I would like to start by saying the accommodation and staff when there were amazing- if it were not for the issues around payment and communication, I would have left a very good review.
We opted to pay at property on arrival, paying the little bit extra for this option to have some flexibility. I received a notification from my bank a week before travel that the apartments had attempted to take £935 (agreed price was £873). I stampeded to call them but I got no answer at all after hours of trying, so messaged on hotels.com with no reply. Eventually after stalking every communication method , someone responded via email that I had to pay full price of stay one week before travel (not pay at property as agreed). I assumed the difference in price was a safety deposit, so I contacted my bank to allow the payment.
We had a stay- apartment was clean, tidy, great location and lovely pool.
Upon checkout, I asked about the extra payment to be told that they had not taken a deposit. I was told as I booked via hotels.com to take it up with.
It transpires that the charge came through to my bank in English pounds not euros as agreed, as the card provider the hotel uses a process called dynamic currency conversion, so basically they exchange at the rate of their provider, which was an awful conversion. Had I paid at property as agreed, I would have incurred no fees as my bank does not charge to convert.
Word of warning- you will be charged before and will pay more than stated.