Avoid wasting your hard-earned money and holiday time renting Patrice Sloan%26#39;s Villa on Borocay.
You may be considering renting Patrice Sloan Villa based on the owner%26#39;s web site postings. We did, and followed through with a booking in December 2008. We left a few days after arriving. It was better to leave the place and lose our money than stay in what turned out to be one of the worst holiday rentals you can imagine.
What the owner%26#39;s advertising fails to disclose is the fact the villa is located in what is essentially a slum. Tragically, people around the world are faced with horrific living conditions and many of us do what we can as relatively rich westerners to help with the underprivileged at home and abroad. The question is, do you want to spend your holiday in such a neighborhood? On the owner%26#39;s web postings, carefully angled photos of the Patrice Sloan Villa - which itself is a very fine house - crop out the corrugated tin roofed shacks next door, the plethora of garbage strewn about, the farm animals roaming the streets with their feces everywhere, the gangs of shirtless children marauding day and night. A giant septic-smelling pond sits across the street - beside which is something that would be laughable at best, if you didn%26#39;t spend your holiday time and money across the street from it: a cock-fighting farm. Yes, meters away from the house are located literally dozens of roosters being groomed for cock fights, sitting out of doors day and night. And if you think one rooster making noise is an issue, try dozens, day and night. This noise is inescapable anywhere in the villa so peace and quiet are out of the question. And if you think roosters start crowing at dawn, try again - more like 3:30 am until well after nightfall. For anyone with animal rights concerns, having animals in your full view throughout your holiday which are being groomed to be abused for the pleasure of gamblers is just plain depressing.
In such a neighborhood, you may think that extra attention has been paid by the owner to securing the villa. Every lock on every window was broken. While bars exist on the lower story windows (and you%26#39;ve got to ask yourself why they are necessary to begin with) there are no bars on the upper story windows. Neighborhood residents (or perhaps not neighborhood residents…) marched through the yard at will. A fence surrounding the villa can be easily scaled - we watched people do it. There is no safe in the house for passports, cameras, wallets, etc. So if you are concerned about your physical security or the security of your possessions, our advice is to be wary.
After having such a unexpected and unpleasant stay, we complained to the owner. While we asked for a refund, we really weren%26#39;t expecting one; we thought at least though the owner would acknowledge the issues. Like the worst of any bad service experience, the individual responsible for the lack of disclosure about the villa%26#39;s setting and the poor state of security in the house simply took no responsibility. Tough luck, essentially was the owner%26#39;s response. No wonder the owner demands payment in full before arrival...
We went to Borocay at the worst time of the year for crowds, and the weather was relatively poor - neither issue of course the responsibility of the owner of Patrice Sloan%26#39;s villa. We felt though that posting a full disclosure of our experience would help any future holiday renters know exactly what they were getting into if they rented the place. The owner of Patrice Sloan%26#39;s villa certainly isn%26#39;t prepared to do that…
You%26#39;ve got choices on where to stay. Why risk it?
Boracay Beware. Patrice Sloan Villa Warningseveral points, first you no doubt chose this place based on low prices first, second the area you describe is somewhat common with the off beach areas in some place and what you perceived as slums may be just families living their lives, next you did not say anything happened to you or that you had a problem while there........and next, I suggest you put your comments under their hotel specific feedback page. Any one last question..why did you not check your own advice to check the place you were to stay at...we all know websites can be misleading. Price ruled your choice..
Boracay Beware. Patrice Sloan Villa WarningI find no problem with this post being posted of this forum. I would recommend reposting under hotels where it might reach more people considering this facility. Sorry you had such a bad experience and hope that this experience did not ruin your whole visit to Boracay.
Leftovertoo: you assume again and assuming makes an a.s.s. out of you. How do you know it was the price why Canadiantraveler40 rented Sloanes villa? did you talk to him outside this Forum? Maybe he choose it because it looked serene in the web site pictures. Shouldn%26#39;t we ask him before blaming him?
You are very fast in a.s.s.uming.
burpa, I suggest you look at the website and check rates first. Its my opinion........and like your opinion I am entitled to it after doing a bit of research.
I guess it%26#39;s pretty common on off-site locations. As far as severity and situation on what you see, pass through, noise, etc, varies and depends on how the management handles the situation. I checked the website and there%26#39;s only a picture of the building facade and the inside and nothing else from the outside except for the main beach. There was no mention of 24-hour security but then it should be the standard for all guest houses. That%26#39;s why I don%26#39;t rely mostly on websites as they could be decieving.
The Philippines is a developing country and sad to say, you will always find ';horrific living conditions';. But I think Boracay, a major tourist destination is unregulated and clearly there%26#39;s no zoning for commercial businesses and residential areas. There%26#39;s just too much going on and sad to say the island will loose her image in the future if everything remains unregulated. As far as environmental issue, I guess that%26#39;s a whole different story.
Leftover: opinion and assumption are two things.....
canadiantravellor40,
...I am sorry that you had a less than enjoyable experience
...of the location ...as a word to the wise...it is true that you need to do your homework first
...obviously your security concerns were valid
..as to the location it can indeed be a shock to see living conditions in for instance a squatters area especially if you have not experienced it before.
..most foriegners are culture shocked initially when they see how people live
..as for the roosters well they are a part of the local areas and during many of my trips are quite reliable as an alarm clock
...Boracay is a lovely place and I am sure that if you had found accomodation at Daves Straw Hat Inn,
Island Jewel,Hey Jude,or other budget minded resorts you would have a more positive experience
..thanks for the post..forewarned is forearmed
Rob
Regarding the roosters, that is not a surpise to me. When I was in Aklan Jan 2007 I stayed in Lezo, near Kalibo, for a few days. There were many homes where cocks were being raised, and they would start crowing about 3 am. This coming trip I am bringing earplugs :)
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