Our image of what we were renting and the reality are 2 very different things. From the description, we thought we were coming to a condo at a beach resort. The reality is that this is an old residential building, where each condo or unit is individually owned by residents. Some of the owners have put their units in the Airbnb pool. As a result, there is nothing like a resort experience. there is no on-site assistance for anything inside your unit. Pablo and Yarden operate a property management company that manages some of the units in the building for the owners. The unit we originally booked had a water problem, and so the day before we were to arrive they notified us that we would be going to a different unit for one night, and then they would switch us to another unit for the remaining 3 nights. We understand these things can happen, and were willing to do this. However, the unit that we arrived at was poorly cleaned and maintained. Since we arrived very late, we had no choice but to stay that night. In the morning, we went to see other unit that they were planning on moving us into. The cleaning people were still cleaning, and we understood that. But, again in this unit, the long term cleaning and maintenance was very bad and we could not stay there. In just in the short time we were there, I have listed below some of the things that we found in the unit where we stayed. This is very representative of both units. This would lead me to believe that these conditions are very characteristic of all Pablo and Yarden's units on the property, and most likely all units managed by them:
Grimy stained carpets, edges of the carpet worn through to the backing and coming apart in places. Mold and wood damage in bathrooms, grime stains on light switches, doors and moldings. A wood dresser made into a vanity with no water protection on the wood top which has 50% of the finish peeled off, delaminating and molding. Junk stored in closets i.e. old sink, mirrors, rolled up carpet. Door handles falling off. Closet doors falling off the rollers, the microwave didn't work, wet carpet, smelly beds, especially the pillows (we had to lay towels on them to sleep the one night we were there). Stains and old worn in grime on the furniture. Ceiling tiles coming loose and water stains from past leaks. Think of a very cheap motel, and this will give you a feeling of the cleaning and maintenance level.
The general atmosphere and level of this older building is very similar to an older college dorm with much of the furniture coming from garage sales. Even so, if the units were clean and maintained, and the beds, furniture and linens were clean, we would have stayed. But, with the grime, mold, smell and poor maintenance, we could not stay. it was too creepy. When I was able to talk on the phone to a person from Pablo and Yarden's team, he apologized and agreed to refund our money. But after we had left the building and gone to a new place, Yarden followed up and told us they would only reimburse $861 of our $1362 total rental charge. in other words, they were going to charge us $501 for our 1 night in this poorly maintained and dirty unit. I told them that I would settle for 25% of our whole expense, which is 1 of the 4 nights we booked. I feel that given the condition of the units, that was more than fair. They have not agreed to do this. So, we are now going to start a dispute process with Airbnb.