The location of the unit is its asset. The unit is very aesthetically done and functional for two people stay. Joseph was also very nice and welcoming. However he is not the property manager and not the host (owner) , and I found this out after most of my month long stay. Joseph communicated well before our stay but was less available during our stay. This was my first time renting Airbnb and we had a few experiences that were not too smooth and made our stay difficult :
1. When we accidentally got locked out of the house , it took him more than three hours to get back to us and give us the master code to enter the house.
2. The unit is also not well lit for work , and more designed for mood lighting. It lacked plug points for additional power cords even though we were using only 2 computers and a 2 phone chargers between us.we worked around it but it still remained an issue after after Joseph gave us one more lamp.
3. Hygiene was my biggest issue during my stay here.
A. A few pots were not cleaned, the colander was rusted and broken, there were spiders and crickets in the unit
. B. Worse still there were 6-8 flies that found their way inside the house every day even though every single window was shut and both the doors were constantly kept closed. I had plans to cook during my one month stay there but just did not feel it hygienic enough to do so and so spent a lot of money buying food.
C. The yard too was not very clean - the washer dryer that Is left outside was too dirty and could not be used even for a fee - I ended up spending $200 for laundry services as I did not have time to spare to use the laundromat facilities near by.
D. The walk way to the unit often smelt of dead animals or had dog poop from one or more of the five dogs that Joseph and his partner owned. Joseph picked this up but this was not consistent particularly towards the beginning and end of my stay. The trash bins were infested with flies and the deck towards the back of the house also had not been cleaned.
4. Joseph sprayed the yard with poison to reduce flies. However the majority of his communication with him was directed towards managing my expectations - he mentioned to me that the house owner said that five flies inside house was ok and that Joseph himself had crickets and flies inside his unit as well. He told me I should turn on the exhaust while I cook so the house does not smell of food. He asked me to turn off even the dimmest light I left on when I stepped out to keep spiders away. I never used air conditioning during the day through out the stay but that did not count towards saving electricity. I also had to explain how and why spiders were kept away by light - and I don’t think I was able to convince him despite multiple back and forth text messages.
Despite the constant frustration around basic hygiene, I appreciated Joseph staying in the property but during my entire stay I felt monitored constantly and felt complete lack of privacy.
Even post my stay I got a message from him on why flies just appeared in the unit from no where - because I was eating food in the couch and not the table.
In summary, there is access for bugs and flies into the unit from outside but this issue was never addressed. Everything else I was doing wrong seemed to be the problem during my stay.
I acknowledge that everyone has different standards of hygiene and privacy and do not wish to make blanket statements with an intent of applying my experience to all. However I am sharing some of the reasons why the stay did not meet my expectations.