Casitas Classiques Villacana

Our family and very many friends who have also been to VILLACANA on several occasions, over the period of a number of years, were very surprised to read some of the adverse reports about Casitas. We have always found Shirley Whyte and all the rest of the staff very efficient, very helpful and extremely honest.We have by now ( between all the many families that have visited their houses ) probably stayed in at least 25/30 units and have always found them to be in good condition, excellent positions and we have no complaints whatsoever. If ever there was something amis, it was fixed or re placed immediately, where ever possible.Casitas have been on the complex for some 30 years now, and I doubt if they would still be there if they were doing something wrong !! After all, Owners ( who give them the units to rent out on their behalf ) would not continue doing so year after year after year. Also renters would vote with their feet and not continue to rent with them ! As it is their houses are always fully in demand. I know because, often when we have not booked early, we simply cannot get in !!There is always going to be someone who isn't happy, there is, after all, the type of person who is not content until they are complaining about something !! We all know those kind of people don't we. There are around in every business.New renters give them a try, you will be pleasantly surprised.Another comment, to the previous writer, who apparantly got a bargain over Xmas, Perhaps the OWNER of the property that he rented was not too happy with the low rent he received !! It works both ways you know, low rent happy renter, unhappy owner who takes away their house from the agency !!We shall be returning again this year ( only 4 families this time !! )

We decided at the last minute to book an apartment for Christmas 2003 and the new year. I spoke with Shirley who quoted £750 as an excellent deal for what was 16 days! It certainly sounded good, but when I came to book no one answered the phone. I then spoke with an owner from the net, and then with Tessa at Costa del Sol holidays ***could I do better? I rented a 2 bed 2 bath property under their 2 for 1 scheme for £572.I even rang Casitas Clasicas in Spain to offer them the opportunity to compete, the girl I spoke to virtually laughed at me. I expect you had let every apartment that you manage on behalf of your owners for you to be able to turn away Customers albeit those of us who always try to get a last minute bargin. Customer service - this is where you the agent service us the Customer. Competition - Market Forces - Vote with your feet! All you had to do was answer the phone and you would have got my business now you've lost it for ever, but never mind your loss is someone elses gain after all I'm just another bothersome Customer!

After having booked, I read some of the comments. I was very nerveous to go there. We totally paid 1800 euro (flight, app., and car) for ten days. We have been there this september, and we do wish to come back next time (also in september). We, my husband and 3 year old son) have had a wonderful time! We had a 2 rooms appartement also in Andalusianstyle. O.k., perhaps a few things in the appartment could be (re)done. But hey, it was very clean and everything you can imagine was present (microwave, wasmachine, oven, toaster, television, coffeemachine, BBQ on terrace etc. etc.). Two terraces (one on the roof). Great view!The app. was in the "Calle de Patricia". Beautyfull, well kept, gardens. Nice People.Restaurant at the pool has a very nice menu and lovely waiters who also took care of the "rules" (also great with children). The same for the restaurant on the beach side.Again, we are going back. Not via Casitas, but via an other organisation. But I do not know if I'm allowed to give that information (advertizing) here in this review. So therefore I'll wait for an answer of the webmaster.The Pool was clean and safe for small children. And I think that no other accomation is such clean and beautifull (after 25 years) as Villacana.

Unfortunatly I read the reviews on this page before I went out to Villacana (through Casitas Classiques, English Office - Shirley Whyte)!! I very nearly cancelled ny holiday, because of the views I read here. Thankfully I did NOT. We have just returned from Two lovely weeks at Villacana. Our 2 bed/2 bathroom Apartment was in the oldest part of the South section and they were actually measuring up for a refurb' to the kitchen whilst we were there. In my opinion it was very nice as it was. We paid £450 per week and in my opinion the standard for the price was exceptional. The decoration was, as has been said previously, Alcudian, and I would not want it any other way, the spainish style tiling everywhere only adds to the charm. We too had louvre doors on the toilets and I had to laugh at the previous reviewers comments, becasue try as you might you couldn't sit on the loo and watch the T.V. through them let alone worry about your own children trying to peek in. We had wonderful views of the gardens from our bedroom/sun terrace. My mother & father joined us our 2nd week to celebrate his 70th birthday. They had a small 1 bedroom apartment. Which was clean, tidy and well furnished and perfectly acceptable to them. (They actually own a 'Luxury' timeshare in Scotland, which is obviously a much higher standard, and could only comment that you get what you pay for!). Villacana itself is in ideal setting for all age groups, I am only sad mine are now teenagers and missed visiting this place as children. The Restaurant's on-site are all worth visiting, but we would recommend the new beach bar ' Barracuda Restaurant' - the food is gourmet style and wonderful. Also if your around on a sunday don't miss a walk along the beach to Sharky's Bar....and a jug of Sangria. The moral of this story is don't believe everything you read....I actually wonder if ALL the reviewers on this page are holidaymakers? After all we don't go on holiday to sit in the apartment, checking out all the nooks & cracks, we spend most of the time on the beach and out enjoying the country we are visiting....Enjoy you trip to Villacana, we might see you there becasue we will be back...

