This rental was not what we were expecting. There are two fairly large dogs in the house who literally live in the kitchen on a big dog bed, bark in the presence of strangers, and roam freely in the garden. They aren’t mentioned in the description of the accommodation and we would not have chosen this property if they had been. The position of the hosts is that the dogs are mentioned in several reviews, so notice of the dogs has been given. We disagree. The place to accurately describe the property is in the actual listing. It’s not the responsibility of renters to read through all of the reviews and take notes. If a feature of a rental is not mentioned by the hosts in their own description of it, then the listing is dishonest by definition. Oddly, they maintain that they didn’t promise access to a kitchen. It’s true that the amenities section of the listing doesn’t include it, but in the “space” section of the listing they clearly write, “The house has a large kitchen near the garden, fully equipped and with a dish washer machine. The house has a large garden where you can eat outdoors or just relax and get a little fresh air and sunshine.” Because of the dogs, we weren’t comfortable using either amenity and could not eat outdoors as planned. An offer was made to cage the dogs at the back of the garden, but we declined it. We felt it was unfair to the dogs and they would probably have barked the whole time anyway.
Having said this, although they have since declined to issue a partial refund to cover the additional cost of eating breakfast out, they did offer to let us cancel the remaining days of our stay once they learned of our discomfort. We decided to stay, as there was nothing else available in our price range at short notice. They were also helpful and accommodating at check-out, allowing us to leave our luggage at the house all afternoon. The room itself is spacious with big windows and a nice view of a nearby church. While it is furnished very simply, the ensuite bathroom is actually really nice. We liked the location. Basically, if you like dogs you’ll probably be happy with this rental. If you don’t, or are allergic to them, now you know.