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

[WatchingCometsLand]

^https://www.vrbo.com/en-gb/p1975005a^

We spent 3k on this holiday (our first in years). Turns out that we get the top floor and the owners live below. They enter and exit with their vans via two garage doors immediately below our bedroom windows, through the garden.

Were we unreasonable to have expected this to be stated in the advertisement?

The noise is particularly problematic - we have been woken late at night and then first thing in the morning.

I would have thought the same as you.
I stayed in France once, knowing the owners lived next door, but having no idea how intrusive they would be. I certainly was not prepared for a raft of petty rules with the threat of withholding our sizeable deposit for any infringements. We were pleased to leave.
The only positive aspect was that it was slightly cheaper than other properties.
£3K for the property you didn’t know would be shared with noisy hosts - and they still expect you to strip the beds and clean, so as not to earn a negative rating. Unbelievable!
I do think it is reasonable to speak to them about the noise. They may have to work but that is interfering with the restful holiday they advertised, and it is for them to remedy.

That's ridiculous!! (Assuming you weren't being really inconsiderate and affecting their neighbours as well)

OK yes if the listing actually says house , I do think that's misleading

Omg - that's Fawlty Towers level of hospitality! When was this?

I wonfer if the listing is translated,- can't seem to bring it up in french to read that version though...

Believe me, they can't be manipulated. I only have 5 reviews on VRBO and 17 on booking . Com in 5 years. But I have 306 on Air bnb as that's where I get most of my bookings.

If you had ever tried to get an unfair or malicious review removed from any of those websites you would know that it's absolutely not possible and they publish every review that is left. I'm in a number of hosting groups on line so not at all.just the experience of one person.

The only places reviews can be manipulated is, ironically, Google and Trip Adviser.

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.

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?

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

We've messaged them asking if they can keep the van away from the bedroom windows and avoid using the garage doors in the mornings and evenings. I'll update the thread if and when I get a response

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

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.

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!

So I've received this reply to my request.

"Unfortunately, we cannot keep the garage doors open in the evening. We work in a fast-food restaurant every evening and have to put our goods in the refrigerator when we get home. The ad specifies everything, and we're sorry this bothers you. This is the first time we've had this comment. We can talk about it tomorrow if you'd like."

Quite angry now - the ad doesn't even say that they live there so this is just a lie. The downstairs apartment does have a second entrance that they could use which is not by our bedrooms but it sounds like they just don't care. Facing another night of bad sleep and feeling very down. If anyone has any advice on how to salvage anything from this please let me know.

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.

For reference, this is what an honest photo of the property would have looked like. Our bedroom windows are circled, the garages are below, they are loading and unloading goods from the vans first thing in the morning and last thing at night, every day.

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

That does look bad OP. Not fair at all.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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!