Staying at Carol's place was unfortunately a disappointment and, after talking about the problems, we consensually agreed to shorten the booking window significantly (from 1 month to a few days), so that I was able to move to another place. Although I was glad that a comprise could be found, this unexpected situation caused significant inconveniences during my stay.
Main reasons why I found the place unacceptable:
- the place was misrepresented in the profile. Contrary to the description, it was not a cottage (a small, free standing unit), but an attachment to the main house or rather an artificial separation of a part of the house turned into tiny guest apartment. The main house's living room and the apartment were only divided by a thin sliding door, allowing for no acoustic privacy. Furthermore, the place was inside a gated community complex which should be made clear on the profile page.
- During the second night, I realised there were unhealthy fumes in the apartment which did give me headaches. In the kitchen, one of the cupboards seemed to be drenched in insecticides. In the 'bedroom', part of the flooring was smelling very strongly after lacquer paint. Windows on both sides of the apartment had to be kept wide open to prevent accumulation of the fumes (which had been the case when I arrived and made me realise the problem only on the second day). Particularly at night, this was unacceptable. This might be fixed by the host meanwhile, but during my stay it was simply unacceptable.