took the time to confirm the authenticity and if an appropriate license can not be verified, decline to make a booking with them.
Sadly, based on what Colleen has said about the owner's attitude, she would not be at all concerned about adverse comments on Trip Advisor because there will always be another "Colleen" finding her website.