Deze recensie is afkomstig van een vertrouwde partnersite en is niet geverifieerd.
8/10 – Goed
5 dec 2022
Weekend Away
The apartment itself is beautiful and striking when you walk in. Very quiet as well, and it was nice that it was pet friendly so we were able to bring our dog. The only main fault was in the upstairs bathroom. There is what looks like black mould (it could just be dirty/missing caulking) around the taps in the bathtub--either way, whatever it is, it doesn't look nice at all. Similarly, the plastic on the bottom of the glass shower door (that prevents the water from splashing out when showering) is stained and old looking. The towels that were provided were mismatched and not of good quality--I would have expected much plusher quality towels (such as what I have at home myself) for the price we paid for the rental. Also, the faucet in the bathroom is loose--these minor details just make it seem like the maintenance isn't kept up to par.
The biggest issue I had: the apartment is advertised as being dog friendly, and we brought our pet greyhound along. The first evening we checked in, I was out walking my dog before retiring to bed. We walked behind the credit union, and a small dog ambushed us--it literally snuck up behind us, tried to bite my dog, and ran away barking. I had to yell and scream, chase it off, and was very upset and shaken over the whole matter, and my dog is already sensitive and scared of other dogs, so this upset him as well. The next day, I realized this dog belongs to the property owner. I can only assume it got out on them, as it was enclosed the following day in their garden (we could see it in their back garden when looking out the apartment windows from above).
Clearly their dog is NOT friendly. This incident really upset our whole vacation, because every time I walked my dog outside I was worried and stressed that it was going to chase us again, and I don't want my dog getting harmed. So if they are going to continue to promote the property as dog friendly, I would highly suggest they keep their dog under control at all times, rather than letting it roam free, especially when they know a guest is bringing their pet along.
Lastly: the key collection PDF that was sent is NOT clear.
1. There was no discussion of where to park our car.
2. It also says that you need to text the owner 48 hours in advance to arrange collection, but it also says the key is in a lock box (and the code is given)--that is confusing because it is giving two sets of conflicting instructions. Why would you need to contact the owner for collection, if the key & the code are given on the sheet of paper?
3. You also need to give specific details on WHICH apartment the guest is booked into. Such as the apartment number and the "one with the red door on the second floor" would have been helpful. None of this was provided on the document--only a generic eircode.
4. You should also instruct on how to find the property. The eircode provided on the property is not very helpful, other than getting you to the pharmacy. The PDF said the eircode would take you to "the front door of the house"...again this is confusing...we booked an apartment, and yet, there is a house next door to the pharmacy--so we didn't know if we were actually staying in the house? Or in the building behind the pharmacy?
5. You should instruct people that the apartment is in the building behind the pharmacy, and that they need to walk to the backside of this building, and up the stairs, to the apartments that are for rent. There are ground floor apartments, but as I figured out by looking through the windows, these are vacant/being used for storage.
So as you can see, it was all very confusing for checkin--rather than using a generic key collection document, please personalise it for each property so people aren't confused. If it was this confusing for me, someone who lives in Ireland, I can only imagine how stressed international visitors would be by this, particularly if they don't speak English well.
Lastly, I was informed that my 200 euro deposit would be refunded on the day of departure--and this never happened--I still have yet to receive it.
All in all--I have to say we will not be using your company again. I typically stay with Air BnB, and I have found them to be MUCH better value, and much easier to deal with in terms of finding and accessing the properties. Plus, with Air BnB they give a more generous cancellation policy (I only book properties which allow cancellation) as compared to yours, which seems very short. Given that Carraroe is not in the most scenic area of Connemara, I would think that particularly during the off season, the host should think about reducing their prices, as it did seem like a very expensive stay for the weekend in a locale that isn't as suited for tourists as mid-Connemara would be.
Thank you for your consideration of my honest appraisal and review of our stay.
