Disappointing Airbnb. What would you put in the review?

[Neolara]

We're island hopping in Croatia. It's been great. We have stayed in 3 good airbnbs so far, but the current one is not so great. These are the issues:

1. The fridge didn't work when we arrived for the first 12 hours. Pool of water by the side of the fridge and squidgy butter still very squidgy 6 hours after been put into fridge. It's working now.

2. Air conditioning can't cope. The room temperature in the living room has not fallen below 27 degrees the whole time we've been here. The bedroom is considerably hotter than the living room. It's been so hot at night for the 3 nights I've been here, I've had to get up at 1am and either go outside or try to sleep on the small sofa in the living room.

3. There are 2 frying pans, an enormous pot (big enough to cook pasta for 10) and a milk pan ( big enough to boil 2 eggs). This has made cooking for a family of 5 fairly tricky, not least because....

4. The cooker has 2 electric rings and 2 gas rings. There was no means of turning on the gas rings. The host's son, who has come round again to try to fix the air con, has now left us a lighter. (Day 3). Cooking for 5 on two rings with off sized pans has been interesting.

5. There are no mats to put hot pans on. We have been using books so as not to damage the surface of the table.

6. There was no washing up liquid, cloth to wipe the kitchen, or dustpan and brush. All the other airbnbs in Croatia we have stayed in have provided these.

7. The bedroom door handle keeps falling off. Some of the cupboards in the kitchen are held on by one hinge only.

I contacted the owner about the fridge and air con and he sent his son round to try to sort it out. The son is clearly completely fed up of having to come round. He's been round twice.

There are other things about the house that are good.

One review absolutely slates the place. They left after a night and issued complaint wit airbnb. Issues were similar-ish to ours. Other reviews are much more positive.

Which of these would you mention in a review? We've paid £710 for 4 nights.

I would mention 1 and 3 very matter of factly. I would not be happy about 2 - it’s the height of summer. Are their attempts at fixing the fridge and aircon at least genuine? 4 is meh - I would’ve gone out and purchased a lighter myself. 5 is a non-issue - just serve at the hobs. 6 it depends - did the listing say all those things were included? Check the Airbnb ad first then if they were all mentioned but none provided, put it in the review. I’d mention 7.

Copy & paste this onto your review.

Thank you both. I feel some of the complaints feel a bit petty in isolation, but all together they add up to a not really functional kitchen. All compounded by it being very hot.and I haven't slept well which is making me grumpy!

Just be honest. You owe that to others who may want to book.

You are in an air B and B. No one checks properties before they are listed. What do you expect? No one inspects them before they are listed. It's pot luck.

It’s also Croatia. Why not just book via a Villa company with standards?

I wouldn’t be happy though. As I would not be going back, I would warn others. It’s not up to an acceptable standard. I guess folk staying there don’t cook for a family, hence no one bothers with cooking equipment. The fridge situation is utterly unacceptable. They need a new one!!

I think possibly your expectations are quite high for the price in high season? The fridge and the rings are legitimate complaints but to have powerful AC in the height of a heatwave summer is very expensive. In many rentals in hot places the AC barely takes the edge off the heat and you still have to close shutters/curtains etc in the day. Also you can never expect any consumables to be provided in any Airbnb in my experience! I take or buy everything now.