2/10 Terrible
Jamala Y.
12 June 2021
Liked: Check-in
Disliked: Cleanliness, communication, location, listing accuracy
Beware of misrepresentation and unethical behaviour of the host
My family stayed at the property for two weeks, including a 10-day quarantine on arrival. The house itself is nice (although the area is dodgy), but not enough to offset all the issues with the stay. The main one is the host, who point-blank lied to us about levels of noise at the property when asked twice prior to booking - you will be subjected to loud fast train noise day and night as the busy line runs just one row of houses away. When confronted about it after check-in, he said neighbours seemed to be ok with it?!! Another misrepresentation is about the clothes dryer included in the listing - there is none. When asked, he said there was a small drying rack - obviously, that is not the same as a dryer?!! The rubbish bin outside was full to the brim and not emptied for the first five days. Crumbs in the kitchen. Disgusting yellow and brown stains on towels and bedding. Imagine laundering and drying all that without a tumble dryer! Finally, the host uses hidden and unadvertised surveillance - certainly outside the house, who knows if there is any inside. He mentioned ‘neighbours’ reporting to him twice (for non-controversial matters eg re rubbish and use of a stool in the garden), including in the garden - where surveillance is illegal and against vrbo rules. Given that the host is based in Dubai (judging from his phone number he gave us) and apparently not much aware of the specifics of the property, I doubt he knows any of the neighbours, or that they would discuss with him my wife sitting in the garden! What outrageous invasion of privacy! As a cherry on top, he tried to charge us (not a huge amount, but it is about the ethics of it) for broken shutters on ground-floor front windows which were never opened during my family’s stay for reasons of privacy. In summary, book at your own risk. Not our first booking on vrbo, but certainly the worst experience and host.
Jamala Y.
Stayed 14 nights in May 2021
