Please learn from my mistakes and avoid this host and his listings! I reached out to Oren 2 weeks before our stay. In my message, I confirmed that the hot tub was functional. The main reason I chose Oren's listing was because of the hot tub. I organized a group of 6 to stay here for one night and we were looking forward to it. We drove from Los Angeles (about a 4.5 hour drive). I informed Oren of our arrival time and he offered to heat the hot tub up for us which was nice. So, we arrived and at first thought that the place was a fine place to stay for one night. However, after being there for an hour or so we realized the pitfalls of this dressed up home:
1. The game room you see in the images with the fireplace and ping pong table inside is non existent. Instead, theres a couch with a curtain behind it hiding a bunch of furniture (chairs, lamps, etc). Totally inaccessible.
2. The hot tub was completely cold and NOT functional, even though Oren had texted me earlier in the day and said that he would preheat it for us. He clearly did not stop by to do that because if he had he would’ve noticed that it was not working and given us the opportunity to not stay at his listing. As soon as we arrived we realized that the tub was cold. We immediately informed the host who had us troubleshoot the tub ourselves. After troubleshooting for 30 minutes, Oren told us he would be there in 45 minutes to resolve the issue. Oren arrived and was at the place for about 45 minutes trying to troubleshoot himself. Eventually he realized that he couldn’t fix the issue and gave up. Oren told us that we should check the temperature again in an hour. The hot tub was still cold, and by now it was far too late in the night to search for other accommodations that were better suited to our expectations.
3. There is absolutely no reason for the cleaning fee to be as much as the stay itself. $250 is egregious for the amenities (or lack thereof) at this listing.
To “compensate” us for our inconvenience Oren offered an additional nights stay for free or money back. Obviously we will not be staying at an Oren listing ever again, so we accepted the refund, expecting it to be at least half of what we paid (since he was offering us a free night, a $580 value!). We received $80, less than 15% back for a wasted night. When we asked for more money back Oren stopped replying to my messages. To make matters worse, Oren suggested that we should have left if we weren't satisfied. If he had done what he said he would do and preheated the hot tub, he would have caught the issues with it and given us an opportunity to not stay there. By the time he came over and attempted to troubleshoot it, it was way too late. We also would not have booked the house if we had known that that game room was inaccessible. Maybe he should have properly advertised his place and we wouldn't have been put in the situation in the first place.
4. This place is basically a facade - more like a motel than a house. The place is patched together with some vegas looking decor. The comforters have cigarette holes in them. The ceiling is patched up. There is trash stuffed behind the dressers.
Based on how this host reacted to the situation, I would advise everyone to avoid Oren's listings. He does not know how to resolve conflict and should not be an Airbnb host.