We are a busy family living in the city with young children and we needed a relaxing getaway. Frankly, we had a bewilderingly negative experience here. In retrospect I should have heeded the negative review from last summer.
Before our check-in, we emailed the host a list of questions like, "does your home have floaties for the pool?", "do you recommend any local grocery stores", etc. He wrote back a polite but perfunctory email saying that he couldn't answer our questions, as it was more of an investment property than a second home.
The day before check-in, the host confirmed it was OK for us to arrive early (one of the few positives we experienced). He also mentioned that there was a problem with the pool filter but said it was no big deal and that while someone would be working on it, we would still be able to swim while he did so.
Upon arrival, we saw that the pool filter was, in fact, a big deal -the pool was filthy, and there was a giant muddy ditch around the pool. During our 6-day stay, we never did get into the pool because while the filter issue was fixed and the ditch was filled in about halfway through our stay, the pool heater never worked and the water remained freezing. We are easy-going, conflict averse people, and this whole experience left us drained and frustrated. The home, while spacious, was very... lived-in. Though the host claimed it was not a second family home, there were family photographs all over and growth charts for I assume his children drawn in pencil on the walls. Obviously, we didn't care, except... why were we told it wasn't a second home? It was just strange.
Everything would have been mostly overlooked had the host been contrite and acknowledged our aggravation. Instead, he gaslit us about the severity of the pool issues, led us to believe that he would compensate us for the days we were unable to access the pool, (didn't happen), repeatedly mentioned he was on vacation out of the country, and generally gave off the vibe that he couldn't be bothered. He also found it necessary to mention the weather was "a washout", (it rained a few days) the implication being that we wouldn't be using the pool anyway. Obviously, this is irrelevant, as we rented and paid for a home with a heated pool. He also implied that we were paying market price or even getting a steal at $1k/night, which is not only insulting but irrelevant. I can say with 100% honesty we would have much rather spent $0 and avoided this entire affair.