We really wanted to like this place. The positives - great location, parking, decent-sized rooms, fully equipped, superficially very clean, lots of thoughtful extras – but it was very bad stay. Poor first impression on arrival at this expensive place to find that it is a converted garage block in the owners’ yard, with little privacy and no lounge or anywhere to relax other than the beds. Very spartan. The many nice touches, like a 6-pack of beer, juice and condiments in the fridge, good ground coffee, a big bowl of M&Ms, good toiletries, even a sewing kit in the bathrooms, might have made up for it, but we had more serious problems.
There are two cats at the property, which would have been fine – I’m a massive animal-lover - but one of them is extremely aggressive and territorial. The first night we were sitting on the patio outside and the cat approached us, calling and hissing, and took position above our heads, glaring at us. Very unsettling, and it kept this up throughout our stay, bothering us and constantly trying to get into the unit.
First morning, the cat approached me, this time looking friendly, so I held my hand. It immediately leapt fully onto my forearm, attacking me with all four claws, drawing blood from multiple injuries. I was absolutely stunned. I went to see the owners, arm still bleeding, and John answered. I said, “Hi, didn’t want to meet you like this” and then explained what had happened. I was even more shocked when John responded, “He’s a cat”, “It’s his yard”, “Don’t bother me about this”, “You’re the adult here” and “If you don’t like it, you can leave”!
I immediately contacted Airbnb to cancel and find somewhere else, but due to Coronavirus didn’t hear back from them, so we ended up staying all six nights. It wasn’t good. We felt really uncomfortable because John had been so unpleasant, it’s in the owners’ yard, so they and others frequently walked through “our” patio, right past our windows and front door. This made the lack of a lounge/ relaxing area inside especially difficult. Additionally, the beds are terribly soft, the TV channels and reception awful and, toward the end of our stay, there were cockroaches in the bathrooms.
On the plus side, the only other time I had to speak to the owners, because the safe in my room failed with all my stuff inside, Carol answered and was perfectly friendly and helpful. What a relief – I had actually contemplated going out without my car or wallet, because I was so apprehensive about seeing the owners again.
Cannot recommend this place at all. I’m very grateful to Airbnb for eventually stepping in and obtaining a full refund for us.