This villa's reception is only reachable by water — and check-in itself only works if the guest completes an online step first, for an access code nobody told them they'd need.
Most check-in methods are variations on the same idea: arrive, show ID, get a key. This villa, close to a body of water and reachable only by boat, doesn't work that way — and the difference isn't obvious until a guest is already standing at the water's edge.
An access code that has to be earned online, first
Guests are required to check in online before they travel. That online step is what generates the OTP — the actual access code needed to reach the villa. Skip it, and there's no key waiting at a desk to fall back on. A guest who arrives unaware of how the system works can be denied their own reservation, at a property that's genuinely difficult to just turn around and leave.
None of this is unreasonable on the property's part — it's simply how this specific villa runs. The risk isn't the requirement itself, it's a guest finding out about it for the first time by boat, on arrival.
The strangest check-in requirements are rarely a real problem — as long as somebody tells the guest before they're standing in front of it.
What re-verification caught
rePUSHTI was made aware of the villa's requirements while re-verifying the booking, and passed them on to the travel agent in time — so the guest checked in online, had their OTP ready, and arrived already knowing exactly how the property worked.
