2/10 Terrible
Britt C.
12 November 2022
Disliked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy
Hosts lack integrity. Photos do well disguising this subpar house in low rent neighborhood.
It’s the kind of neighborhood where everyone has knee high grass and broken furniture sitting out by the curb. Loud industrial generator was powering a large sewage pump in the front yard when I checked in after midnight. The smell was unbearable but the lizard in the master bed really sealed the deal. Tried to handle the lizard myself but it disappeared into the bedding so less than 20 min after arriving I found myself leaving to find somewhere to sleep. I came back after sunrise to reassess my situation, but never even got out of my car when I smelled the sewage that was still pumping in the front yard—now accompanied by heavy machinery demo-ing the street. I left and contacted the host to explain the lizard situation that forced me to sleep elsewhere and told her the noise/smell alone made the place unusable for my stay (they were aware my trip was work-related) and politely requested a refund so I could find something more suitable. She responded later to tell me they checked the bedroom and found no lizard and in FL this should be an acceptable condition for a paid accommodation and they didn’t feel liable for the construction (It was VERY obvious the construction/sewage issues started well before I ever made the reservation and I was never warned). At the time of her response, she was not privy to the fact that my initial checkin experience was the only time I was in the house, so it bothered me to learn someone had entered the house to investigate during a time it should have been assumed I was occupying it. She informed me I’d have to take up my refund request with VRBO and never responded to any of my messages following. Upon reaching out to VRBO and describing the circumstances, they told me that refunds are left up to the discretion of the host. I guess they do not have any standards of integrity they hold their hosts to. The amount paid for a 4 night stay was overpriced, even not considering the conditions at the time. The host kept the entirety of the money and never responded to my pleas of even a partial refund after denying my initial request. To add insult to injury I was forced to pay for another place, but continued to receive automated messages telling me how pleased they were to host me and other check out details when they knew I wasn’t staying there. They didn’t even offer to refund the cleaning fee even though I never touched anything in the house aside from the pillow the lizard was under. Just took my money and ran!
Britt C.
Stayed 4 nights in Nov 2022
