Honestly at this point it feels like residents of Byron are having a laugh as they take advantage of visitors. Firstly the ad is deceptive about how far away it is. It’s a 35 minute walk into town and 25 minute walk to tallows beach (although much longer with a dog because you can’t walk through the reserve). Taxis are few and far between. We waited up to an hour most times and it cost $20 to get to the centre of town, as there’s a $7 call out fee. Most times when we tried Uber there were no cars available although we got lucky on one occasion. It doesn’t matter so much if you like to drive everywhere although it can be hard finding a park in town. Most people I know like to be able to stroll out to dinner, drinks, or the beach when on holiday and it’s not really possible to do here. Fine for one night but can get a little tedious.
The kitchen is very basic and has no microwave. There was no body soap and only one roll of toilet paper so before you even start your holiday you have to find a supermarket which isn’t very relaxing. There was no signal on the tv when we tried to use it. Once you open your suitcase there’s no room to move as the room is tiny.
The accomodation is a garage and is attached to their house. We got woken up at 7 each morning from noise from the house which wasn’t great. The room is extremely hot. Most of these things are forgivable but for the price you really expect and deserve better.
The clincher though is that there’s a hidden book with additional house rules, which we didn’t even see. Once we checked out the host contacted me and asked for an extra $50 because I hadn’t washed the towels! I couldn’t believe it. On top of the cleaning fee you pay when booking you have to clean the studio yourself, even though they’ve charged you a cleaning fee! Yikes. It sounds extremely unhygienic as well that they’re relying on guests to wash towels for the next guests and have asked they use the 30 minute cycle. I can just picture Byron residents getting together and laughing about what they can get away with.