Shortly before arrival to the residence the host sent a message via the airbnb app to advise the key for entry would be under the mat, we were not greeted personally by the host even thought she lived downstairs, there was no communication regards to parking on site, no rapport was built with the host. When we arrived on site the gate was closed and there was no clear indication as to where we should park as there was a single car driveway behind the gate. Opposite the gate was a congested narrow side street on top of a steep hill that made it more than difficult to move our luggage to our residence. We had to wait for the host to respond before we could determine where we were able to park.
Upon entering the property it was clean and tidy although all standalone fans in every room were blaring at full blast! I mentioned this to my partner as being a not so subtle way to suggest not using the air conditioning, in saying that the place was very warm it is the top floor of a residence with a southerly aspect in full view of the sun.
After settling in and having some dinner I filled the spa up looking forward to a long relaxing spa bath after a long drive! (this being one of the main attractions of the residence) after filling the spa I attempted to use the hot water to fill my sinus rinse and to brush my teeth but I noticed the hot water would no longer run, not thinking too much of this I jumped in for a nice relaxing spa bath, about 20 minutes in the spa it abruptly turned off! I tried turning it back on but to no avail not thinking too much of it I stayed in longer using it as a bath instead, once I returned to the room where my phone was there was a message from the host stating 'that I should give the spa a rest' of course this was written by the host around the time the spa abruptly turned off, after seeing this message it because clear I also realised that the air conditioning power was completely cut off, so were were left in a very hot residence with no ac and amenities had blatantly been cut off!
But unfortunately the story does not end here!
The communication from the host was the most abhorrent aspect of our experience. When we attempted to communicate with the host we were at the whim of the host to respond as the only line of communication was via text messages through the airbnb app. This is unusual as the host was living underneath us and there was no face to face contact at all. The host would message accusations of too much noise when we had the TV on at a very low volume and were barely able to hear it over the blaring fans, in fact I couldn't even hear it in the next room! The host then continued to make unreasonable demands and ordered us to vacate the premises, the host refused to respond to or clarify our requests for clarification of the accusations.
Eventually after the threats made for us to vacate the premises at 1am based on absolutely nothing and not receiving any clarification or response from the host we started to worry and feel very anxious about the whole situation not knowing our rights or fully understanding how or why this had escalated to the point that it did with the host asking us to vacate the premises, we were forced to contact AirBnb support at 2am in the morning to state our side of the story which was eventually ruled in our favour in the form of compensation. We would have just as easily left but being being peak season and the time of the request there was nowhere else for us to go and it would have been dangerous and unwise to attempt to drive for another 6 hours with minimal sleep.
After speaking with airbnb we felt comfortable enough to get some rest and put it out of our minds until morning, we left as soon as we woke up before check out time and could not leave fast enough!
This is the real kicker though the host then messaged to accuse us of stealing 3 towels!!! Obviously this was not the case, I responded respectfully denying this and then was met with a message in which the host claimed to know my personal details and I was called nasty, it was the final nail in the coffin and I was left in tears on the way home from an otherwise amazing trip to Sydney with family and friends.
I could not recommend this residence to anyone after experiencing the insanity that we did, I would advise anyone looking to have a private relaxed overnight stay to look elsewhere.
Part of being a host is being hospitable and freely being able to listen and communicate, many guests would be using this airbnb residence as a midway stopover between Brisbane and Sydney, airbnb guests are paying guests and should be free to use amenities available in the property that they have booked. Most people are private and respectful but do not take kindly to amenities being limited or very minimal noise being pointed out and told to stop. Hopefully no one else has to experience what we did on this particular stay.