Malibu Village

When we booked this the resort it seemed to have so much promise, the photos on the website showed a clean, vibrant and lovely resort but we could not have been more wrong. Upon arrival we were allocated our room and went to unpack, the room was dirty and dangerously unsafe, I will go into detail below. 1. There was blood on the inside of the toilet door and on the wall next to the toilet roll holder. 2. The freezer compartment of the fridge had the door broken off it and the edges were very sharp. 3. There was only one power socket in the kitchen area, this was located directly behind the sink where it could easily get wet. As such you would only be able to use one of the five electric items in the kitchen at a time, at your own risk. 4. The plug sockets in the bedrooms moved when you plugged anything into them and sparked. 5. There was no light in the kitchen area, which meant food preparation in the evening would have been difficult and dangerous. 6. The bath/shower were not sealed around the edge so would have flooded the room if used. 7. The boiler was directly above the toilet making it uncomfortable for anyone over 5”2’ to use it. 8. The general state of the apartment was very dirty. I went to reception to complain and was told the only other available apartment was on the second floor as they were fully booked, no good for a disabled guest with limited mobility, eventually we were moved to another apartment on the ground floor, the layout was similar but this one was in a much better state of repair and was a lot less dangerous, although also not very clean. Before unpacking we had to wipe down all the surfaces and brush and mop the floor. So, after unpacking and having a well-earned cup of tea we ventured out to explore the complex and the pool area. I will split the review into areas. Apartments The standard of the second apartment in cleanliness was not much better than the first although it was very similar in layout there was none of the dangers of moving plug sockets, sharp edges in the kitchen and poor electrical socket placement. The lightbulb in the bathroom did not work I reported this to reception on the morning of the second day and was told they would come and fix this but on day seven it’s still was not working. The toilet was in a separate room to the bathroom which led to poor hygiene as you had to walk to a separate room to wash your hands. As mentioned above the large water tank was directly above the toilet so you were either banging your head against it or sitting at a funny angle. The accommodation itself looked tired and in need of a lick of paint and some TLC. The kitchen was suitably equipped apart from a small sharp knife which the blade came out of the handle. Some of the equipment was old but it worked. The bed settee in the living area was very uncomfortable for sitting and would’ve benefited from a few cushions. Adequate dining table and chairs. The bedroom was okay in size and had plenty

This place was probably really good 20-30 years ago. Currently it is shabby and run down. If you are ok with basic and just want the kids to have fun in the pool, then it's probably fine. Issues for us- initially they tried to palm us off in a 1 bedroom with sofa bed in the kitchenette (we'd booked and paid for a 2 bed). They said they didn't have anywhere else. Eventually they did find us another option, however it looked like staff or residential/ time share accommodation- it was very dated, there was a clutter of side tables and lamps, a grubby throw, a worn cat scratching post, the adjacent balcony was piled with old belongings and there were fag ends in the plant pots. We declined this room and could not be offered another. Overall the place is run down, lots of peeling paint, broken concrete pathways, missing slabs and coping stones. The grocery store heavily featured in the brochure is boarded up. The pool-side bar is sticky and not very clean, with a collapsed section of roofing covered over with a tarp and a plants. While the reception staff were really helpful and nice, the management (syndicate owned?) were clearly unhappy that we didn't want to stay. The more we didn't back down, the more 'managers' showed up to give us disapproving looks and tell the reception staff not to refund us. We did get them to agree a refund in the end, I have it in writing, but 2 weeks later, not in my bank account!!!