To have expected that the owners of this holiday let would not be living in the building.

Hmmm.

'Entire home' can mean 'self contained apartment behind its own lockable door' rather than, say, a room in a hotel or B&B or rooms in the hosts house.

But it says 'house' not 'apartment' .

I would definitely approach the owners and ask them not to make noise with vans, garage doors, gates from late evening or in the morning. Tell them it is disturbing your sleep.

Very misleading. The house looks like a bungalow to me. Where are the upstairs windows? And strange that they only have excellent reviews.

The Dutch reviews indicate it is not the whole house but an apartment. I suppose you can make the argument it is misleading but realistically, the noise is the only true complaint you can make.

That's really annoying. Looking at the pics are you not getting to use the rooms then on the bottom that go out into the patio/garden area ?

I really would have to say something, sure you couldn't relax with strangers hanging about, it looks so private and secluded but then you have a family under you.

I think this is a grey area. You do have an "entire home" in that you have your own front door and it is separate from the owners, albeit in the same building.

We stayed somewhere similar in France - we were upstairs, the owners downstairs but we had our own entrance. I would focus complaints on the noise rather than the fact you thought it would be separate. There are clues in the reviews - one of the Dutch ones translates as "very discreet, friendly and hospitable owners" and another one says "the owners truly give you complete privacy" (also Dutch).

Entire home would be a home if it was separate apartments as an apartment itself is an 'entrie home'

@WatchingCometsLand ad says 3 bedrooms but actually shows 4 bedrooms. I wouldnt be happy though.

Are you in the building by the pool, or the 2 storey house? The ad looks as though you'd be staying in the building next to the pool, as that's what is the first picture. But I presume you're actually staying in the 2 storey house on the top floor? If be annoyed to... Not properly advertised. It should say that there is a site with X homes etc.

I would’ve expected there to be no one else. It says that rooms open onto patios so how is this the case if there’s someone below you ?

I can't read the translation, it's taking an age to load. However, if the reviews mention the owners being discreet, then I would take that as meaning, that they live on-site, or at least come onto the property grounds regularly. The advent though, should state that guests don't have the entire property, but rather a self-contained section and the owners live in the other.

When we stayed in Canada last year the owners at both properties were living above our accommodation.
Certainly wasn’t clear in the details and it actually really annoyed me . Felt as if we were being watched.Both with VRBO .

The question is how you understand “home”. Does it mean “building” or “self-contained accommodation”?
But I think if you’re only getting part of what looks like one house, it should have been made much clearer.

I filtered an airbnb search for 2 bedrooms.
What I got was one lovely bedroom and then a single bed under the eaves in the hallway.
It was clear when you fully read the spec and looked at the photos carefully, but I really think it should not have been a hit when filtering for '2 bedrooms'.

The fact that more than one review mentions discreet owners, would indicate to me that they would be lurking around!

Having lived in Germany, I think it is more typical to have this sort of house set up on the continent than the UK and it would be considered two “houses” rather than apartments if they each have their own entrance. I guess like a terrace but vertical rather than horizontal. So that might explain the lack of bad reviews.

I wouldn't even have interpreted it. It actually says 'entire home' on the advert.

I’d definitely interpret the ad to mean you got the whole house.

It's most odd that so many reviews, in both Dutch and French, and over a span of several years, describe the owners as discreet. I don't think that I've seen that on a review before, ever.

That's awful, I would be upset too. The advert is misleading.

I think it’s misleading to call it the entire home. It’s clearly not a black of flats, it’s a house that you only have access to half of.

I think you need a refund, or at least half. Did you have use of all the rooms in the picture?

Have you complained about the noise? Complain now so they can't say you never said anything.

Did the owners use the pool?

To me, entire home means that you have a space behind a lockable door that contains the bedrooms, bathroom and all common areas. A flat would count as the ‘entire home’ as opposed to renting just a bedroom. I would expect to have private use of the pool, lawn and games area based on the advert and photos.

It’s very typical for gite owners to live on site though, so I wouldn’t necessarily assume that it wouldn’t be attached to their living quarters or that they wouldn’t be present on the grounds. I think I would have clarified when booking because the advert doesn’t indicate one way or the other.