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

That’s appalling. I’d be seeking a refund and leaving a poor review.

This does sound quite possible.

OP perhaps let the owners know that the English listing does not make it clear that the property is shared, and you booked it for peace and quiet, not anticipating that this level of early and late noise would be part of your stay 😕

Oh well you obviously know better than me having read something on Reddit. I bow to your superior knowledge.

I managed to find the description in French and it's longer with
'les hôtes seront sur place ' in it. I'll try to attach.

Could it be an unintentional clipping of translation? Not great to hide that down at the bottom of a long description though.

Agree with others, screenshot the ad before they can change anything. Good luck, I wouldn’t be happy with that at all!

I would screenshot the VRBO add now in case they change it. Email / contact VRBO in the first instance. Do they have the property listed on another platform with a different description ? It’s very odd that none of the other reviews mention this and have rated so highly.

It felt like a badge of honour when she texted me after we'd left to express astonishment that it was so clean, as though no one had set foot in the place! I didn't point out in my reply that she'd been banging on about it for 3 days and we were terrified of her 🤣

Presumably a convenient way to sidestep using a cleaner between lettings.

Like you, I can't be bothered with all this any more. But I can't be bothered with hotels either, or flights, or any of that palaver. It helps that we finally live somewhere nice!

In my experience the French are obsessed with you giving the place back “impeccable” as you say.

I agree with this. It might make them think again. Maybe this job of theirs is a new thing?

I would have interpreted the listing as you did OP. It’s incredibly careful worded so that you can’t say that it was advertised as a whole house, but the implication is there. The many references to “private pool” I think suggest this too - if you were sharing the house you’d think it would normally be a shared pool - the fact they don’t use it is neither here nor there.

I had this once when I was still with exh and used airbnbs. No indication the owners also lived there - but they did! On the first floor and we had the ground floor with “private” pool. Only it wasn’t particularly private as the man was always downstairs looking at it in some way. They were also always checking up on us and pulling us up about non-issues, things that were their fault or that were clearly “mid stay” issues that would be tidied up when we left.

Woman lay in wait for me when we came back from a long day out with a baby and 6yo to have a go at me about nonsense Awful.

I don’t use any of those sites any more. I use either hotels or well known companies for self-catering because I can’t cope with the uncertainty about what you will get or if the owners will be a nightmare.

Edit - the above was in Spain but the owners were British

Ask them to show you on the ad where this is explained, and send them a screenshot of “entire home” on the listing.

OP, when you leave a review you should show the photo you have taken.
When you speak to the owners tomorrow you should tell them you are doing this.

Urrrrgggghhhh so sorry you're in this position OP! I wish I had a sensible answer - the only one that occurred to me was to leave tonight when they're at work and firebomb the place as you exit. CFs.

We also had an odd rental (also in France) through Vrbo, a bit like PP mentioned. Nothing in the photos had given any indication of the setup, which was us basically living in their converted garage while they pottered around. The owner and her husband spent about an hour and a half greeting us on arrival and showing us around, when we were tired from a long drive. She was most emphatic that we must leave the place "impeccable" so we spent about 2 hours on our final morning polishing every surface! Not the most relaxing holiday.

That does look bad OP. Not fair at all.

I would never have assumed from the photo that it wasn’t a full house!

I wouldn't be happy with that reply. I would definitely meet with them and explain everything. Part of a holiday is getting sleep and being able to relax. You can't do these things. You can say the ad doesn't say what they are claiming. I'd have to find somewhere else to stay, couldn't be putting up with constant noise.

I would interpret ‘entire home’ as you have your own space behind a separate entrance door (so could be flat of any description, house, anything). I don’t think this part is misleading.

I think the problem is it being described as a house when it is in fact a flat/half a house.

I’m not sure if they have to disclose owners live on site, but I think people usually do put that in the listing.

I think you’re likely to get further complaining about noise and it not being a house than you are about anything else. I would state you booked it on the basis of it being a detached house.

I think you should contact VRBO OP. The listing very much gives the impression that you will have the entire house in a remote location. It mentions the words “private pool” twice, giving the impression you would have privacy. It’s a very different holiday if you don’t receive the “entire home” and the privacy that the listing leads you to expect!

Utter piss take. It says it's a house and also 'entire home'. Screenshot the listing, take photos of what it's actually like (including the vans). Then take it up with the owners (who'll probably give you a Gallic shrug).

If you don't get anywhere with them or VRBO, go to your credit card company for a chargeback.

https://www.reddit.com/r/vrbo/comments/1b7a8ck/vrbo_removed_my_negative_review/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

There are a lot of anecdotal reports online of negative reviews being suppressed on vrbo

Yeah I would be annoyed, both at the noise and the lack of privacy.

The listing is weird as under amenities it mentions kitchen and dining table. Doesn't mention the sitting room area that's shown in the photos. Looks like at one time you might have got the whole house (as photos suggest) but at some point they've reduced the space and moved in. Did you have access to all the rooms pictured?

What a nightmare.
I often joke about sleeping in a tent in the garden, rent the house out when big concerts are on. Strange people.
I'd be leaving 1 star.