This was the most disappointing experience with an Airbnb host I had in over ten years of being an active member of the community. Short version: Uta ignored all our concerns and denied assistance when we discovered mold in the bedroom.
Long version: Uta's place was strongly recommended by a friend who had stayed here a year ago. The place was with a price of about 140 Euro a night (including fees) on the upper scale of the accomodations we had in South Africa exceeding the stylish loft we had in Cape Town and cute boutique hotels along the Garden Route. But the pictures and reviews were great so why not?
Check-in went smooth, the apartment is lovely (it reminded my husband of one of those charming beach cabins in Denmark he used to stay at as a child) and the view is amazing. However, we immediately realized a strong smell in the main bedroom. It's a place by the water, of course dampness occurs, we thought. After a short afternoon nap, however, I got breathing problems. So it was clear: the smell was definitely mold. Since I know I am allergic to it - and pregnant at the moment (so my health is of highest priority to me), we immediately contacted Uta to see how we could fix the problem. It went downhill from there. Since the issue had apparently not been addressed before, Uta didn't take our concerns seriously and was unwilling to help. She didn't come to check, was unable to move us to one of her other places (nothing available) and didn't want to let us shorten our stay. We could leave early but she'd keep the money. We stayed one night in the upper bedroom which is nice but doesn't offer a view nor one bed but two separate ones - we lifted them together, made ourselves comfortable and tried to make the best out of the situation. For a pregnant women, climbing down a small stair case to the bathroom five times at night is no fun - believe me. It worked for one night but we really didn't want to stay any longer and surely didn't feel welcome. I am super disappointed in the host who did not show any compassion or empathy regarding the situation and just shut us off. With the cottage's price tag and Uta's label as a superhost, I certainly expected another reaction. Uta didn't care, it was our problem, not hers - if we weren't happy, we should take it up with airbnb, was the last response. Thanks to airbnb's amazing customer service we were able to move out the next morning and got refunded immediately. Uta wasn't willing to coorporate with airbnb either. So we moved - on the cost of airbnb, not Uta, of course - still leaving us with a hefty bill of 170 Euro for one night at the Whale Cottage (since cleaning and airbnb's fee weren't covered). We left the place like we found it, did the dishes, checked out at 10am and moved to a cabin 3km further up the road - similar view, lovely hosts, one third of the price (not even 50 Euro/night). This said, my husband and I do not recommend Uta as a host and we do not recommend the Whale Cottage! Luckily, this was our only bad experience during our 2,5 weeks in SA.
Sidenote: cleaniless could be improved (e. g. we had some stains on one of the pillows), both lamps in the bedrooms didn't seem to work, the shower wasn't working properly. Communication on airbnb was slow, Uta only responds fast to text message or Whatsapp. Not that big of a deal really but in this particular case worth mentioning.