This review is solely regarding the host. The place is very nice, albeit there were no curtains in the bathroom window so neighbors could totally peek when you are showering, due to lack of privacy.
Maria checked in a lot when we ran into traffic so our check in was late.
The real issue was when we decided to perform a good deed.
On Friday noontime, we found some keys in the yard and alerted Maria that we found them, assuming they were hers as it opened the gate. She acted very grateful and even offered to give us a gift card to a local restaurant which was very nice. I said no worries as I absolutely didn't want a gift and didn't think it was necessary.
Friday early afternoon, she said to look downstairs because the keys were her college aged daughter's and they picked some lovely flowers for us in a vase along with a thank you card. It was a lovely gesture and we communicated that.
On Sunday morning, we checked out. Mid-Sunday afternoon, she messages me asking where the vase was. Apparently, she expected the vase back because the vase held extreme sentimental value to her daughter who bought it for college. We were never told to return the vase, which was plain (normal cylinder, no design) and truly looked like it was part of the gift. When I called her to confirm, she was very aggressive in demanding the vase back and berated me for assuming the vase was part of the gift.
When I asked her what she expected, she said she would have taken the flowers out ( which were not in a bouquet or tied in a ribbon or anything) and put them in a sandwich bag to take home. Since we stayed at her airbnb, there were no sandwich bags available, I guess I didn't think that far ahead for this unwanted gift that we explicitly said we wanted no part in the beginning.
I explained that we were already 4 hours into our 10 hour drive, and after berating me some more for taking the vase, I cut her off and asked her for solutions on what to do next. I offered to mail it back to her but she would have to pay for the shipping due to this miscommunication.
She messaged me back eventually and agreed to pay for shipping costs and even offered to spend money to mail me bubble wrap. I calculated the shipping and materials cost and stated that I can mail her back the vase but it would cost $40 (for normal shipping for this 8 inch tall vase, bubble wrap and packing materials, and tracking info). She said that was too expensive, regardless of how much she stressed this was very sentimental for her daughter) and then wanted us to keep the vase until February for when she might possibly drive past our state down to Florida.
Maria's miscommunication and absurd requests from us for an unwanted gift gave us a major headache after we checked out. The airbnb is nice but I wouldn't ever want to communicate with a host like this again. This entire experience was very unsettling.