Complaint Review: ANNIE'S HALE

With 50+ 5 star reviews this property was not what we expected.  We were warmly greeted and shown around the property by Anne.  We were surprised that she and her dog lived in the garage converted to living space under the rental property.  That was not mentioned in the property review.  With 6 children we were hoping not to tip toe above someone.  Kids are kids. 

They tend to walk, talk and play louder than we would like them to.  But we are always respectful of other peoples things.  We were also surprised how things were extremely NOT maintained. Our kids were so excited about the pool but it was falling apart.  The turtles leg was broken and the rocks/tiles around it were falling off.  We didn't mind that it was a salt water pool but it was so dirty that our kids didn't want to swim in it. 

The bottom of the pool was coated with a slimey substance to the touch.  There was plenty of beach equipment and pool toys but they were hidden under piles of dead leaves and dirt.  The landscaping just really needed to be cleaned up and the pool needed to be professionally cleaned and fixed for safety reasons.  The inside of the house had plenty of space and a well stocked kitchen but again it was falling apart and covered in gecko feces and termite droppings. 

The face of the fridge near the water dispenserory was rusted excessively.   The whole front part of the double oven was missing exposing sharp edges creating a safety concern.  The cabinet doors under the sink were missing and replaced with stapled on dish towels, and filled with pesticides!  I had to completely clean the cabinet out and relocate all of the pesticides so my kids wouldn't get into it. 

I live on Maui so I'm used to the geckos but this was disgusting.  I paid a cleaning fee and I'm sure the people before me paid a cleaning fee.  Gecko feces were everywhere.  On the counter-tops, walls, ceilings, all over the toaster, on most of the utensils and even on our pillows.  Again things just needed to be maintained. 

We couldn't use the breakfast nook because of the termites and there droppings made it unsanitary.  Since we have small children and need them contained so they don't escape by the pool or go down stairs to the road or enter Anne's living quarters we needed to keep the doors closed.  This made the house unbearably hot.  She did have fans and the windows open but it was 88+ in the house during the day.  Our young children couldn't nap because of the heat. 

Needless to say after a complaint by Ann that children were being too loud, the house was uncomfortably hot and dirty and most importantly unsafe, we needed to leave.  We notified Ann via text.  Below is her response:     "Sorry home is not advertised as having AC . Pool was sparkling clean when I showed you around. You are welcome to leave. I will put home back on market as soon as it gets cleaned. If it rents again on such short notice, I will be happy to refund you the days that it rents for".  

Our main reason of leaving was the safety hazards on behalf of our children.  We believe pictures and video of the property will tell the tale.  I'm afraid most of her reviews were fraudulent or posted during a time the property was in good condition.  It appeared the property was in the middle of a remodel where base and casing was missing, walls scarred from construction, tiles missing, drywall and building materials leaning up against the home. 

Railing and lattice missing from master deck which is clearly a building code violation.  We own properties that we rent on VRBO.  We also travel and use VRBO.  This has been the absolute worst experience we have ever encountered in our travels.     We spent one night at the property and then sent Ann this text after her complaint.  

"Hi Annie it's Scott Nielson the VRBO renters upstairs.  when Kristin booked the property she searched properties with a pool and AC. Your house came up.   the kids will not swim in the pool after there first bout when we arrived because of the cleanliness.  We didn't realize you lived on the property and the main reason we booked the house was to have our large family secluded from our church convention friends on the island because  of our size. 

Most of the family couldn't sleep last night because it was just hot.  I don't think this is a good fit for us.  You have a beautiful home, there are issues with it, great potential, but all in all you've been very kind and we are seriously thinking of packing up and heading to the hotel where our group is staying.   We would like to respectfully ask for a refund."   We left the next day June 5, at 3:52pm and booked with a hotel nearby spending another $1450.00. 

Ann was sent a text time stamping the above date and time.   Ann has been nearly non-responsive moving forward with no indication of a refund in the near future.   Had we known she lived on the property we would have never considered it as a viable option for our family.  Furthermore; the building code violations, the hazards existing on the property, and the unsanitary termite and gecho infestations would have ruled this property out as a candidate.  

update to this story, after one night at the house, losing our appetite to eat nor sleep another night in the termite infested beds or gecho feces on the pillows, we left the property.   she hired a relative attorney and sent this letter to us blaming everyone but herself for the issues on the property.  i will attach it if possible.