The sweeping view is lovely here and full on from two bedrooms in addition to the big main room (kitchen, dining, lounge.) The furniture is new and comfortable, along with two nice and modern bathrooms. Unfortunately, we were disappointed in other aspects of our stay.
I have high standards when it comes to cleanliness, and most parts of this home lived up to that. The kitchen did not – dirty fridge with half an old avocado rotting away, full dumped bowl of sour milk and cereal in the bottom on the dishwasher that the cleaner ignored, crumbs on the shelving, and the need to vacuum upon arrival so as not to be crunching on crumbs.
Perhaps something was off with the host’s family that would explain our experience in contrast to other reviewers and we would have been extremely understanding of this, but we don’t know. In two years of full time Airbnb world travel, this is the very first time that a host has not checked in with us during our stay to welcome us, see if everything is alright and provide tips. Joy was very quick with communication while booking, but once the money transferred, we never heard from her again other than with pre-arrival instructions and then again exactly on the dot of when we had to be checked out (we were!) which felt especially inhospitable after no contact during our week’s stay.
On another note - it’s entirely my fault that I didn’t check the map and realize this is not in downtown Oamaru. It is in North Oamaru which is a 35 minute walk to the Victorian town center and 40 to the harbour. That may not be a problem to others but I thought it worth mentioning to help future guests plan accordingly.
It's definitely a good home to consider with a large group or family as I am sure that Joy will take care to now rectify the kitchen cleanliness issues.