First of all, the place is gorgeous. It is exactly as, and in some cases even better than pictured. The location could not be better, with many restaurants and shops only steps from your door. If that is all that is important to you, read no further. The place is amazing.
From a communication and flexibility standpoint, I found this AirBnB to be very frustrating. It appears to be larger villa rental business that is using AirBnB for its sales. I would describe it as having worst traits of AirBnBs and Hotels: none of the hospitality you typically see from AirBnBs and at the same time lacking the flexibility of hotels.
Contact through the AirBnB app appears to be relayed through multiple people, causing delayed responses and communication issues. I am not sure that they receive texts at all. Just as an FYI, the best way to get in touch with them is calling, which is not always convenient abroad.
Here are some examples of issues we had. It did not ruin our experience, but I just wanted to give other future guests a heads up.
We were 50 minutes late to the agreed check in time due to a tour running late. I contacted them 15-20 minutes prior to when we were supposed to arrive via the AirBnB app and then through text to let them know we would be late - I also continued to update them on where we were and when I thought we would arrive. When we did arrive the Porter appeared upset and gave my group a lecture about being late (he was apparently not forwarded any of our AirBnB messaged or texts.) I understand him being frustrated, but considering that I am paying $400+ per night and communicated that we would be late prior to the meeting time, I would think that there should be some leeway.
There were four of us staying at the apartment. (It has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.) One of the main reasons we booked was because of the balcony hot-tub. When all four of us were in the hot-tub the water level rose and sometime spilled over a bit. (We are average size, I am 165lbs and my girlfriend 130lbs for context and the tub could comfortably support several more people.) We we’re scolded for this, even though there was no clear way to lower the water level and they offered no support.
When checking out, you must arrange a specific time to hand over the keys. This would not be a huge deal, but because of poor communication it offers very little flexibility. We asked for a check out of 8:50. The porter arrived at 8:35 and we told him we still need 10 minutes. He then looked at his watch and rolled his eyes.
All in all, the place was beautiful and we had an awesome time despite some of the issues. Just wanted to let future guests know.