I feel very passionate about writing this review, so please take the time to read.
We use airBnB at least twice a year for short stays and we have always been impressed with the accommodation and location, so it was extremely disappointing when we arrived at Pops place. We live in Wales and were visiting family in Ireland and Pop's place was our final destination. We had showed off to friends and family where we were staying and felt embarrassed when we finally arrived.
So, to begin.
The outside:
The car park space for the car was very small and overgrown. Thankfully we have a small car but a van I think would stick out onto the road.
There was a horrendous smell by the car, which we could only put down to the toilet in the other field for the glamping tent.
The decking and launch that can be seen in the images, is broken and sunken into the water, with overgrown greenery hiding the disaster.
This was a huge selling point for my partner and I because we brought our kayak and fishing gear to fish off the launch.
To the side of the boat house is now a glamping tent, which is not noted in the extremely small air bnb description. This was awkward on the first night as we were limited to the small decking directly outside of the boat house. The campers were playing music, which is fine but just further highlighted that our privacy was limited. Thankfully, they left the next morning and we were able to use the space to launch our kayak.
On the decking was a wooden seat, which lifted and had many flies in there and rubbish bags people had stored away. The wooden chairs on the images were not there but cheap looking loungers and one was broken and unusable.
Living space:
There were no issues with the living room or kitchen, other than that the kitchen is now blue and not red, further highlighting the outdated images.
Bathroom:
The shower curtain in the bathroom does nothing to stop the water flooding the floor. We used most of the towels to mop up the water after each use. The shower is simple, warm but very little power. The shower curtain sticks to you whenever you turn due to the small space.
There were black hairs on the walls and floor and the extractor fan was thick with dust.
The bedroom:
The bedroom for us was the biggest let down. It really does need to be noted in the description as a matter of health and safety how difficult it is to get up to the bed. Thankfully my partner and I are both slender and in our twenties but we even felt unsteady going up and down. The "ladder" is not a ladder but what looks like cheese boards slated into holes in the wall, two of which were loose. Anyone with mobility issues I feel would probably have to sleep on the sofa or leave.
The bed was the most uncomfortable bed we had ever slept on. I was close to tears the first night after having such a lovely few days with family I hadn't seen in over a decade, to leave them for this, before going back home to Wales. If we lived closer we would have 100% gone home.
The springs in the bed were broken and every movement was paired with the springs clanging in the bed. Neither I or my partner could move without waking the other up.
There were around 10 spiders and cobwebs on the ceiling, which is very low to your face in the bed and a toe nail on the side of the bed.
We stayed for 3 nights and there were no spiders or cobwebs on night 2 or 3, which showed it was due to not being cleaned properly before our stay.
The plug socket was also hanging off the wall as well as some various other electricity concerns my partner had, as an electrical engineer.
Location:
The location of the property is beautiful. We took a boat trip onto Holy Island the next day and my partner fished down by the harbour. On our last day we used our kayak, relaxed on the grass by the glamping tent and walked 42 minutes to the pub for food which was perfect. The location of the property definitely softened our annoyance as the holiday continued but I still feel like we have a duty to be honest and inform others.
Barry was good at communicating and responded to messages promptly.
If the stay was half the price I think we would be more accepting but it was one of the most expensive airbnbs we have stayed in and yet the least value for money. What is the most frustrating is that we saw previous reviews (after we booked) commenting about the bed and how the images need updating and nothing has happened. We informed Barry about how uncomfortable the bed was and he acted like it was the first time he had heard it.
We felt robbed and cheated of what was supposed to be a romantic trip away due to simple things such as dusting, changing the mattress and displaying updated images. The price per night also needs to be reviewed.
My partner and I hate leaving bad reviews and never have had to before on Airbnb but we also couldn't lie about our experiences.
Thank you for your time in reading this.