This entry was posted on Sunday, May 23rd, 2010 at 9:30 am and is filed under costarica. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Costa Rica Travel and Vacation
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Renting A Villa In Costa Rica?
My family and are looking into renting a villa in Ocotal Costa Rica this summer, we looked online at a few places and saw this one villa called Villa Estrella Ocotal Costa Rica, there are a few websites and here they are 1.) http://www.villaestrella-costarica.com/ and 2.) http://www.costaricastarvillas.com/ and I sent an inquiry to Robyn Anderson email- vacation@villaestrella-costarica.com. She has her mobile number on the email signature but also a 1888 number? She has prepared contracts but says that the money needs to be wired to an account. I have heard of scams happening like this before and I am a little risky about this since it is 6,700 for my family and I for 5 days can someone please help me out, Thanks So Much
I went to trip advisor and they say that there is a Villa Estrella and the pictures match up but Im just not sure I have not yet gotten an address on it and Im scared to go through with this and no know if it is a scam
2 Responses to “Renting A Villa In Costa Rica?”
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May 23rd, 2010 at 10:25 am
read the reviews in tripadvisor: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g675687-d1218142-Reviews-Villa_Estrella-Playa_Ocotal_Province_of_Guanacaste.html
I am from the area, and I never hear of it. I asked several neighbours and they didn’t know nothing.
In Costa Rica there is a lot of scams (specially done by Americans ex-pats), the laws are very weak and shaky, and the crime right now is out of control, just be careful, if something sounds to good to be truth don’t do it.
EDIT: Ask them for the exact address ( here we say: from the corner store, 100 mts. south, per example, we don’t have real addresses like the US), tell them you want to see it in google earth or something like that, or curiosity, per example, and then posted here, and I’ll go to check up or run it with the neighbours.
May 23rd, 2010 at 10:57 am
First of all, you have every right to be scared – NEVER, NEVER wire MONEY, unless you know the person it is being wired to. Costa Rica is just like a lot of places, there are scam artists everywhere.
Second, a legit company would have a credit card deposit or something like Paypal (many business in CR use Paypal). When paying a deposit by credit card, look for the s after the http (e.g https//www.website.com) this means it is a secure and decrypted transaction. NEVER, Never, put in personal financial info into a form whose URL does not have the https. And avoid if possible giving credit card info over the phone.
Third, a deposit should never be more than 50%, many have 10-20% deposits. Over 6 grand seems like a lot of money for 5 days. You can rent a very nice villa for $1500 a week, where the deposit is only 500-$800.
Personally I would shop around, or get more info from the company like where can I put a credit card deposit down?
The company could very well be legit, but an ounce of prevention goes a long way.
Another thing, you can contact Mark or Lourdes at http://realestatecostarica.com, and have either one investigate.
Good Luck and you did the right thing by asking for information