If I could have a 0 rating, I would. Unfortunately, I am required to apply 1 star which she most definitely does not deserve.
Despite her ad, this is NOT KID FRIENDLY and the worst of words cannot describe this host. I have such an appalling review to give, please be thorough reading through this review in case any of this will affect your stay.
After knowing very well how our stay went, she knew I would be escalating matters further, even the support team wanted to relocate us due to the host and her accommodation. She has decided to request $500 on top of our stay. I was willing to not write a review, as I was raised “if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say it at all” but after her being so money hungry and chasing me for extra, I decided to leave my feedback for others to see.
ALL OF THE problems we had encountered staying at her property.
1. She wants to charge us because we requested to change our days 2 days prior to her stay. We DID NOT want to cancel and change the booking 2 days prior. We were being cautious in regard to the VICTORIAN WIDE FLASH FLOOD WARNING and were concerned considering all broadcasting channels had advised to NOT LEAVE I HOUSE. Messages between me and the host are very clear that I was wanting to still stick to the original dates but to see if there was availability on the chance we needed to reschedule.
2. We had more quests than anticipated. Nevertheless, she has a 10-guest limit and regardless of 1 or 10 guests, there is no extra charge. We had 7 guests booked and 3 infants. Which does not exceed the 10-person limit. She has now changed it to “8-guest limit” even though I have screenshots and proof of the ad which most definitely says 10.
3. She also thought it was relevant to add that we had a “special needs child” in her complaint. I don’t under any circumstance need to mention that one of our children has special needs and I take this very seriously when one of my family members is discriminated against. Please see below for reasons as to why it was mentioned that there was an autistic child.
4. Keyless DOES NOY MEAN CANNOT LOCK! When keyless is advertised you would assume that there was a keypad lock on every window or door on the premises or any other form of locking device. We were so distressed the entire time, as the property wraps with a balcony and none of the doors lock! There’s also access to the front with doors that do not lock, which has direct access to the road. Her reasoning is that if there was a fire, by "law" she can't provide a key..... I suppose every other host is breaking the law. I think there poses a higher risk of a child falling off a balcony or running onto the road, instead of a fire breaking out.
5. We had tried calling for 4 hours since we arrived and the reason for the first attempt was that we could not gain access to the property as the keypad seemed damaged and digits were impossible to press and the second attempt was because to our surprise all the doors opened with such ease. After 4 HOURS of messaging and calling off three different phones, she finally responded. She explained it was keyless. Despite how stressed I was that my children could open the sliding door to a 4metre drop from a balcony that wraps around the entire house and there’s access to this balcony via every single room. Her response and solution were to “deter” the children from the sliding doors, and it shouldn’t be possible for an infant to reach them. THIS IS WHEN I MENTIONED we had an autistic child who most definitely can reach, but simply does not understand. After we contacted Airbnb support, they had spoken to the host, and she finally admitted that there WAS IN FACT a key. Knowing very well how concerned we were for the safety of our children SHE LIED! A reminder, KEYLESS DOES NOT MEAN “DOES NOT LOCK”.
6. There was a leak coming from the upstairs bathroom which leaks from the roof in the downstairs hallways, as to which my mother had slipped and injured herself. Apparently, the host had a plumber come and say it was because we overflooded the bathroom. The bath was NEVER over flooded and even if it was, THERE SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN A LEAK! Damage of this sort is accumulated over time, therefor the damage was done prior to our stay. This was reported to Airbnb along with screenshots.
7. She claims my mother was abusive… she was frustrated not abusive. Don't mistake the two and this was AFTER the host said we should pack her belongings and leave.
8. She said we left at 12:25 pm when our late check out was 12 pm and if we surpass by 15 minutes we are to be charged. We left the property at 12:15 pm on the dot, not at 12:25 pm. We have a screenshot of our GPS the moment we departed, which was 12:15 pm, which means there should NOT be a charge. The host agreed to the later checkout due to the terrible stay we had accounted for.
9. She also said there were cleaners waiting… SHE DID NOT have cleaners waiting, because when I had taken her bins out (which were already full), there was no one in the street “waiting”. I have also seen this response in other bad reviews that have been on this property left, so a cackled when I saw that.
10. She said we left the house a mess… we did not leave the property a mess. There were crumbs on the floor and the cleaners charged her an extra $100. Regardless