To start with the good: this really is a stunning home, and the way it allows guests to experience the ocean and surrounding areas from the property is unparalleled. The house was well-stocked with towels, flatware, coffee, a thoughtful spread of pantry snacks when we arrived, many cozy blankets, and plenty of toiletries. Carlos was on-site when we arrived to ensure the wifi was working properly, and even graciously allowed us a slightly earlier check-in time. The instructions for use of the fireplace, fire table, and hot tub were well communicated, and all amenities on the listing were as described. Carlos was also very prompt to make all repairs we noticed upon check-in.
For the less-than-thrilling: Prior to booking, I first asked if we’d be permitted to have a yoga instructor and a painting instructor over to the listing during the day — this was during the omicron surge, and we wanted to host laidback, lower-key activities at the listing as opposed to being in larger crowds. I was told that having one or two people over to the listing would be fine — we were not asked for any further information nor details.
On our second night, all but one of us had gone out for the evening, with the remaining person staying back to go to bed early. At 10:27 PM, I began receiving texts from the host that the house owner informed him that a “rager” was occurring, claiming that the bride was vomiting outside and that a “uhaul full of party gear” showed up. All of this was gleaned from the outdoor security cameras — none of it was accurate to what had happened. Five hours earlier, we were gathered outside with a cardboard cutout and serenading the bride with a Mamma Mia! song, who was bent over laugh-crying, but certifiably not vomiting. We’d had a husband and wife duo of chefs come to prepare food for us that evening — after booking, we became aware that our group had a breadth of food allergies, and we wanted to thoughtfully cater to those needs — but they’d been at the house the evening prior with no issue on the owner’s part. We were informed that there weren’t any noise complaints — just assumptions made by the owner. We were threatened with the cancellation of the remainder of our reservation, despite us following the rules we agreed to. We did not host any parties nor invite a crowd of additional folks over. Though we did our best to de-escalate the aggravation, these threats greatly impacted our group. I really hate to say that the night was ruined, but it was cut short with many frustrated tears. The following night, the host sent along the message that the owner reviewed the camera footage again and “‘overreacted’ and offers apologies.” Nevertheless, this overreaction came at a great cost to our comfort.
We were further concerned by the explicit mention of the owner using cameras to surveil us — none of us are strangers to folks having their own private security systems, but this listing is on the beach and has a hot tub, and our group is largely femme-bodied people who were frequently wearing swimsuits, so this really put us on edge to know someone was watching us like this. The explicit distinction of “external” cameras didn’t help, either. I cannot emphasize enough how disappointing it was that such a comfortable, welcoming home became suddenly so unsettling and sinister. Even though we’d confirmed with the host prior to booking (in our original message!) that a paint instructor would be permitted at the house, we were too concerned at risking being kicked out by the owner, and we felt impelled to cancel an expensive, nonrefundable activity.