For sleepless nights and severe back pain, book the Teahouse.
I ignored the negative reviews of this place, and really wish I hadn’t. The people who wrote them ***weren’t kidding***, and weren’t overly sensitive either.
They don’t mention in their description that you don’t get a mattress in this stay. If you expect to have a place you can *actually* sleep (kind of what you pay for in an Airbnb), you won’t get it at the Teahouse.
Do you remember those floppy tri-fold tumble mats from gym class? That’s what your “bed” is, although these mats more closely resemble those waterproof patio furniture fold outs that completely decompresses when you put pressure on them. Two of those stacked on top of each other with about a one inch piece of thin foam stacked on that is your “bed”.
The first night I couldn’t sleep for half of the night (I felt like the princess and the pea), the rest was spent tossing and turning. I was sleeping directly on a double crack fault line where the trifold mats fold. My daughter and I both woke up with severe back pain and our nerves were completely shot. When I expressed my concern and dismay, the property manager told me I just need to turn my body the other direction. That these accommodations are “rustic” and most people love them. Let me be clear, the Teahouse itself is adorable, more adorable than the pictures, but I paid for a place to *sleep*.
-Musty/mildew smell. Overall this place feels clean, but the lowest piece of the “bed” is a bamboo type platform, and if you lift the mats up near the window areas (where there is simply a screen and I imagine moisture makes its way into), it smells musty/mildewy underneath. It wasn’t bad enough to send us packing immediately, but my daughter has mold/mildew allergies that can trigger asthma, so I wasn’t happy about the odor. (I was promised there was no mold/mildew odor before checking in due to her sensitivity.). There was another review here also confirming what I found. They thought it was just the sheets. Nope, the smell comes from the platform.
-There were also ants in the bed. I’m not talking about some stragglers which are extremely common on any tropical farm. When I expressed concern here, I was told it’s a privilege to stay on the farm here, that this type of ant doesn’t bite, that the ants were here before us, and are just part of the experience. To be clear, I’m a country girl, a palmetto bug or some ants don’t make me squeamish. They are expected on a farm that doesn’t spray poison everywhere (I own a farm at home with zero spraying myself that is subtropical). I do draw the line though when they crawl all over you in bed.
I didn’t like the general feel of how I was treated when I gave honest feedback and expressed concerns about the above. The response was, “well what do you want me to do about it?” As well as, “well, *you* sure have been having problems…”
For starters, for your future guests, you could order a decent mattress, get rid of that mildewed bamboo platform and put in a raised slotted frame for airflow, as well as bait the ants.
When I asked for a refund for the remainder of our stay after our second sleepless night of hell, I was told only if they could book the remainder of our time last minute. (So when you do tell them what they can do about a problem, they aren’t willing to do it.)
So yet another day of my vacation was wasted, dealing with Airbnb, who helped us get our refund as deserved.
Once I had my refund ensured, and as we were packing up in darkness not knowing where we would even go for the night, I was messaged, “we assumed you’d be gone by now”.
We had to pack and carry our things down multiple uneven concrete stairs that are not lit at all in POURING rain and keep getting messages from our host, “are you gone yet” even after explaining we were getting out as fast as could in the pitch dark, pouring rain, with lots of uneven, unlit stairs.
Thankfully I used to live in this area and an old friend gave us a place to spend the night (an actual bed, hallelujah!)
If not for our friend we’d be at square one, looking for a place to sleep last minute, in the dark and pouring rain.
So no, I highly DON’T recommend this stay, or host. There are plenty of stays on farms just as beautiful as this one with just as beautiful views. I left a stellar review for one really close to this one if you are looking for a good place in this area.