Great location but flat had many issues unfortunately!
Starting with the bad news (negatives):
1) The flat was not cleaned to a good standard - floors appeared dirty in corners as well as balcony floor that was very dirty plus we were greeted with dirty water in sink left by the cleaner (presumably) upon arrival at the flat!
2) I got a powerful electric shock within a couple of hours of checking in due to trying to switch on a bed lamp and finding that the cord had exposed wires on it!!! I was travelling with a baby and toddler so I shuddered to think of what could have happened to either of them had they made contact with the cord before the dangerous discovery I made! I did complain about this during the stay and Ronit tried to arrange for an electrician to check out the issue but I cancelled due to not wanting the inconvenience of service people in flat for issues that should have not been there in the first place. I just unplugged the dangerous lamp from the socket and said they should look into it after our stay.
3) There’s a cockroach problem - again with the first hour or two we were also ‘greeted’ by some unwelcome guests-cockroaches!!! Again Ronit organised a fumigator to try and resolve the problem while we were out to the beach. We stayed there for nearly 2 full weeks and can report that the fumigation wasn’t successful as cockroaches were still noticed afterwards and even managed to get into the fridge!!!
4) The flat especially the kitchen looks tired and in need of a renovation - cupboards had old worn or heat damaged patches on several doors of the kitchen. The most damaged of cupboard doors are just above the hob stove - this is a kitchen design flaw as the cupboard is way too close to the heat from the stove and this is reason for the peeling away of pain ok kitchen door.
5) the kitchen bin is another design flaw - The drawer needs to be extended as you cannot remove a black bag from the kitchen bin if it’s full because the drawer opens only slightly and blocks the rubbish bag from being able to be removed!!
6) the kitchen utensils were so minimal - the worst I have had in my air bnb experience. The fact that we had booked the flat for 2 weeks left us wanting for several of the bare essentials such as grater, large pot, large pan, a colander, a salad bowl, a tin opener, a measuring jug, a coffee plunger or maker, a wooden spoon, some plastic containers, oven proof dishes, a bread knife - all these items were not there. My mum had to bring most of it as luckily she lives in the southern suburbs and Ronit purchased a salad bowl, tin opener and a sieve (when we requested a colander).
7) The check-in details were emailed only after 5pm on the day of check-in when the check-in time per booking was meant to be 3pm! This caused unnecessary uncertainty and delay in checking in and also getting connected to WiFi etc
8) The balcony was cluttered with what seems like unused and unwanted furniture eg a chest and some tables just stacked up one on top of the other. There were also mops just left next to the air conditioning unit … don’t know if it was another slip up of the cleaner or that’s just their place. It’s such a lovely sized balcony that it would be nice if they would furnish it with some deck chairs/Sun loungers instead of random crap that probably the owner has no use for!
9) The initial correspondence was with Louise via air bnb app and she comes across as quite abrupt and not polite - no greeting or signing off a message nicely as one is accustomed to with other hosts.
And now for the good news
1) Perfect location - close to supermarket and wide range of restaurants, cafes and promenade all walking distance
2) Great size flat for a family of 4 and spacious balcony
3) Shower and bath was hot/warm water and taps/Shower heads worked well
4) Ronit was the point of contact during our stay and she was very responsive to my messages and has much better communication etiquette than Louise
5) Flat and location of building felt safe and the security/concierge downstairs were always very friendly and helpful