Overall we enjoyed our stay at this beautiful property. There was an issue at the start because some extra people staying in two vans parked on the property with us. They didn’t sleep in the houses and we cleared this up directly with Stephanie and Simon on the first night when they came by to check on us. We offered to pay extra for the two vans on-site and agreed to an extra $350–which felt quite steep, but we paid without comment. We also paid an extra $30 for a dog who didn’t enter the houses at all. The only guest in the house who wasn’t paying was a 6-month-old baby!
We were tidy, quiet and courteous, and left the house in great condition. The only issue from the hosts’ side were the additional cars and people, and while I agree we could’ve communicated this sooner, it had no impact on the stay itself as they didn’t sleep inside, didn’t park on the grass, and nothing was left messy or damaged.
We were uncomfortable with the hosts checking on us throughout, telling us they’d be coming through the property in the morning on the second day, and, though I’d left early to catch a flight home, I’ve been told they were waiting and watching as the others checked out at 10am.
While I completely understand the communication issue regarding the extra people, we immediately agreed to the extra $350, and left no mess or issues at all, so the surveillance felt quite invasive and inappropriate. I’d invite Stephanie and Simon to consider treating their guests with more trust and respect, and to be clearer in advance about additional costs. Yes, I understand the alarm regarding the extra cars, but we had verbal communication about this straight away, so the continued monitoring was upsetting and unfortunately affected our opinion of this otherwise excellent property.