I’m the owner, and I’m writing this from the heart, not only for myself and my team of property manager, cleaner, gardener and handyman, but for fellow Vrbo and other short-term rental hosts who put enormous time, money and care into their properties and occasionally have the misfortune of dealing with a guest whose review simply does not correspond with the facts.
We were genuinely shocked reading this review.
Everyone is entitled to an opinion. What nobody is entitled to do is rewrite objectively verifiable facts. So, for the Vrbo community, future guests and fellow hosts, I want to address these claims directly. My property manager will also be contacting Vrbo Customer Support with supporting documentation.
First: We have NEVER advertised this bungalow as having two bedrooms or two bathrooms. It has one bathroom. The layout, sleeping arrangements and amenities are clearly stated and photographed in our listing. We cannot explain where this claim came from.
Second: The Murphy bed was never a surprise or concealed. It is clearly visible in our listing photographs and has a high-quality mattress that we replace regularly. This is an extremely busy rental, regularly achieving 90-100% monthly occupancy.
Third: The allegations about the bed, linens and pillows are particularly troubling because, by pure coincidence, we have photographic evidence from the exact day of their arrival. We were completing a professional photoshoot immediately before check-in. Those photographs show exactly how the bed was presented: freshly prepared according to our housekeeping SOP, with four pillows and clean 100% organic cotton linens.
The guest’s subsequent photographs show one of those pillows inside a cabinet. How a pillow documented on the freshly prepared bed ended up inside a cabinet and then became part of a photograph criticizing the property is something we cannot explain. Fortunately, the photographs taken immediately before their arrival speak for themselves.
Fourth: The “three-legged ottoman” is part of a lounge chair. It is designed to attach to that chair. Separating it and then presenting its three-leg design as a furniture defect is misleading.
Fifth: Yes, the bungalow has skylights. Lots of them. They are an intentional architectural feature and are plainly visible throughout our listing photographs. We also provide blackout window coverings and a curtain separating the sleeping area from the living area.
Sixth: The air conditioning works. Like any AC system, windows and doors need to remain closed while it is operating, which is why we have reminders in the bungalow. We are also one block from the beach in Venice, where opening the windows at night and enjoying the cool Pacific air instead of unnecessarily running AC is one of the pleasures of staying here.
Finally, there is one criticism for which we absolutely take responsibility. Our photographer ran approximately six minutes past check-in. My property manager and I were there because we knew the shoot was running a few minutes late. When the guests arrived, we apologized, had what we believed was a friendly conversation with them, and immediately left them to enjoy the property.
For those six minutes, we sincerely apologize again. Whether those six minutes somehow contributed to the extraordinary hostility of this review, we simply don’t know. Frankly, the entire situation is bizarre to us.
We welcome criticism when we get something wrong. It helps us improve. We also respect subjective opinions. Someone can dislike a mattress, furniture, skylights or anything else about a home. That’s their prerogative.
But criticism and demonstrably false factual claims are two very different things.
I stand behind this little business we have built over the past 12 years, and more importantly, I stand behind the people who work day in and day out, our property manager, cleaners, gardener and handyman, to give our guests the best experience possible. I will not remain silent when their work and integrity are attacked by statements that our records and photographs directly contradict.
Reviews matter enormously to independent hosts. That is precisely why they should be truthful.
We will be asking Vrbo to review this review together with our supporting evidence. We also hope Vrbo protects responsible hosts from demonstrably inaccurate reviews, just as guests deserve protection from hosts who misrepresent their properties.
Future guests and fellow hosts can look at our listing, photographs and history of reviews and judge for themselves.
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