This is the first bad review I have ever written on Airbnb. I have visited 41 countries and every state in America. I have stayed in countless Airbnbs- and this is the by far the absolute worst experience I have had with one. What a total nightmare.
I can understand and respect that there are rules and policies in place and that they serve a good purpose sometimes- but there are also times when they are predatory, unfair, and rooted in pure greed. These are the situations where the people need to speak up and raise awareness. I am left with absolutely no shadow of a doubt that this particular place could care less about their people and the guest who support them - and are only focused on the money. I have stayed at enough Airbnbs (hundreds) to validate this opinion- and have traveled the globe extensively for 13 years- and I am passionately and confidently saying this is the worst Air BNB experience I have ever had- by FAR and it all rests in the hands of the guest experience I had. My entire experience at Ericeria was negatively impacted by my horrible choice to stay here.
Kika (property manager) was dismissive, rude, militant, condescending- and blantsntly enjoys the power of pushing people around and making them feel like and inconvenience to her. Each time a question was asked- she would passive aggressively tell you to “refer to manual” even if the information was not in there. Obviously I would t be asking a question if I could see it in “the manual”. How about “hey no problem, let me help, but if you need a reminder in the future. There’s always the manual that has this information- please check page three 😊”. Nope- very flippant, demeaning and RUDE. It was very obvious she did not like being “bothered” to help guests. When I raised this issue with her to see why she was treating me that way - as every other Air BNB I ever stayed has been so grateful and accommodating to the guest and give them local tips and places to visit and see- she explained “she has been in AirBnB for ten years and has 250 reviews”. Not entirely sure what relevance that has to helping guests. She set countless passive agressive petted texts to have “the last word” after I asked her to please stop messaging me- as it got to the point where I was so uncomfortable interacting with her I simply had to distance myself. She sent 4 messages after being asked - to which I had to ask 4 times more to please stop messaging me.
I had to break my stay up into two accommodations. This was my fault because I clicked the wrong day when I booked. This place has 7 bungalows on a LARGE lot of land with a main house in the front and a storage/laundry facility. I was charged a separate cleaning and booking fee for almost 50 Euros- not a giant deal- that was my fault, but I do feel she could’ve been a little more accommodating to just let me stay in the same bungalow (these bungalows are all the same)- however I also understand that was on me- not her, but it does clearly show this particular unit does not care about the guest experience- only the money. I have had several similar situations like this before and have never had to pay for a cleaning and rebooking fee only to stay in the same place- as most hosts just try to find a way to help out- but the world is different so not a huge deal here
She told me to pay the 6 euro tourism tax all at one time, and before I left on my first stay (had to break the trip into two bookings) she reported me to AirBnB for failure to pay 4 of the six Euros AFTER she told me to just pay the full 6 euros at one time- so I had to interrupt my time in Ericeria to “answer” to AirBnB that she told me to just pay the 6 euros at one time - which was only three hours time apart since I was forced to physically leave the compound for 3 hours only to return and check back in for my second booking (not allowed to stay by the pool or walk around, or hang out for three hours- instead I had to carry my 60 pound luggage into town and then come back 3 hours later)
I asked if I could leave my book bag on the compound since I was coming back for the second booking in three hours- as it weighs about 60 pounds- and she was making me check out at 11 and return at 3 pm. There was tons of space all over the compound for me to leave the bag- but she refused and was extremely condescending and rude about it- again telling me I need to “follow the rules” and “refer to the manual”. A simple “sorry we can’t do that- but there may be some options for lockers in town” would’ve been sufficient, no need to also be militant and dismiss me with the continued passive agressive, displaced power exertion energy again. I’m not sure how hard it would’ve been to just place the bag somewhere like I have done in no less than 50 other Airbnbs, but ok, rules are rules, and I can respect that, but talking to me like I’m beneath you is unnecessary.
The “manual” she refers to is not a “manual”. It does not welcome the guests or give them tips for the town, places to see, or things to do. It is a list of rules that are voluminous, many with threats of expulsion and predatory fees (50 euro to change towels/sheet, and you are allowed one towel for three days, 60 euro for lost key, 50