Into every life, a little rain must fall—but not at these prices

To celebrate the winter holidays, my husband and I and our two children were looking forward to spending a relaxing week at the Half Moon resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica. We chose this property because we had heard it described in only the most glowing terms, and our expectations were very high. Our experience, however, left a great deal to be desired.

We stayed in one of the resort's six-bedroom Royal Villas, for which we paid $2,340 per night. Unfortunately, we arrived during a very rainy period, and it poured nonstop the entire time we were there. Consequently, the golf course, playgrounds, and horseback riding areas we had hoped to use were all unavailable to us, roads were closed, and the resort staff was minimal. None of this was the fault of the property, of course, but I do hold the Half Moon responsible for the condition of our villa: It had a leak in the ceiling, which required placing plastic garbage buckets in the living room and on the staircase to catch the dripping water. When the buckets overflowed, the marble floor became soaked, making it not only unpleasant but dangerous to walk around the villa—my toddler slipped and hit his head on the wet floor several times.

In addition, I found toenail clippings on one of the rugs that my son was playing on, and the toilet in our baby-sitter's room was broken. After being stuck indoors for five days under these miserable conditions, I was at the breaking point and could not endure the thought of staying another two nights. My husband and I hurriedly packed up our belongings, grabbed the children, and fled to the airport, where we were fortunate enough to catch a flight back to New York.

A few weeks later, when I received my credit card statement, I realized that we had been overcharged $385 for spa services that we had already paid for with gift certificates. After considering our ordeal, I decided to write to the resort, not only to dispute the spa charges but to demand a refund for the two nights we did not stay there. Management at the Half Moon apologized for and corrected the spa's billing error but said that the resort would offer us a refund for only one night, as a gesture of goodwill. Unsatisfied, I wrote a letter to the general manager, explaining the situation and requesting a further adjustment, but I have heard nothing more.

I feel that we were ripped off and that our accommodations did not meet the standard one would reasonably expect for the amount that we paid to stay at the Half Moon. Don't you agree?

Lori Alf Lakeview, New York

Ombudsman agrees that $2,340 a night is an awful lot to charge for a villa that's in the condition Alf describes—even one that comes with six bedrooms and its own swimming pool, butler, maid, gardener, and chef. We also wondered why the general manager did not respond to Alf's letter, so we contacted the Half Moon for some answers.

As often happens, there are some discrepancies between Alf's version of the story and the one we heard from the resort. They do agree on two things, however: There was indeed a leak in the villa's ceiling, and it was an extremely wet stay. Alf and her family arrived during the wettest Jamaican winter in 37 years, and the weather was by all accounts miserable. Half Moon's management says that although it wanted to repair the leak in the villa's belfry, this was not possible until the weather cleared. And since it rained for the duration of the family's stay, the resort said that it had no choice but to set up small plastic wastebaskets to collect the dripping water.