No really on cleanliness, but there were a few issues around the apartment. The coffee table and bedside tables were quite rickety. The coffee table especially, where one of the legs came away from the crosspiece. Not all sockets seemed to work, so had to play "hunt-the-socket" to charge iPhone, toothbrush, camera, etc. Toilet seat was also loose, so uncomfortable to use for my wife and two young daughters especially – see also last night bathroom issue below.
We were given accurate instructions on how to check in and allowed to do so early (prior to the room being cleaned) which was a real benefit for us to be able to leave our luggage and greatly appreciated. However, we never met the host Nancy from whom we booked the apartment (spoke to her over the entry phone and then on cell phone later), and had to deal with someone called Jason. We still so not know how Jason is associated with the apartment. Nancy seemed a very amenable, hospitable and reasonable host. Jason was none of these.
We had a major issue on the last night / morning we left. We went to bed late (circa 1am) after having returned from a concert at Butchart Gardens. I was the last to use the bathroom and flushed it twice, both times the toilet emptied completely. We then woke up at 5:45 and realised the bathroom floor was flooded. I actually helped by turning off the water to the toilet to prevent further water flooding, mopped up the floor to remove the flooded water and emptied some of the water out of the toilet too. We were highly inconvenienced as none of us could use the toilet in the morning prior to having to depart early and had to use a dirty Starbucks toilet instead. We called Nancy in the morning as soon as we had finished mopping up, to explain what had happened and she was very apologetic for the inconvenience to us and agreed it was in no way our fault. A few days later we received from Jason a demand for payment of CAD 250 towards this issue without any explanation. I cannot understand how we should be held responsible for this issue given we used the bathroom in a way that anyone would expect (as we do at home - respectfully) and did not try to flush any incorrect items. This was clearly a problem with the plumbing and not the guests! The only response we got from Jason when refusing to pay the amount was a wishy-washy excuse that this was "following Airbnb protocol". Although I am sympathetic to this being an unfortunate event, accusing us of causing it and trying to claim money from us for it (when at his own admission there is insurance in place) is unfair and left a sour taste for what should have been a lovely stay in Victoria. Cannot recommend on this basis or say this was value for money. I am sorry for Nancy, as the above do not seem to be down to her.