I will not say we had a terrible experience, per se, yet the expectations we had for the property were higher than the reality.
1) Renovations. We expected a renovated property, but what we did not expect was for these renovations to be incomplete. There was an entire wall unfinished, wall outlets that were loose, and a vent in one of the bedrooms falling out of the ceiling. I could live with the walls not all being finished, but having loose outlets is incredibly dangerous — especially since we had two toddlers staying with us.
2) Cleanliness. It was reasonably clean, but if I am honest, I’m pretty sure the home was cleaner when we left then when we checked in. Our biggest complaint was that the previous renters (or maybe the housekeeper) did not take out the garbage so there were quite few maggots in the trash. There was also an ant problem in the dining room.
3) Location expectations. The listing said the home was only a couple blocks from the beach. True. However, the listing did not mention they each of these blocks was about a quarter mile, so it took 20 minutes to walk there. This part of the beach was also filthy, so we needed to drive to another location.
4) Owner Responsibility. This is my last reason and my most important. The owner responded very quickly to any concerns I had. However, what I did not appreciate was the owner blaming my group for some of the issues in her home. For example, the second morning of our stay, we left the home to find human feces and toilet paper piled in the front yard. Apparently, the septic blew. The owner called a plumber to fix the issue that day but then blamed the septic clog on us. We had been staying in the home for maybe 36 hours and much of this time was spent out and about. A clog like that in the septic system takes time to build up, and there is no way the few people in our party could have been responsible for it. That’s just absurd and infuriating. I wish I could say this was the only thing she blamed me for, but there were several other things as well. Not only did she send me rude, accusatory messages, but she filed a citation against me too. Things happen and I appreciate how quickly the owner handled the septic issue, yet she is a homeowner and needs to take responsibility for what happened instead of blaming me for the problems in the home. I fear for the group who stays there who is not as clean and conscientious as we are, and I would not stay at her property again.