This is quite the read, but it’s worth it.
So we had this reservation booked for about a month. The woman who hosts was extremely difficult to get a hold of the entire time. It was sometimes a week in between and I’d have to message her multiple times to get a response. I felt I had very important questions that I needed answers to. I didn’t feel comfortable with the stay and was anxious about it, but we were desperate. We arrived on the 31st, originally I had told her it would be very late at night. The Saturday before I asked her what the earliest we could check in was because we were able to leave in the morning. I never got a response. So when we were about an hour out I decided to call her. It was about one. She told me she had someone there who asked for a late check out because we were supposed to be arriving late (meaning she never checked her messages to see my question about arriving early) to which I responded, not a problem, we’ll hang out, grab a bite to eat, no rush! She apologized which I told her she had no reason to, and she told me the room would be ready at 3 (check in time) we were on our way there and she sent me a text saying it was going to be 3:15. No problem, I would rather it take a little longer to actually clean so we waited. When we arrived I go to open the door like the instructions say to do and it was locked. I knocked and through the window she shouted she needed more time. I was a little irritated at this point because I had my 9 month old and my dog and it was very hot and we were exhausted from a 7 hour drive. But we have no choice but to wait. Half an hour goes by when she finally comes out so the time is now 3:45, 45 minutes past check in. She said she was sorry but she wouldn’t have time to shampoo the carpets because we were supposed to be arriving later. I didn’t feel like arguing and telling her I sent her a message earlier in the week so I smiled and said it wasn’t a problem. We go in and settle and we’re just relieved to be out of the heat. I asked her for the wifi for some work and my son’s baby monitor. She slipped it under the door. We realized the sleeping arrangements wouldn’t really work but she offers an air mattress on her page so I called and asked her for one and she said absolutely she could get it to us. We waited a while and nothing. We went outside and happened to see her and ask for it. She pulled it out from underneath something outside. She said the sheet was on there from the last time her and her grandkids used it. Gross but we took it because I had brought a spare sheet. The sheet and mattress were heavily stained. Time goes by and I’ve attempted the wifi for a few hours now and it’s not working at all. I texted her twice and nothing. Hours go by and we just got back from having dinner and I had to put the baby to sleep without his camera monitor which made me extremely uneasy. She texted me saying she tried to help but we closed the door in her face and that she’s busy and had other things to take care of and also that if I was unwilling to help check it that I can’t do it. I think she meant that I just wouldn’t be able to use it. I was panicky because of my son, my work that I had to do, and her response was odd to me. It was late, and we were tired. Getting ready for bed I found a broken piece to a long finger nail and that was the last straw for me. Had my son not been asleep we would have left that second. I didn’t feel the room was actually clean and that she just rushed through everything to make it look presentable. I had noticed car fresheners attached to the ac but thought nothing of it, now realizing they were there to make the room smell nice and clean. We booked a cheap motel just to get us out of there. My husband (who we took this trip for) had an important meeting that next morning. We were going to grab our stuff and leave after he got back from it. He went to leave and the gate was shut which it hadn’t been that day. We had what appeared to be a gate opener on the key she left so he frantically went up with it trying to open it but it wouldn’t open. I called the host three times and her phone was off. I feel as someone hosting that that was completely unacceptable. If we had an emergency in the middle of the night with that gate being locked and unable to open it, and no way of getting a hold of her, I don’t know what would have happened. At 9 am my mom had to walk around the house finally finding someone to help and she finally did. He asked if we used the remote. My mom brought it to him and watched as he too was unable to open it. She never called me back or even sent a message to apologize. After a few minutes they got it open and my husband just barely made it to his meeting. We waited until he got back and we packed up our things and left. I sent her a message stating why, and I took a video as proof of us leaving, the hanging key and locking