My vacations are rare and when I have them, I prefer to stay in luxury villas, where I have a house for myself with cleaning service and all the amenities. Maria's property is comfortable and clean. However, this is a classic example of false advertising!! Here are some facts:
1. The Airbnb listing advertises “fast 24/7 uninterrupted internet and WIFI access”. As I must work all the time, this was one of the most important features of the property. Yet, there is absolutely nothing “uninterrupted” about the internet, as it disappears daily until one day it disappeared completely. I told to Maria about it, but she just shrugged it off, saying that it’s perhaps because of the heat (!). Only after I made a fuss about it, the technicians arrived, but then I had only 1 more workday to work!
2. Our host, Maria, cannot communicate effectively in English. Neither is Nicos. Explaining to her even the simplest thing takes forever and is very frustrating! One would expect that if you are in the hospitality business, you would be able to communicate in a language besides Greek.
3. The advertisement states that this is “Luxurious villa”. This is simply misleading! When we arrived, we were stunned to see that this is NOT a Villa, but just an apartment in a multi-story building. The notice at the entrance states that these are “furnished apartments for rent”.
4. The advertisement states that there is “washer and dryer”. This is incorrect again – there is only a washer and we have to hang our washed cloths daily on the balcony.
5. The Airbnb listing presents the property as a “seafront”. This is not true, as one has to walk few minutes to the beach and there are many other buildings between this property and the sea.
6. The Airbnb listing talks about a “roof garden”. Well, there is certainly a roof with a few plants on it, but it’s hardly a roof garden. Apparently, I'm not the only tenant of Maria's to write about it.
7. The Airbnb listing promises “two fully equipped bathrooms …best selection of natural organic ingredients body lotions, soaps, shampoos”. None of this is true! The master bath tub leaks and one has to clear the puddles of water from the floor after each shower. None of the showers have a curtain. Only 2 small bottles shampoo in only one bathroom – not enough for 10 days stay. Eventually, Maria brought 2 more bottle of shampoo from her store, but we couldn't use it, as it had a striking resemblance with honey mustard. Bedroom bathroom doesn’t even have a door or curtain – impossible to use during the night, if someone else is sleeping in that room. In a bath tub there is a showerhead, but one has to hold it in hand to shower – no fixed shower. A nice bedroom mirror that was proudly featured on Airbnb website was absent all together.
8. The Airbnbb listing advertises “Espresso & filter coffee maker, coffee, sugar, salt, tea, olive oil”. We asked Maria how to operate a coffeemaker and she said “I don’t know”. We couldn't drink coffee. There is no coffee for the coffee maker and no tea or olive oil (the latter Maria later brought after I wrote a complaint to Nicos on Airbnb platform, resulting in Maria shouting at me for doing so.
9. The Airbnb listing advertises “worry free vacations”. Well, I booked the property for 10 days and needed to figure out when the cleaning is done, what to do with the overflowing garbage etc. Wrote to Maria multiple times. Instead of responding about the cleaning, she left by the door a set of new towels, a garbage bag and toilet paper.
To sum up, the caption “seafront luxury villa with an uninterrupted internet” is a SERIOUS MISREPRESENTATION. When I complained the first time, Maria stormed into the apartment unannounced and shouted at me for 15 minutes, until I told her to either calm down or get out. When I wrote to her a very polite email asking for a partial refund - she showed no desire to consider. A VERY DISAPPOINTING VACATION.