Casitas Classiques have long been known by owners at Villacana for their less than desirable business practices. Owners and renters equally have been victims of this company. They used to operate from offices on -site,not anymore, off-site up on the main road is where they are now.I and my family stayed in a less than desirable accomadation advertised as "luxury" by Casitas. No amount of comlaining made a bit of difference. The owners write with contempt about Barretts being "timeshare" as though it is a dirty word. We moved to Barretts and the accomadation was Luxury, the service great, and the price excellent. A previous review says it all of Casitas--DON'T.

I read with interest the differing opinions regarding Villacana with Casitas Classiques and would like to add my own opinion. We stayed for 2 weeks during June/July and I agree that Villacana is beautiful and the gardens and grounds extremely well kept but .... I disagree with the comment made by the "schoolteacher" who said that people should accept the apartments for what they are "of Adalucian design". This doesn't mean shabby, broken and in need of repair as our apartment was. My parents had a one bedroomed apartment. The builders were in the next door apartmentfrom 7.30 am renovating and removing tiles from the bathroom wall. The noise was abysmal. My parents made the lengthy walk through the resort to the Casitas Office to ask Susanna how long this was going to continue. She argued that she had been assured there would be no noise. They asked her to come down and make her own mind up. She declined. This went on for four days. All my parents wanted was a quiet apartment. But Casitas refused to move them saying they were exaggerating! Great start to our holiday. Our apartment was also shabby and basic and had an overall feeling of neglect. It makes sense, why would owners who probably only stay in their accommodation for a few weeks a year, furnish them in high standards when they intend put them in the hands of a letting agency who them rent them out to holiday makers who may or may not take great care of them?. All-in-all the accommodation lets Villacana down. Some people accept lesser standards as normal but when Mrs. Whyte advertises "luxury" apartments it really is stretching the truth a little. I also tried to get in touch with her on my return but so far she hasn't even bothered to reply. It is true to say the advertised tennis, night club, jacuzzi etc does belong to Barratt's part of the resort but Barratt's security don't allow you onto their complex unless you can payable locally. Once again Mrs. Whyte stretches the truth. Its also laughable to suggest that just because celebrities visit Villacana the accommodation must be brilliant. Speak to people with first hand knowledge and then make up your mind. I will definitely be back but either with a different company or in a Barratt apartment. Do yourselves a favour ask to see inside a Barratt apartment then decide whether the Casitas apartments are typically Andalucian or just typically shabby.

As an owner of one of the properties at Villacana, which we also holiday at and rent out, I feel a responsibility to respond to some of the adverse comments on this site. Villacana has a professionally run management committee responsible for all aspects of the south part of the complex, which are privatly owned dwellings, rather than the north part which are 'timeshare'. The committee always endeavors to improve any aspect which is brought to its attention. As mentioned in these mails, a variety of agents operate on the owners behalf and most have a minimum level of standard, which in most cases is stringent. Many, but not all properties have air conditioning, and the holiday maker should ensure that this requirement is noted prior to booking. The statement that the Gym, Tennis Courts, Jacuzzi and bar are 'owned by Barratts', is correct in the first three, though contractually, usage is available for a few pesatas a day, through a booking system that works well, even in the busiest times of the year. I was pleased to see the comment - Villacana is a beautiful location in a perfect setting - for that is the truth, and, if luxury at an affordable price is what you are looking for, especially if you have children, you will be very pleased with your choice. Having researched that area of the Costa del Sol for some years, there are no other resorts that are; as child friendly, on the beach, with all the facilities, as beautiful, as well kept, as security concious, with as many pools, with as many restuarants and a supermarket, etc. etc. Should you wish to see more typical accommodation, address any queries to me through our web site, you can use our e-mail address: postmaster@villacana.co.uk, or you can call: 00-34-952-880785.

I am amazed and shocked to read the comments posted on this site about Casitas Classiques and Shirley Whyte (correct spelling!)and feel as a regular Villacana vistor I must comment! I have used Casitas Classiques for years and have never experienced any of the exaggerations mentioned previously. I have always found the apartments to be clean, welcoming and pleasantly decorated, louvre doors in tact. Which by the way are private as my young family have found out by trying to look. This is an Andalucian site therefore interior furnishings and doors should be of local design don't you think? Her staff are always very willing to help my family and I at any request normally above and beyond their job descriptions and I don't think I have ever seen Paco go home!! I have never found them to pretend to 'not understand'. I feel perhaps expecting someone in Spain to speak perfect English can only be put down to pure English/Scottish ignorance! Casitas Classiques have been on the Villacana site for over 25 years and have over 4000 vistors many who like myself return year after year. They have even been on the telly on a 'Holiday' special!! Yes there are other agents on site (not timeshare) who in my opinion are small timers - Casitas is the largest and longest standing - many agents have been and quickly gone. They have over 100 villas available, surely 100 individual owners cannot be that wrong with their choice of agent? The reason I have written this to such extent is that I know Casitas well and trust them with my well earned money to arrange all aspects of my holiday which they do efficiently and helpfully to the point of us visiting 2/3 times per year. I know many families that return each year and have met famous ones too such as a Capital radio DJ, first division footballer who yes played in the World cup and a TV host - they all holidayed/bought through Casitas. Something we are still saving up to do! It's a great shame that today's holidaymaker has become someone who will try their hardest to get a freebie/compensation and is not satisfied until they do. On speaking to staff in Spain I found out the apartment mentioned by our Scottish friend was one I stayed in earlier this year. It did have a new bathroom and kitchen and the rest of the villa was in very good condition, I really am confused now as to where all the other unhappy holiday makers have got to - obviously to unhappy to mention it on this site! Villacana was started in 1971 but not finished for years later I should know I was there and just one other correction, the brochure has been updated as I have the old and new one - sorry that's just the teacher in me that hates to read errors. Take a leaf out of Spains book, relax, rest and sit back you would enjoy your holiday alot more. To all other possible future visitors it's a great place to holiday, organised by a company that knows their thing! I will stop now as I could go on but I have more childish homework to correct.....

