Two stars, and here's why – the house is in a great location and looks beautiful, but was far more of a hassle than it should have been (and on occasion actively dangerous).
Pros:
- Location: half a mile from a grocery store, restaurants, and other amenities of Denver in a beautiful residential area
- Aesthetic: home was tidy on arrival, with a nice porch and backyard space
- Supplies: home was supplied with food, paper towels, laundry detergent, etc. when we arrived which was helpful to avoid shopping on the first day
Cons:
- An alarm (after asking the host, we don't know which one) went off at around 5 AM one night for no reason.
- The oven smelled strongly of gas every time we turned it on, rendering it unable to be used safely.
- The washing machine malfunctioned on about half of the loads we did, leaving laundry soaked in a pool of water. Upon reaching out to host, we were inexplicably told it was likely our fault (though this was at the end of the trip so we don't know for sure).
- WiFi was questionable at best near the end of the trip – when we left the home, we were unable to log out of TV apps because the network had no internet connection. Videoconferences necessary during COVID were only sometimes better.
- Despite paying a $500 cleaning fee upon reservation and being told the host had a housekeeper, we were chastised for not leaving the house clean. This criticism included not "sweeping the backyard," which is landscaped largely with tall trees and wood chips. It should be noted that this was after I asked if we needed to be thorough in our move-out cleaning and were told we did not. The host subsequently blamed our perceived lack of cleanliness on our age and the fact that we are not homeowners, two accusations that are not only generalizations but also simply baseless. She also suggested we hadn't done any laundry through the duration of our five-week stay, which seemed strange given we had previously inquired about the washing machine.
My overall opinion is that, though the good parts of this house were wonderful, the above incidents and subsequent communication with the host were far more frustrating.