Disappointing Host & Property – Avoid
We stayed at this property for 10 days over the Christmas period with our family.
The communication with the host was simply unacceptable. Three days following an impromptu Friday evening dinner with a small group of friends which finished well before midnight, I was contacted directly by the host, who then verbally threatened me (and my extended family of 5 guests who ranged in ages from 10 – 70 years of age) with immediate eviction unless I paid a $500 additional bond into his personal bank account for an apparent breach of house rules. As I feared for the safety of my family having no accommodation at this busy time of year, as well as a planned Christmas dinner at the property being completely ruined, I had no choice to pay the host the money. I felt absolutely sick with worry, threatened and vulnerable that he could “kick us out” as he stated, at any time during our stay.
After vacating the property (and leaving it cleaner than we found it) the host acknowledged that we had caused no damage or loss to the property, however he refused to return my bond unless I left a positive “5 star review”.
I contacted AirBnB to seek their support as I did not want to leave a fake review as I did not feel that the experience deserved 5 stars. AirBnB have been very helpful in resolving the issues. I supplied AirBnB with several pieces of evidence showing the host’s inappropriate messages and threats which he sent me through the AirBnb portal as well as to my own personal phone in which I had to block him. The AirBnB support team have analysed the evidence and have kindly refunded me the $500 as an acknowledgment that I have been clearly mistreated and 2 of their strict policies have been breached by the host. As an AirBnB host myself, I am fully aware that requesting funds to be paid directly into personal accounts and incentivising fake reviews are strictly discouraged.
There are numerous property repairs that have been left unattended by the host which impacted on our enjoyment during the stay. Namely, a damaged and dangerous wall socket to the main bedroom (very unsafe for small children), a defective front door bell which led to major issues including my elderly relative being left on the street for over 20 minutes in the 40 degree heat as she had no way of contacting us when the door bell did not work (the house sits behind a thick, high brick fence so unless the door bell works, visitors to the house, delivery people, etc cannot be heard or let in!). Additionally there was a broken drawer held together by cellotape, defective electric blinds, patio and window shutters.
Also, the cleaning was below the level expected. The BBQ had not been cleaned (it was covered in fat and meat residue), and there was a lack of attention to detail in the bathrooms with grime, used bandaids and hair build up on the floor. There was a large red wine stain on the cream coloured rug in the lounge and one of the 6 dining chairs was broken.
Kitchen: On entry, I filled a large garbage bag with left over, expired and half used packages of food I found in the fridge, freezer and pantry. Pantry staples such as salt, pepper, oil, vinegar, etc were there which is always useful but previous guests’ expired and half used packaged food such as perishable sauces, margarine, breakfast cereals, yogurt, ice cream, milk, half used soft drinks is unhygienic, and in my opinion, revolting to have to deal with as a new guest.
The property is listed as a ‘Luxury beach house for families’. However, the bedroom layout makes this property quite unpractical for a family. The upstairs ensuite bedroom is enclosed by louvres directly onto the open plan living area, so there is limited acoustic protection against noise from people using the living area. The front upstairs bedroom is accessed by a sliding door with no latch therefore doesn’t close so it offers zero privacy for people using it.
The property does have a spacious and designer feel to it on entry and the photographs reflect it suitably, however on closer inspection, a lot of maintenance work and more thorough, regular cleaning is required to bring it back up to a standard that reflects the price. Obviously my experience with the host overshadowed the aesthetics of the house and the idyllic location.