My family and I recently rented three types of accommodation with Casitas Classique at Villacana in Spain. We had a one bedroom apartment that should have been able to sleep 4 persons, but what they failed to tell us what that to get to the bathroom you had to go through the main bedroom. The bathroom door was of the louvre type which was hardly private. The furniture was of a mismatch, old and needed replacing. Nothing matched. The kitchen was constently overrun with ants, the woodwork and walls were dirty and need repainting. The brochure advertises as luxury apartments. They may have been luxurious when they were first built but needed a complete refurb. I find out while we were staying at Villacana that the brochure Mrs Shirley Whyte sends was produced some many years ago and she is still using it. I contacted her while we were in Spain and said we were not happy and her response was we were in one of her sort after apartments and nobody else had complained. Not good enough I would say. I sent her a letter with photographs and have had no response. There are plenty of very nice apartments on the complex but only available from other agents. I would avoid Casitas Classiques and try the other agents, the costs were no different.

Having just returned from 2 weeks in Villacana it seems a great opportunity to warn travellers tempted to book one of Casitas advertised luxury apartments or villas. In a word - don't. Villacana is a beautiful part of Costa del Sol. The gardens and tiny streets are a joy to behold and the gardeners work constantly to keep the place looking amazing. However, you are immediately disappointed on entering your rented accommodation. Villacana was built in 1971. Many of the apartments have the original bathrooms and kitchens dating from this time. Our particular apartment was dire. There were broken tiles on the step out into the garden, rotting wooden doors, beds with no headboards,filthy barbecue and finally the 2nd bedroom had a little balcony over which two birds nests had been built. The bird droppings were piled up and had attracted ants, flies and it was a truly disgusting sight. The apartments are not air conditioned and the heat upstairs was unbearable. We had dealt with Casitas UK office, solely with the company director, Mrs. Shirley White and she had assured us personally that this was an extremely lovely apartment. We decided to contact the Spanish Office which is a 15 minute walk up through the resort and try and sort something out. Susanna, who works in the office told us that she could probably offer us a move to another apartment but it would be worse than the one we were in as at least our apartment had a new kitchen and bathroom. We told her this was not good enough and she suggested we write down our complaints and she would fax them to Mrs. White in the UK. By this time we had realised that Villacana is actually 2 separate resorts, Villacana North which is solely Barratt Timeshare (these apartments are fabulous and we ended up renting one) and Villacana South which are all privately owned apartments and Casitas acts as agents for the owners and is really a letting agency. Casitas don't make it clear that the Gym, Tennis Courts, Jacuzzi and night club all belong to Barratt and owed to use these facilities. Anyway we decided to try and recoup some of our money as we had negotiated with Barratt to rent one of their apartments at a cost to ourselves. Mrs. White's answer to our fax was that she would be happy to pass our complaints onto her Lawyer! and that we would be getting no money whatsoever returned. The amount of unhappy holidaymakers around Villacana only confirmed what we already knew - that the apartments are in dire need of upgrading. They are shabby with mismatched furniture, no air conditioning and some of the people we spoke to listed endless faults from broken crockery, bad drainage, dangerous electrical wiring, wobbly bidets and on and on. Casitas do nothing at all. They sometimes pretend they don't understand English or they make you come back in 3 hours, tomorrow,tonight, whatever it takes to get rid of you. Beware of this company. Villacana is a beautiful location in a perfect setting but appearances can be deceiving. If you like your holiday home to be a little bit of luxury then this is not for you. These apartments are only given two keys locally in other words they are basic and anything you need such as fans, TV, Highchair in fact anything extra (Mrs. White sends you a list)you have to hire from Casitas so the cost of your holiday escalates as well. Their hire equipment is a joke. Our TV didn't work, the fans when switched on covered everything in fluff and dirt and the highchair was broken and unsafe. My son nicknamed the casitas employess the "Junk Men" as all they did was move junk to the various apartments. Its time Casitas was a little more honest with it's clients they you might not be so disappointed when you arrive.