AIBU to raise concerns about an Airbnb after kind hosts helped us?

No way would I tolerate a dog in a pool I used on holiday. I would have to say something asap, as it would be unusable for me. Gross.

The problem is that for some reason, a lot of guests leave ratings of 4 or 5 despite the Airbnb not being particularly good. That was our experience the last couple of times. We were honest & rated them ‘3’. In terms of facilities and cleanliness they were just not up to Airbnb standard and it was really irritating that others had left such positive reviews, which were misleading and without which, we would not have booked. We are seasoned Airbnb veterans of over 12 years so have experienced a wide range from poor to excellent.

It's revolting whatever you pay for it unless it's your own pool / sole use in which case don't charge others to use it.

But it’s an Airbnb, not a hotel? And presumably the price / listing reflected this is a family pool used by dogs (which I also think is gross tbh, but I just stay in hotels).

How would one do due diligence on whether dogs use the swimming pool?

Just don’t leave a review, that’s the easiest thing to do.
I know this may be weird but two huge Labradors swimming in the pool with me twice a day would make it the best holiday ever!

I think people here have little experience with Airbnb. Choosing accommodation in someone else's home is completely different to choosing ( and rating) a hotel.

A hotel runs on a business model and Airbnb runs a private hosting platform.

You need to be very clear when you book to stay with hosts in their home that not everything may be to your exact taste.
An Airbnb is much cheaper than a hotel for a reason. You have a right to expect a decent place to sleep in the location you want, but it's unrealistic to expect to be as comfortable as you would be in a starred hotel.
Sometimes on Airbnb the accomodation is extremely basic and sometimes you get an unexpected extras that a hotel would never offer ...like the hosts collecting you from the airport, offering you dinner and being very friendly and helpful.

I don't think hotel chains and Airbnb are comparable really and so you should keep that in mind when you review. If your review is even slightly negative it's not going to slightly affect the percentage rating of an anonymous franchise or chain. It's going to have a direct effect on the kind people who went out of their way to pick you up from the airport.

As an Airbnb host I couldn't agree less. Don't charge people to stay if you can't make the accommodation clean, safe and welcoming. It doesn't have to be luxurious or fancy but there are basic minimum standards. Reviews are vital, and I don't agree OP should leave a 5 star. Leave 3 stars for the accommodation with a positive message about the hosts. People booking the accommodation in future won't thank you for a misleading review.

Dogs being allowed to swim in a murky pool is NOT what is expect when booking.

I think you need to leave a pleasant review mentioning how kind and welcoming the hosts are, but with pictures showing the state of the place

I would leave a review. I would feel bad as the owners have been very nice, but you’re paying for the accommodation not the owners, and it sounds like it doesn’t match the photos. I once went to an Airbnb which was filthy and awful, no one would have been happy to stay there and the grime on the doors (including what looked like poo stains on the bathroom one) had clearly built up over months. But it had no bad reviews so other people will continue to book and then be disgusted like I was. That was an extreme place, but I think people need to start leaving factual honest reviews like they would for a hotel or others will also waste their money on a bad experience

As for expectations of Airbnb in France I think it can depends on what you paid and what was advertised. Remember Airbnb isn't a holiday letting compant but a platform for individuals to rent out spaces to sleep - it can be anything from an airbed in someone's living room to a very high spec private apartment.

Nimes has lots of hotels and professionally let apartments, seems like you chose badly TBH. I tend to use hotel or professional apartment companies as I do not want to share my holiday with owners or their animals.

"We cannot praise the hosts enough for their incredible kindness. When our flight was severely delayed and we missed our car rental, the host offered to pick us up from the station and even offered us dinner—they are truly warm, welcoming, and helpful people.
The accommodation itself is a small gite attached to the main house, but we found it to be quite tired, unfinished, and in need of some maintenance and tidying around the grounds. The advertised air conditioning is a single portable unit vented through a door, though the host did kindly provide fans to help keep us cool. The pool area is also quite unkempt and the water was cloudy during our stay. Potential guests should also note that the hosts' two lovely Labradors use the pool twice a day, which might not suit everyone.
Overall, an unforgettable level of hospitality, but the property itself requires some TLC and updating to match the listing description."

Does it say the pool is shared. I love dogs but don’t want to share pool water with them. Grim. Ask them to stop if it is described as your pool.
or move.

What were you expecting from the reviews and photos?

Even if the hosts weren’t lovely, I’m not sure what grounds you have to complain and get moved without just making another booking? Nothing about what you’ve said seems outside the realms of normal for an Airbnb.

Definitely. As long as it’s honest and backed up with comments about above and beyond hospitality. Suppose some guests are allergic to dogs, dog hair and slobber in the pool could set off these.

If everyone just left it it’d be a sad state of affairs. If I was running an air b n b I’d appreciate honesty more as well as nice comments about hosts going above and beyond. With that at least they have chances to improve. My parents with their holiday home never charged apart from utility bills and they had a visitors book with comments which were all perfect - but they didn’t let it out to tourists.

The thing is, if you research carefully and set your criteria to reflect what you want, it’s disappointing when the reality doesn’t match your expectations or the photos.

You pay good money. I think you should be able to comment on the negatives.

To be quite honest they’re running a business and charging as such. Things like dogs in the pool would piss me off and broken bits of house eg definitely run down and inadequate air con would irritate me too. France has been unusually hot this spring summer so they’ve had more than enough time to sort out proper air con.

The saving graces is they were very nice collecting you from the airport and doing other things.

I don’t stay in Giles in France only French air b n b (nothing like this set up!) and with friends who have houses there which they’ve had residential courses in plus when my parents had a holiday home they let family and friends stay there. Everything re the latter was/is perfect from the pool if they have one down to the houses. Maybe it’s a French thing but as I said 2 air b n bs in Brittany and Normandy and various apartments in Paris have been nothing like the gite in OP. Once when I got a cheap air b n b in Paris near the Eiffel Tower it couldn’t have been more professional.

If you leave an honest review it’ll help others considering staying there.,

I have 3 review modes :
Really great and loved it - leave great review
Awful, misleading or unsafe - leave bad review
OK, didn't like that much or not my bag - don't bother with review

Just don't leave a review. They were nice people. If they had been rude then I would have left the bad review.

Some friends of ours run an Airbnb as their home has a section that can easily be a private area. We were having a conversation about ratings because I commented that I heard Airbnb properties get delisted if their ratings score falls below a certain level and that makes the ratings useless because everything listed is 5.0 or 4.9 or 4.8 so there's hardly anything to choose. They explained that you aren't supposed to be rating it like a hotel where something really posh and splendid is 5 star but something more basic but functional is 3 star. It's supposed to be how well it meets the advertised description, was everything that was advertised present, did the owners go above and beyond, but a cheap and basic AirBnb that is a lot less luxurious than you might like can still be 5 star if it was correctly advertised. So I couldn't say whether yabu without reading the listing but any of the things you mention could be unreasonable to criticise in your review if they aren't in conflict with the listing.

Well every day is a school day, I thought the OP has mispelt GATE, and then other posters were doing so too. So I googled Gite, and it turns out ...

A gîte (pronounced zheet) is a furnished holiday home, cottage, or self-catering accommodation, primarily located in the rural or semi-rural regions of France.

I know you posh twats probably knew this, but I'm just a working class philistine! 😆

Edited because I can't even spell 'misspelt' correctly! 😂 The irony!

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I get how you feel but as long as no harm has been done, I'd leave it. Presumably the pool was chlorinated.

I've been in far too many Airbnb's to know that any awful lot just can't be arsed to replace broken things and upgrade when needed.