We had a very mixed stay here which resulted in a lot of stress and extra expense for us. Our initial stay was fine, we didn’t meet Peter but his wife Kesang check us in. She was pleasant and actually let us check in a little early which we appreciated. The room was big and had a heater. The bathroom is across the hall but is private. The shower curtain is mouldy, as is the bathroom ceiling, but the house is old and damp so we weren’t too phased by this. The rest was very clean.
We stayed for three nights, we were quiet and kept to ourselves. When it came to check out we made every effort to tidy the room. We left the bedroom very tidy and wiped down all the surfaces and did our dishes (which I later got told off for). Kesang actually came to the room fifteen mins before we were due to leave as we were still packing up, so some pressure was added. But again we didn’t mind as she was friendly and agreed that we could leave our suitcase in the hallway to pick up later.
We were due to leave Dunedin that afternoon but unforeseen circumstances meant we needed another three nights. I rebooked the room, which was confirmed shortly after. I even told Pete tell his wife that she didn’t need to clean the rooms for us. As we had accomodation sorted and we already had the passcode for check in we felt it was okay for us to get on with our day, so we left Dunedin for work over an hour away. A few hours later we get a call from Peter who seemed very pleasant but he was saying he had to cancel the booking as his wife didn’t want us stopping again. He explained that she said we left the bathroom a mess and she didn’t want us back. We genuinely have no idea what mess she could be referring to. Aside from maybe what three days using a shower and a sink would result in, we really have no clue. He then asked me to cancel it, as he said it was a pain for hosts to cancel it. I explained that if I did that I wouldn’t get the full refund but he assured me I would. When I tried to cancel i saw that we would indeed lose the refund of the first night and the service fee (over $100). I text him and said that he should do it so we receive the full refund, and at the end of the day it is him who is cancelling. He replied saying he had. We waited over an hour and no cancellation came through, so I rang air bnb. They informed me that there was no record of him cancelling the booking and that they would contact him. Sure enough, 20mins later it comes through. We can only think he wanted us to cancel it so it wouldn’t risk his super host reputation and potentially still get to keep the first nights fee.
I had to return later that day to pick up the suitcase. Kesang answered the door in a very friendly manner and asked what had happened to the booking. She tried to explain that it had all been a mistake and that we could stay if we wanted. Once I told her that her husband informed me it was because she was unhappy with the bathroom her story soon changed. She took me into the bathroom to show me what was the newly washed bath. She told me she’s used two full bottles of bathroom cleaner and had spent hours cleaning it. When I asked her to tell me what was actually in the bath that was a mess she wouldn’t. I explained I was very sorry and that I’d tried my best to leave the room clean, for which she then told me off for doing our dishes as she doesn’t like guests going them. While I always try (and succeed) to leave rooms clean when I stop, there was $30 cleaning fee that was already applied here. Whether or not the bath was a mess, it should really be getting cleaned after every guest anyway. We still don’t know what the mess was she was referring to, as she wouldn’t tell me. She kept insisting that we rebook and stop, which made me very uncomfortable as of course we didn’t want to after what was a very stressful day dealing with them both. Air bnb encouraged me to leave this review and report what had happened.
We spend a lot of time in Dunedin, and we won’t be rebooking and we definitely won’t be recommending.