Communication with the owner was prompt & friendly. She kindly left scones, milk, butter & cookies on arrival which is a lovely gesture. the accomodation is centrally located, walking distance to local shops, restaurants and has its own parking space.
We have 2 children and had booked to stay 2 nights. We checked in, quickly dropped our bags & left to meet friends who live 30 minutes away. We returned later that evening to settle for the evening with a takeaway. The downstairs sitting room and living area had a bad scent, a mixture of overpowering oil diffuser & a stale smell like stale cigarette smoke. Unfortunately it was too late in the evening for us to change accomodation so we stayed the night. Fortunately the smell wasn't in the upstairs bedroom where our children were sleeping or downstairs bedroom. I raised it with the owner the next morning asking if previous renters may have smoked there & she promptly replied, saying she was sorry but that smoking on the premises isn't permitted. Her non smoking rule isn't listed in her list of 'house rules' & an ashtray is provided on the table outside the back door. We therefore guess that people do smoke here at the back door and/or windows. Cigarette smoke can linger for a long time & with 2 asthmatics in the family, we felt unwell.
We booked here based on the good reviews & owner said this is the 1st time she'd received a complaint. This is our 1st time having to make a complaint about any accomodation but I felt it important to leave this honest review as it greatly inconvenienced our weekend in Ballina as we had to spend time the following morning trying to find alternative accomodation, which was not the easiest on a Friday night in peak holiday season.
There was no dishwasher so delph must be hand washed, no washing liquid, draining stand provided or dish towels. Some cutlery in the drawer wasn't 100% clean. Given the current pandemic we feel hygiene is extremely important & suggest the owner consider replacing the washing machine with a dish washer. There were quite a few cleaning products under the sink and air freshening sprays but no wash up liquid.
We decided not to use the bathroom shower in the morning because areas in the bathroom/shower area were simply disgusting and unsanitary.
The double bed was uncomfortable, single bed upstairs wasn't in good condition either.
We advised the owner that we were unhappy and checking out, which we did that morning. She agreed to send me a refund for the 2nd night when I sent her a picture of her bathroom dirt.