I booked Tides to celebrate my 4oth birthday for myself and 19 friends and family - I had a very mixed experience of the property and the host Nicole. I will start with the good stuff.
The Good:
The house is beautiful, the pool and hot tub are gorgeous, the living rooms are spacious and in a beautiful setting, set in the hinterlands and several of the bedrooms were fantastic with a double and a single bed in most rooms. it's a house for hosting people and not for living in, so it suits large groups coming together.
The Bad:
*No privacy* We felt constantly watched by all the cameras on the property as well as people on quads patrolling around the grounds.
*The Smell* there is a foul smell coming from right outside the property from a septic tank, we had caterers in on two of the three evenings and it tainted the experience and was always present, especially if it's not windy to take the smell away.
*False advertising on Airbnb*Despite the images on Airbnb, you can not host dinners for 20 people here, it's not possible to sit this many people together in the living room, the property is not licensed to host events, etc which is weird that the majority of pics for the house relate to hosting events and weddings.
*The host*Nicole is quite difficult to deal with, asked for a deposit outside of Airbnb, was abrupt and cold on the phone, spies on you via the cameras in and outside the house, and is probably not what you usually expect if you're on Airbnb all the time where the hosts are normally quite nice and responsive. It's a shame as it ruined the experience before, during, and after our 3-day stay. We also made a mistake and were about to play music through speakers and decks on the day of my birthday but the owner stopped us as she was watching us through the camera in the house. We didn't play music via our speakers we brought as it's part of the rules but Nicole called me several times, sent her dad up several times as well as had people patrol the property and make a complaint to Airbnb.
*Beware the host asking for a deposit* Despite a $750 cleaning fee, the owner asked us for $1500 outside of airbnb as a deposit, then for $94 for a toilet seat which she claims was broken - we didn't do this but I paid it regardless. My advice is to take pictures of everything. I hate to complain or have to do this but this is how the owner operates.
*The bedrooms and bathrooms*several bathroom and bedrooms doors don't close or lock, there are several bathrooms which only have cold water and no hot water.
The single bedroom off the living room doesn't close and the bed isn't suitable for the purpose so my friend had to book themselves in a hotel at an added expense.