The apartment was very clean, nicely decorated, and conveniently located. Unfortunately, on day two of our three-day stay the shower stopped working. We notified the owner immediately and he came promptly to assess the problem but was unable to fix it. Instead of calling an emergency plumber to repair the shower he said he would get someone there the following day because “these things happen.” So we had to bathe using only the bathroom sink instead of a shower (there was no bathtub) that evening and the next morning. We left for the day and in the afternoon the owner contacted us to say that he had arranged a hotel room for us as the shower was unable to be fixed that day. We returned to the apartment, packed up and moved to the hotel room. We sent a text to the owners requesting the following: 1) refund of our payment for the night with no working shower, and 2) a refund of the difference between what we paid for their apartment (with a kitchen, living room, outside patio and washer/dryer) and what they paid for a hotel room only. Their response was again that these things happen and they paid for our hotel so it was all “even.” While we understand that these things do indeed happen, a hotel room is not the same as an apartment and has a much different financial value. The owner was completely dismissive of the inconvenience to us on our vacation, and of our requests for any reimbursement. We have used VRBO many times in the past, but this experience has changed our perception of the protections offered to travelers who use VRBO. Clearly had we known in advance that the plumbing was broken we would not have rented the apartment and would have booked other accommodations instead. The fact that the plumbing stopped working during our stay should not be an excuse for the owner to avoid assuming financial responsibility for this situation and shift it to the renter instead.