My family and I are originally from LA but now reside on the east coast. We decided to came out to Cali to visit family we haven’t seen since the Covid pandemic.
To be honest, we had MANY concerns. However, I think the one thing that was a bit distasteful was the hidden fee of $250 for simply touching the projector screen that does not retract. We were traveling with my toddler and this “hidden fee” was very concerning. This fee is also not mentioned in the rules of the home. When asked how would they know if someone touched the screen (for my curiosity) the reply was that it would be “blatantly obviously if the natural dust on the screen had been tampered with.”😳 this was told to us the day we checked in. Too late to back out, we went into the place knowing that we were not going to even access the living room due to the scrutiny surrounding the projector screen.
Once arrived, immediately we did our walk through and spotted what looked like a camera lens, because lets face it, how would they KNOW if someone “touched” the screen if you didn’t have eyes on the screen at all times?! When mentioned to the host, he debunked the camera lens theory stating it was in fact a RPR sensor that helps the projector follow through commands. 🤔 since we repeatedly let the host know we will not even risk misplacing the naturally occurring dust on the screen, that we will stay out of the living room entirely; there was simply no need for this “RPR sensor”. We covered up the lens for added security. We also found an Alexa hidden in the back of the pantry which we quickly unplugged. When told the host about the hidden Alexa, which he replied that the Alexa was for our use..how? It was hidden in the pantry all the way In the back?!
A little background: My husband works in IT with a very sensitive job, so having hidden eyes in the sky and mics listening, would be a huge security breech for his employer.
Issues that the host quickly resolved: ant problem resulting from half opened sugar that was left out by host for our use for coffee? ( host sent out housekeepers), malfunctioned AC( we had to reset the entire panel), 3 bedrooms promised(3rd bedroom presented with a locked door) (no resolution..was told this was a storage room) and lastly a refrigerator/freezer full of half eaten food/drinks 🤢! We were very concerned that someone was still living there!
Despite all of this, the host was VERY responsive and ready to talk through our concerns and rectified them immediately. I The host willingness to make things right was the ONLY saving grace.
To sum things up, we paid for a 3 bedroom home but could only access 2 and for our comfort stayed out of the living room due to projector-gate. Our price for our 7 day stay was not modified.
I can say, after everything was addressed, our remaining 5 days were seamless…