Not a good experience.
We did not receive check-in instructions and the host did not respond to my messages or repeated phone calls. We arrived from Sydney still without any communication from the hosts. From reviewing previous guest reviews, I understood that the host owns the cafe downstairs... I googled the cafe and was able to get in touch with one of the staff members, Gina. Thank goodness for her... she managed to get us some keys and directed us to 'our room' before leaving for the evening. Upon entering the unit (#12), we were a bit shocked as it did not have any beach/ocean views and was not at all what we were expecting. Very disappointing.
Finally, it seemed the owner checked their messages and were aware we had arrived, they got in touch with a brother in law who called me to let me know we were in the wrong room.. thank goodness... and he would come up to give us the keys to apartment #7. The owners were apparently in Cuba during our stay and indicated they didn't have a strong internet connection and hence the poor communication... not sure why check-in details weren't provided before they left for vacation though?.
Had we had any significant issues during our stay, we would not have been able to get in touch with the host.
Moved across the hall to apartment #7 which was nicer than #12 and did have amazing views of Bondi Beach.
The cleanliness of the apartment was sub-par... walls and doors could use a wipe down or fresh coat of paint as they were quite marked and dirty (scribbles on inside of apartment door from a child?). Dirty kitchen sponges and tea towels, and filthy pan left in the oven. The bed sheets had some marks and holes and the bath mat in the bathroom was quite dirty as well.
At no fault of the hosts, a dryer in the building caught fire and we were evacuated from the building while they extinguished the blaze and monitored the building's air pollution.
Some additional amenities would've been appreciated such as beach towels, plastic wrap and paper towels in the kitchen etc. (handy things for travelers).
The host did eventually send through a couple messages and accommodated a late check out which was appreciated.
The apartment was in a great location and had plenty of windows and fresh air flowing through.