Studying here was wonderful. I'm going to miss everybody who I met and shared nice times with. I will return, I promise!

As I leave I am very motivated to continue learning the language and with this program I think I have a solid foundation.

I’m very pleased with the school staff; they provide brilliant service.

I was impressed. The class size was small- 5 students from 5 different countries. I was in a beginners class. The teachers were excellent. I was amazed at how fast I learned. I stayed with a family. They were friendly. The accomodations were basic but acceptable. The food was good. I would recommend this school to others without hesitation. The school is serious. The classes do require concentration and homework- but that is exactly what I wanted.

We arranged our own accomodations so I can't rate theirs. My young teenage daughters and I had a fun week here. The class size was very small, the teachers were good, the atmosphere was very pleasant, the other students were fun to be around. My kids were the only kids but they enjoyed private lessons which included games, walks through the town etc.

Solexico’s number one priority is collecting payment in full NOT student experience or student learning! Once they receive payment, their commitment to the student’s experience and their program’s efficacy disappears entirely. I planned for and paid for 4 weeks of Spanish class and 4 weeks of home stay accommodation at Solexico. Before I paid for this month-long program in full if I emailed a question about their program I would get a response within 12-24 hours. After I paid and was some having difficulties at the school once I arrived, it was over a week before I received a response to my first email inquiry. The following sums up my experience with Solexico which is owned by Don Quijote Spanish schools. The first day I arrived there was an issue about my books. I paid $45 dollars online for books prior to arrival. My first day I was sent to the school secretary to receive my books. I was a given a difficult-to-read photo-copied “book” which clearly stated on its front cover the cost was 200 pesos which is about $15 dollars. It also stated the book was optional and you could put a 200 peso deposit down which was refundable when the book was returned. Another student also starting that day was given this option but I was told since I paid online my book was obligatory and what I paid was non-refundable. Solexico charged me $45 dollars for a $15 dollar photo copied book and when I questioned this policy the secretary at the school became defensive, spoke to me rudely, shoved the book across the counter at me stating “this is your book!” She would not even listen to what I was saying nor offered any workable resolution. Just that “this is how it is.” Despite this issue with the book, my first week of study was good and both the grammar and conversation classes had 2 students each and the level was perfect. I expected and was excited to have the same grammar teacher for my second week as first he was phenomenal and second from my prior experience at 2 other language immersion schools, having a consistent grammar teacher week-to-week facilitates rapid advancement more effectively than changing teachers every week. However, Monday morning of my second week I was put in a different class with 6 students at a level too advanced for me. At the first break I went and talked to one of the organizers about where my grammar teacher from week one was and that I thought I should change levels. I was told the grammar teacher I had the first week wasn’t hired back for a second week. This struck me as very odd as this was obviously a very busy week at the school and if they were committed to student learning they would have every qualified professor available teaching classes so the students get the attention they need to progress appropriately and are placed in the appropriate level. I realize all Solexico’s information states there can be up to 6 students even max of 8 students at busy times but if you have a qualified teacher able to teach and you have that many students why diminish your program by packing students into classes and not having a wide enough variety of levels available. The first week my grammar level class was perfect. The second week the first class they put me in was studying the subjunctivo tense and the class they changed me to was just beginning to study the preterito. That was a huge level shift from fairly advanced concept to a beginning concept and neither one of these levels was the accurate placement for me. Further, if you have a 55 minute conversation class with 6 students no matter how good the professor is there is not an adequate amount of practice time per student. If the professor takes an average of 10 minutes of the total class time explaining things or keeping the class moving with questions etc, that only leaves 45 minutes left divided between 6 students equals around 7 minutes per student to practice their conversation skills. 7 minutes of conversation class really isn’t sufficient for substantial language advancement. I realized this limited amount of conversation time was not going to be sufficient for my progress goals so the second day of my second week I asked about changing to private conversation classes. The organizer I spoke with was polite and said perhaps they could give me a discount since I there were so many students and I already had to change grammar class etc. He told me to speak with the secretary. Again, the secretary (from the book debacle) spoke rudely to me, pulled out her calculator and gave me the figure to change my program, (which ironically even offering me a discount would have meant more money for the school) said “there are no discounts” in a condescending manner and dismissed me. I went back to the organizer in tears and just said leave it as it is. When I emailed the main office about my issues I did not receive any response for over a week and was told to speak to the school secretary if I had any problems. Finally, my home stay. I was placed in a family which rents out 4 other rooms in their house as well as owning 2 other houses where they also rent out rooms. The idea for me which is consistent with what is written about home stays in Solexico’s information and consistent with my previous experiences is that you are living with a family to experience a traditional family life, to practice your Spanish and learn about their culture. Because the main occupation of this family is renting out rooms, staying here is more like staying at a hostel where there were different people in and out every day rather than living with a traditional family. They served a continental “breakfast” of toast and fruit 8 of the 11 mornings I ate there. I never had eggs, or beans with tortillas as a morning meal which is pretty traditional from my understanding. Nearly every breakfast I ate alone at the table or with another renter from another country and many of the evening meals I ate alone as well. The family is polite and the room is nice but as far as a traditional home stay experience it was not that. Finally, I stayed at the house for 11 nights and I paid them to stay for 27 nights including paying for breakfast and dinner for all those 27 days. At this time, I have not been refunded any money for any nights I paid for but didn’t use. Not even a disengaged, large hotel chain has the insensitivity to charge for 16 unused nights and 32 unused meals if you had to cancel your reservation. Over the weekend after my second week I decided not to return to Solexico as it seemed I was making little progress with my Spanish and the way everything thus far had been handled I felt very uncomfortable. I again wrote to the main office about what had transpired for me at Solexico but heard nothing back. I finally wrote to Don Quijote who owns Solexico and then the next day I receive an email from the director of Solexico. I explained what had occurred and asked for a refund of my 2 weeks or course fees and 2 weeks of home stay costs. The director agreed to refund some of this money on January 20th. Although I’ve written him twice now about this refund, I still have not received the refund nor has he written me back to clarify when the refund will be issued. I am not sure if anyone in management at this school or the Don Quijote/Solexico organization has a commitment to student learning and problem solving. Students pay with their hard-earned money to come to Solexico, to study Spanish and to experience something different. Good organizations from all over the world realize a fundamental principle of doing business is they have jobs because consumers choose their company. The people that work for Don Quijote/Solexico have jobs because students choose to study with them over the hundreds of other Spanish schools available to choose from. Therefore, from the management to the professors and the secretary everyone at the school should be 100% committed to the student’s success. If you are offering books for 15 dollars to one person you can’t tell another person they have to pay 45 dollars. If you guarantee appropriate class level placement then you have to hire enough professors to meet those needs not cram as many students as possible into each class. If a student pays for a home stay with a traditional family they shouldn’t get a hostel experience. If a student has a problem or needs to make a change, you need to speak to them with basic courtesy and look for a workable solution that conveys concern and a commitment to student success.

2015 11 04 - IT IS ALL ABOUT THE $$$. You think you are dealing with Solexico in Playa del Carmen, but it is part of the Don Quijote group which is reality Enforex in Spain. Students have to pay the full tuition 2 weeks prior to their course. Payments are processed thru Enforex in Spain. My experience is they have difficulty tracking your paymnents. I received multiple emails (a) reminding me about the contract with don Quijote / Enforex, and (b) saying I owed money - despite me making payments online via Visa - a $200 deposit and then a final payment for the balance. When I sent them emails and receipts they were always several steps behind me. I never received the courtesy of a reply to my emails advising what I had paid. I only received form letters stating I owed money. Disappointing way to start the program.