This was my very first experience booking an AirBnB myself. The property is impressively situated on top of a hill. We didn't understand how to get to the guest house after entering the main gate. Maybe I missed something in the instructions? Candice had to come out to show us were we needed to pass to get to their guesthouse. She got a little spooked by our service dog approaching her to say hello. We had not indicated we were had a service dog on the platform as AirBnB only asks as to indicate if we had a pet with us, then states that a service dog is not a pet. Hence, she was not expecting a dog with us. I explained to her the Colin was my wife's service dog, she said we would have to pay a pet fee for him anyways. I agreed.
Their guest house was very clean when, but I doubt they go in there much to check it out themselves after the cleaners leave. Candice also showed us where there was coffee and water. We later found that there was only water. When we got to our room I heard the sound of a lot of water flowing. The flush valve of the toilet in the left master bedroom was open and water had been running through it for God knows how long. It was an easy fix. I opened the top, untwisted the cable and hooked it up properly so that the toilet's flush valve could now close. Also, the ceiling door to their attic was ajar and couldn't be closed properly so it just hang open the whole time. No big deal. Just something they should have taken care of.
I also noticed the pool was a little dirty, but in the morning Shannon was kind enough to clean the pool for us. I didn't spend a lot of time with him, but you could tell he was very personable and gracious. We also saw Candice and she apologized for screaming the night before when Colin approached her. I understood of course that was because she didn't know we had a dog with us. We left for a bit to get coffee and I asked if we could heat the pool and tub that day, because it was the main reason we booked the place. When we got back Candice said she didn't know exactly how and that Shannon had already left. I think she figured it out eventually because the pool got a little warmer and the tub was now heated. The pool even heated was too cold for my taste on a 72º day so we spent most of our time in the tub.
Candice and Shannon have a dog named Teddy. He spent a good amount of the day with us. A very friendly dog who enjoyed our attention. He is very skilled at climbing and got to our food on the table while we were at the tub and on two occasions got to some of our food on the side of the tub when we weren't paying attention. Mostly though he was good company and Colin did love being around him.
I think the biggest part to be aware of is although they say you are able to enjoy the private pool and tub area, its use is not exclusively for your use. If Shannon and Candice have guest of their own, they are also free to use the area with you as we noticed in the evening. Of course, we did not say anything. We were only guests at their home. Just something to keep in mind as Candice mention to us that their home can get busy with their own guest on occasion.
Our stay was quite enjoyable for the most part. Like I said the guest house is clean and comfortable enough for a weekend stay. Shannon and Candice were very kind to us during our stay. When we left we made sure all their checkout instructions were followed. I did a round outside to make sure Colin didn't leave anything unwanted behind. We not only cleaned after ourselves, but put everything we used in the kitchen back in their respective place.
In the end we only had one major issue... Colin, our service dog and the pet fee. I reached out to AirBnB the next day on their service dog policy. I just wanted to clarify things with them, as like I said this was my first time using their platform. Turned out that I understood their policy correctly. Service dogs are not considered pets and hosts are not allowed to discriminate against them nor charge a fee for them. I sent Candice a message in regards to this, but she still insisted we pay the pet fee. This triggered several back and fourths between us, AirBnB support and us, as well as AirBnB support and Candice. In the end AirBnB told us to decline the fee as it was against their Nondiscrimination Policy. Candice was not very happy about this out come. Now, she was saying Colin had threat her life when he approached her the night we arrived forgetting she has already apologized to us screaming as well. I told her a dog coming to say hello and wagging his tail does not constitute as a threat on someone's life. She demanded we give her a doctor's note for our service dog, even though it is illegal in CA to ask what disability your service dog is for. Anyways, the whole thing got pretty unpleasant. Not the best first experience with AirBnB to say the least.