We booked four days at this location to hopefully spend some much-needed, relaxing and quiet family time. First, I will say the property was beautiful and well-equipped at first glance. The beds were comfortable and house was clean.
That said, we did experience a lack of hot water during our stay, which was uncomfortable for all guests, including our 2-year-old. We were four adults and a toddler.
One of the adults in our party travels with a service animal and though the property description says pets are not allowed, we reached out to the owner before arrival and he was very accommodating in permitting us to bring the dog with us after providing him with the reason for the service animal's support.
On the second day of our stay though, we experienced very poor customer service and behavior from the property manager and owner that we are still very much confused about as we were having a pleasant stay up until that point.
As we were getting ready to leave for lunch, the fire alarm went off due to vapor from a hair dryer. The property manager texted and asked if everything was okay, and we said yes and shared the reason for the alarm. Furthermore, the service animal’s owner decided he felt well enough that day to leave the dog at home while we stepped out for a quick lunch (took medical precautions) and he left the dog in the bathroom in order to ensure the dog did not jump on the furniture while alone, as requested by the property owner, though the dog is well trainer and does not not show that type of behavior.
We assume the property owner stepped by to check on the house (his house’s guest house) as we received a text that the dog was barking, but the dog is trained to only alert when someone is at the door. In addition, the front door was unlocked, which we very clearly made sure to lock before heading out. He asked that we come get the dog and we immediately did so to ensure the owner was not uncomfortable with the situation.
We later arrived and noticed there was still no hot water. We asked for help and were met with false accusations of breaking many house rules and a lack of support with utilities from the property manager saying she “could call a plumber but it would take a week.” She mentioned the owner “knew” we were smoking in the home, which was entirely false, and that he could “see” we had many people with us, which again, we were 4 adults and a toddler (house accommodates 6). She said they were confused because we never told them how many people were staying nor who each person was, which in past experience with Airbnb’s those details have never been needed as long as our group is within the number of people allowed. The property manager would not answer our calls and instead texted us not to contact the owner as she was “trying to calm him down and help us” when we are not exactly sure what the concern was nor needed any help outside of getting hot water.
We asked if she could tell us which house rules the owner thought we broke, but to this day have not received a clear answer. We did not appreciate being falsely accused of smoking in the home, breaking numerous house rules nor lying to the owner, as we did no such thing. To make matters worse, when asking for help with the water heater, the response received was much along the lines of “you have broken many house rules. I can call a plumber but it will take a week. If you have other suggestions, let me know”. This atrocity of a response and lack of willingness to help, on top of the false accusations and overall harassment we felt, ultimately pushed us to leave Austin early and cancel our last night at the property.
I would not recommend this location to anyone due to the poor management, lack of customer service and uncomfortable situation we were pushed into by the owner without any explanation or willingness to discuss with us directly.