As advertised, however....
Submitted: October 3, 2012
Stayed: August 2012
My husband and I stayed at this house for five nights. It was as represented on VRBO, close to everything...so close to the airport that we could see and hear the planes taking off all night. Luckily weren't around during the day.
We stayed in the master bedroom, in which there was a lamp next to the bed thati had a shade which appeared to have been burned or melted. There was a nice shower in that bedroom, and a whirlpool tub. Water ran constantly from the tub and the toilet, a waste.
There was a washer and dryer upstairs. However, there was mildew and soap caked on the washer, and the dryer was full of towels that we folded and left on the bed in a room we weren't using. Although we'd been on the road for a week, we only used the washer to do towels and sheets on our last day, per the owner's agreement we'd been required to sign. Not what we expected to have to do on our vacation.
The kitchen was well-equipped, but we didn't eat at the house. The oven was dirty and there were gnats flying everywhere. The side door, which was our entrance, was chewed up at the bottom.
The carpeting inside of the house was so filthy, I wouldn't take my shoes off inside. There was a large screen TV, as advertised, but it didn't work. There was a list of contacts on the refigerator (which was clean). I called the cleaning person about the washer, and the manager listed, about the non-working TV on our first night. It was clear, per the owner's website and list on the refrigerator, that he did not want to be bothered with problem. However, after having to leave voicemails with both parties that I'd called, I also had to leave a message with the owner. No one ever called me back. The owner wrote back to my husband the following day, and provided a new cleaning person's name to contact about the TV. She didn't know anything about it, so my husband sat on the phone with the cable provider. Apparently, a DVD player had been added and settings not changed. Still couldn't see a picture because of all of the white dots on the screen.
There was plenty of parking on the street even though there was a driveway. Why chance getting hit? Because, a BMW convertible was parked sideways so we couldn't use the driveway.
We did not expect to have to deal with an absentee owner's issues with his home and staff on our vacation. Lessons learned, never to rent from a party having requirements outside of VRBO, and, of course, you get what you pay for.
Owner's Response: I don't recall your stay or having spoken to you about any issues but all guests have access to three phone numbers: My personal cell which stays on 24/7. I'm often on the phone so I don't always pick up but I'll always call back. I also have the phone number of my cleaning team and my maintenance (as well as my brother, who lives in the area). Basically I try to make sure any issues have plenty of people (me included) to be covered. The reason for people other than me on the list is I don't live in San Diego anymore so for many things, the only thing I can do is call to get my other team members involved.
I'm unsure how providing as many contacts as I could is a sign I don't want to be bothered, but either way, I'm sorry that (if this is a legit review) that you had these issues.
We do ask that guests toss in a single load of laundry when they leave as our house stays pretty booked and this gives our cleaning team the time they need between guests. We don't ask, but we hope people clean up a bit before they leave as well as we are VRBO guests ourselves and we try to treat homes like we'd want our own treated.
This was my first home I bought and it was mine to live in for about 6 years. I still fly back twice a year (delayed last year due to the birth of our first daughter). I'll be back in February 2013 to check up on additional upgrades and fixes I can do. I take price in my house and would never let a known issue sit unresolved.
Helpful votes: 4/4
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