The Lost Village El Acebuchal

Booked this little hideaway for an overnight treat for my husband's birthday. Luc is a very kind and helpful host. The B&B is run in a friendly/professional way. Our double room with private terrace was clean, fresh, well appointed, with some quirky features, that we loved. The bed was amazingly comfortable and the ensuite shower room was remarkably good. The shower worked a treat! Dinner was delicious (wholesome), service was with love and breakfast was a blend of all things continental with a Spanish twist. Check in & out was seamless. We had a lovely time and would love to come back. Mr Donkey competes with Mr Cockerel at 4am (you have been warned!).

We decided to choose this B&B based on what we hoped would be a lovely break between our drive from Benahavis to Denia. My husband found us a quaint place to stay which in their booking site states allow pets [we have two small dogs, one frenchie cross with Boston terrier and pug cross with Jack Russell] so based on that and having been told that they have secure parking made our booking at The Lost Village El Acebuchal. The trip through Frigiliana was beautiful with green mountains cascading to our left and sea views on the horizon. There seemed to be a fair on as there were market stall set up throughout the village. Looking back I’d wished we had stayed there. My heart hit my throat the minute the road ended and we found ourselves on a dirt track in an old car, packed full of our belongings including our two dogs Ronnie and Luna and our newborn baby, which struggled its way up and then down the mountain towards The Lost Village. Which is when I came to understand the small Villages name. I barely kept my eyes open as we descended down the mountain towards what I hoped would be a safe haven for us to rest at following our 2 hour drive from Benahavis. The village was small with no more than one eatery to choose from which upon our hosts recommendations had booked for a late lunch. We followed the hosts instructions alongside the gps which led us to a open parking lot with no security. My husband parked and went to find the B&B to ask where the secure parking was and I stayed with our newborn by the car. Hungry and tired we were both so looking forward to a rest after the 2 hour drive. M [we shall call him M for reference] returned looking disappointed and told me that the man had been dismissive of us as guests and that they were not expecting any dogs and only have on street parking which is public. He also told him that we didn’t have to stay there if we didn’t want to… Confused and hungry as well as tired we decided to leave the car where it was and head to the restaurant which they recommended we try for lunch. (Please find my full review for Bar El Acebuchal) M sent the host who we had originally spoken with a message informing her how we had been so badly greeted and that they advertised themselves as allowing pets however do not and when prompted the question “is there secure parking?” We’re informed that there was however is not so would not be staying the night as we can’t leave a car full of expensive equipment in an open public parking space. We were trying to enjoy our lunch when we received a very long voice message in French for some bizarre reason from the host and replied with a message informing her that we don’t speak French. Not one of our interactions had been anything but in Spanish. Anyway we decided to finish our lunch and headed back to the car to continue our 5 hour journey onwards and upwards to Denia. An hour passed and we received another voice message from a very angry woman insisting that

Habíamos contratado x Booking 15 días. El pago fue por adelantado, 1.108 €. El acceso al lugar es muy muy malo, es por una pista estrecha forestal por momentos por cemento, por momentos por tierra. Allí no hay ningún servicio, solo un restaurante que dan comidas por la mañana. Tras 3 días, les comunicamos que nos íbamos, y les solicitamos el importe de los días no disfrutados, asumiendo nosotros la comisión de Booking. Nos mintieron, diciendo que debíamos hablar con Booking. mintieron a Booking diciendo que no habíamos ido, para no pagar la comisión. Se han negado a devolvernos dinero, y bloquearon nuestro número de teléfono para no hablar con nosotros. No atienden a razones. Las habitaciones, son muy pequeñas, el acceso es por escaleras. Los propietarios se han portado de forma desonesta.