The property itself was good and the owner was very responsive when we needed to locate towels and bedding. The trouble began after we left. The owner called me to say we had torn a screen door and taken her Alexa speaker, which we did not. She had required us to purchase insurance prior to renting so she said she would file claims for these. (Perhaps this was her plan all along?)
In addition, we had different expectations of the level of cleanliness when leaving the property. At the time, there were no clean-up/check-out instructions posted either online or in the house, besides a map showing where the trash dumpster is located. I asked the housekeeper who brought us towels about it, and she said she’d take care of everything.
To leave, we piled all the used towels and sheets together and took all trash/recycling to the dumpster, except for the very last bag, which we sealed and placed in the trash can next to the house. I received a slew of texts from the owner that we had left the place in terrible condition and that we were expected to return it at the same level of cleanliness as when we arrived. Given the high rental price and a cleaning fee, we expected at least a standard level of cleaning to be included.
I’ve stayed in dozens of rentals and am a property manager myself. The owner texted me, “this must be your first time ever staying at a vacation rental.” The whole exchange ended our vacation on a very negative note.