I want to begin this review by saying that I have never left a bad review for any other Airbnb/VRBO experience in all my years of frequent travel. I actually debated whether to write this at all - after the stress of dealing with Romelle following our stay last week, I was honestly just ready to put the whole thing behind me and move on rather than relive all of this again. However, after reading a review from another guest of Romelle’s who had a similar experience with her just a few months ago, I decided it would be the right thing to share my experience so other renters are at least prepared.
My first indication something may not be right about this booking was before we even arrived. A few days after booking the (non-refundable) property on Airbnb, Romelle contacted me by personal email to request I sign a separate agreement outside of Airbnb and pay an additional fee for taxes, directly to her. This all made me very uneasy. I had never been asked to do anything like this for an Airbnb reservation, and didn’t really feel great about communicating outside of the app. However, not wanting to lose my booking, I gave her the benefit of the doubt, which I now regret.
Over all, the stay was pleasant. The location of the condo is honestly great - across from a nice beach park and within walking distance to the main drag in Kihei. The condo itself was fine. The furniture, linens and kitchenware was all a bit dated and worn, but still clean, and supplies like beach bags, etc. were well stocked. We hardly spent any time in the unit - we didn’t even cook a meal there - so it was perfectly fine for our short stay.
Before leaving the unit, I made multiple checks throughout to ensure we had followed the checkout instructions completely and were leaving everything in excellent condition. We even went beyond the cleaning guidelines provided, and washed all towels and bedding in the unit and started the dishwasher, to help speed up the cleaning time.
After checking out, Romelle first contacted me to thank me for the early check-out and extra cleaning. However, a short time later I received another (much less friendly) message letting me know her cleaner had discovered a crack in the base of a lamp. I immediately replied to Romelle that I was confident we were not responsible for the crack. Not only did we not use the lamp at all during our visit, neither my husband nor I could even recall seeing that lamp during our stay, as we didn’t turn on any lamps while we were there (we had to refer to the image she sent over to figure out where it even was in the unit). I suggested the crack might have been there prior to our visit, as we had no contact with the lamp whatsoever. She insisted this could absolutely not be the case and that we were definitely responsible, then went on to accuse us of moving the lamp to position it in a way to hide the crack, after which she sent me a string of messages indicating I owed her hundreds of dollars for damages.
Obviously concerned, I immediately contacted Airbnb customer support to explain our situation and seek their advice on how to proceed - advice we followed exactly as directed.
I have never had any issues with any other Airbnb stays, and though I realize this is my word against her accusation, I am certain we did not contribute to damage of the lamp. If we had, I would have immediately contacted Romelle to let her know and volunteer to pay for damages.
I think it’s worth pointing out that, in reading through past reviews for Romelle, I noticed that just four months before our stay, she accused another renter of damaging property in the unit (bedding), which they adamantly denied responsibility for. Whether this is an indication of a trend, or a coincidence, two occurrences of nearly identical accusations in such a short period of time stand out as suspicious.
My advice for any future renter would be to conduct a thorough check of the unit upon arrival and take a picture of anything that is not perfect - a scratch on the furniture, a stain on a sheet, etc. - and alert her right away to avoid being placed with the blame for something you did not do. I also advise to only communicate with her through the Airbnb app, rather than by personal email. Good luck!