Our stay at Forrest Strawbale Cottage was unfortunate and unpleasant.
We faced a huge problem with bugs entering the house during our stay, after making certain there were no open windows or doors. The problem was so bad that we could not sleep in the loft bedroom, as bugs kept falling and diving on to us as we lay there. The bathroom was also full of bugs and became unusable. Given we were in a remote location, the host was (understandably) unable to help us at the time. Following this situation, we slept on the couch in the living area.
We have since been told that there was a bug plague in the area that weekend. However, the house was clearly insufficiently equipped to keep the bugs at bay.
To add insult to injury, when we tried to contact the owner, her approach was defensive and accusatory, rather than understanding. Initially, she blamed us for leaving windows open (which we took great care to avoid). She then criticised us for sleeping on the couch as it was" not meant to be slept on". We had to explain to her that our only other choice was the concrete floor. It was a partially broken fold out bed. We had to use various items to prop it up for sleeping. The next morning, she accused us of breaking the already broken couch. When we pointed out that the couch was already in that state when we arrived, she remained unapologetic.
Lastly, she resorted to blaming us for leaving the house messy and full of bugs. This was simply untrue, as the only mess present were the carpets of dead or dying bugs in the bathroom and bedroom.
As we are ourselves Airbnb hosts, we tried to resolve it with her amicably. But following the poor response, we were forced to go to Airbnb directly for a refund, supplying photos and videos of the experience.
Overall, the unfortunate experience for us became upsetting and stressful, as the owner was extremely unhelpful, unsympathetic, and appeared to blame us for everything.
We understand that sometimes things happen which you can't control, however you can control how you respond to it. At the end of the day, it was the host's unsatisfactory response which has led to this review.