A lot of positive reviews left me booking this listing for one month. Unfortunately my stay went from bad to worse during the 28 days.
Starting with contacting the host. Replied in a timely fashion yes, but never answered my questions at first. I actually had to say "You did not answer my question: ____", which then prompted response. Be there a language barrier or not, as a host they should be answering whatever questions a guest has.
After asking where their recycling is in the apartment complex (non in the household), and how important it is to me, the planet, and how easy NZ makes it with ample facilities around, I continued to pull out recyclables from their kitchen bin. Every other listing I stayed at in NZ had a separate recycling bin and respected the country enough to do this. Not here, nor did they respect me enough to help out the environment at least during my stay.
This apartment is s-m-a-l-l. Every morning 6am I was awoken by gagging in the bathroom and pots pan blenders going off in the kitchen for meal times. The several hours they would take to cook meant I was unable and the dinner/weekend hosting parties interrupted my stay more times than I have experienced elsewhere (every other host I have had either went elsewhere to socialize or warned me they were having company).
Tidy is different than clean. This household is tidy, everything in its place, but not super clean. I found mold on my room curtains and glassware, mold in the kitchen, toilet seats left up means fecal bacteria and toilet germs covering the bathroom. Left me so uneasy that when in the apartment, I kept in the my room as the common space was lacking and uncomfortable to be in.
To top everything off, at 11pm my final night they literally CAME INTO MY PRIVATE ROOM AND TURNED ON THE LIGHTS ... WHILE I WAS SLEEPING... claiming they did not know if I was in or not based on my window being open... ???... The next day sent a message of sorry but they were worried about me? Usually that would be said at that moment and not 24 hours later... Not to mention it was booked and paid for as a private room so it is none of the hosts concern where I am...
Even after that utter disrespect and the entire 28 days of an upsetting stay, they had the audacity to message me saying my room was left a mess: rubbish in the bin liners, floor not vacuumed, damp linens piled in the corner. Well, I did stay for a month so it will not be polished clean, I did pay a cleaning fee to which a professional cleaner is technically supposed to be hired; one who wouldn't think a trip to the dumpster, a vacuum, and load of laundry would be considered a mess and threaten to report me to this site and rank my profile... Inappropriate and uncalled for on their behalf.
Upfront they seem exactly like the reviews I read. Up close, they are quite inconsiderate.