While we made the most of our stay at this property and we enjoyed what the Island had to offer, the experience was diminished by various issues we had to deal with vis the owners. From the start the owners were often slow to respond to information requests which made our experience more stressful than was necessary. We did not learn of the location until a day before our arrival and did not learn of the access procedure until the day of arrival (they did not meet us at the location). Why they delayed this information was puzzling.
When we arrived at 4pm, the cleaning staff had not finished and we could see them watching tv instead of working. They ended up being a half hour late, which was not so bad, but was annoying because it was unnecessary. When we got in the unit, they had not cleaned the patio properly as there was trash in several spots from the previous occupants. More importantly, we found we could not close the large sliding door pictured in the unit as there were large gaps between the panels. This made us feel insecure even though we were on the second floor. When we notified the owners of this issue, they responded the next day that they could send in maintenance which would have necessitated us waiting around for them to show up and do the work. We did not appreciate this response as it was obvious that this problem had existed for some time and probably could not be rectified in a timely manner anyway.
But the most annoying item occurred shortly thereafter. I noticed in my bank account that a further $500 charge from the owners. When I emailed a request for an explanation, I received a curt response a day later that this was an additional charge. As I had paid in full weeks before, this was puzzling and showed they were being disingenuous. I asked for further clarification and a day after that they stated it was a hold for any damages. As this had not been stated in the initial contract, I then contacted VRBO and the charge was reversed. By this time we had lost power in the unit (not the owner's fault) and we lost internet for a couple of days (did not appear to be an issue anywhere else on the Island), so we did not resolve any of the other issues.
Overall, the experience was quite disappointing especially given the responses from the owners. It made the vacation more stressful than was necessary and one felt somewhat helpless given that the owners were not available except by email. Fortunately, VRBO dealt with the financi