~ No mattress on the bed, faulty electrical without explanations. ~
POINTE BLANCHE: --- A couple who returned to the island under a week ago shared their horror story with SMN News on Wednesday evening at an apartment (unit) at the Tamarind Hotel in Pointe Blanche.
The couple, who preferred to have their identity protected, said their misery started the evening they arrived on the island last week. They said they booked an Airbnb on bookings.com, which showed the apartment as being at Little Bay.
“When we arrived at Little Bay, we were told there was no reservation under our name. Immediately, I felt something was not right, but I decided to look all over Little Bay for the apartment and could not locate it. I even went to Paradise Hall, and it was there that they told me that the apartment is in Pointe Blanche and that I should know that Little Bay ends in Pointe Blanche.”
The couple explained they spent hours trying to locate the apartment. They clarified that they were no strangers to St. Maarten because they once lived and worked on the island. They said they eventually opted to go by someone’s house in Belvedere and wait for the person managing the apartment to pick them up and take them to the apartment.
“When we were taken to the apartment, we realized that people are being misled about the Airbnb units on St. Maarten. As we reached the apartment, we discovered the electrical system was faulty because there was no switch to turn on the lights as you entered; a drop cord had to be plugged in where multiple items were plugged in.
The Airbnb apartment had only two towels and no mats on the floor. The stove was also in a deplorable condition.
The other mystery was only discovered when the couple retired to bed after a long day of traveling. It was then that they realized that the bed had no mattress and only a very hard box spring, which made it impossible for them to sleep on the bed.
The couple said they requested that a mattress be provided the following day, and the person managing the apartment at Tamarind Hotel made promises, but the mattress was never provided.
The couple said they were forced to sleep on a small click-clack couch, making sleeping almost impossible at night. They explained that they asked for a change of towels since no one checked on them to provide clean towels or sheets, and nothing was given to them. Besides the filthy unit surrounded by bush, the couple said that parking at the Tamarind Hotel is almost impossible for visitors, all of which they reported, but no satisfaction was given. On top of that, they said they could not get internet in the unit, something SMN News experienced while in the unit Wednesday evening.
When the couple checked in, Different Paradise Rental handled the cash payment. The couple explained that they were told on Wednesday that the company would refund them, but they do not know how much or when. In a follow-up statement, the couple said that they were not reimbursed and that they received several text messages from the owner of the unit, who told them that they did not expect "black people" like them to make the situation public and that they were trying to help out." The couple said that they were in UNIT 11 at the TAMARIND HOTEL. They said they intend to contact bookings.com when they return to the USA today.
A video of the apartment can be found here.
