Dear Laura
I would like to expand on our experience at The Dark House . I thought in fairness I should give you the heads up. I have pictures also.
I booked this property for a family get together to celebrate a 60th birthday. On the positive side it was good to be able to be able to stay under one roof. I was also hoping to have the experience of eating together as part of the weekend. I would also like to thank the person/s who put up a Christmas tree and fairy lights. However, at a price of £2,169.26 for two nights, I feel terribly let down. In fact for this price I could have arranged to stay in a very nice hotel. First off, what is not publicised on the website is that the house is in a narrow suburban street, with very limited parking, front and rear, especially when you consider that it is marketed for parties of 8+, leading to a musical jig of cars every time we wanted to come or go. The door opens on a dark hallway, redolent of the unusual name for the house. The colour scheme throughout is dark and oppressive. I understand that is the personal taste of the owners and so I am not complaining about that – just informing. This was the least of our worries. The following were the issues with our stay, for which I feel the price of £2,169.26, was not fair.
There was no lock on one bathroom/toilet door
The lock was broken on the door of the ground floor shower and so only one person was brave enough to use the shower (bravery shouldn’t have to come into this, especially at the price of £2,169.26). And might I add, with two girls 15 and 16, this is a safeguarding issue.
The handle of the door in the twin bedroom kept coming off as there were no screws
Also, the blind in this room got stuck and required standing on the bed to twist the roller to operate
The shower / toilet water above the kitchen leaked onto the food surface and we noticed it when we were in the middle of preparing breakfast
The washing machine was full of washing – left by previous guests or housekeeping (this did not instil confidence in the “clean” claimed by the owners/ agents)
I found a wrapper under the cushion of the bedroom chair. It appeared to be a tablet wrapper. Whatever it was and why I mention this is that clearly the cushion had not been moved for the so called “clean” – this just left me with the feeling that the “cleaning” was not as thorough as it should have been, especially in a pandemic and recent surges in the spread of the virus)
We were provided with one towel each. These were the cheap, thin IKEA ones in various colours of cream, grey, brown. One guest found a stain on her cream towel. There was no consideration that guests might need an extra towel for hair washing as well as for a shower
At the price of £2,169.26 there were no hand towels provided in toilet downstairs or upstairs – shocking, and owners seem to be mean, even about this. I read a review from another guest and so brought hand towels myself. At £2,169.26 I shouldn’t have to have done this. Even bargain accommodation provide hand towels in the toilets
Bed sheet was ill too small for the mattress on our bed and kept slipping off during the night– I have pics to prove. I did not ask other guests if they had similar issues but no one else mentioned anything about their bedding.
The slats in the floorboards had such wide gaps, I was afraid I would lose my jewellery down the holes and indeed my daughter’s necklace fell through.
There were not enough chairs to accommodate all guests at the dining table. This meant that two of us had to stand in the kitchen to eat our breakfast – the only meal we cooked for the whole family. At £2,169.26, there should have been enough chairs/ stools (even ones we could have moved from other rooms) available to accommodate the bodies that were booked in.
The garden was not tidy – not as should have been for the £2,169.26 pocketed by owner/agent. There was an old mat discarded and covered in leaves and also a cardboard box left out in the rain with old newspaper – all soggy and unsightly. Clearly there was no preparation, out of respect, for paying guests.
I have had many air bnb stays and this is by far the worst. This was the same feeling of other members of the family. I feel insulted that the hosts think they could charge this much and not provide the finer touches, such as hand towels. I feel that as guests, initially being duped by the pictures posted on Air bnb, it was assumed we wouldn’t know better and so couldn't see through the peeling wallpaper, shabby decor, insanitary leaking of waste water, a lacking provision for basic privacy of ablutions, and so on. I feel robbed to be honest. I paid for a “product” that was way below par. Had the price not been this exorbitant, I might have been prepared to ignore certain things such as the garden.
Also, the final nail in the coffin, we should not have to use the expensive minutes we paid for, to complain about the situation and then possibly having to wait in for workmen. This would be deplorable if this was the expectation from host/agent. The house should have been in a proper state in the first place.
I am sending this to you Laura, first before I submit to the reviews on Air bnb.