Basically, this is a nice house. The neighbours are lovely. It's not a bad location. The pool is fine. Generally the home is in decent structural repair. However we had problems with access and with multiple fittings, but it was management of these issues that caused most upset.

In summary:

1. We were given the wrong code to get into the house by the owners. This left us stranded at midnight. The local agent's emergency number was disconnected. We discovered later that the agents details we'd been given were completely wrong, but they never answer the phone out of hours anyway - we would have been stranded regardless. We were rescued that night by a group of local youngsters who incredibly kindly put us up in two of their bedrooms. I spent the night on the floor emailing the owners, who at 5.30am USA time realised their error.

2. We requested compensation from the owners - they suggested a discount of one night's accommodation. That's right - they offered to refund us the night in the house we couldn't use! I pointed out that this wasn't compensatory at all - we had gifted the kind putter-uppers, and it had ruined the start of our holiday. We eventually reached a compromise of a $400 reduction (plus the refund of our refundable deposit - they made this sound like this would be some kind of bonus)

3. Over the course of the next few days we discovered:

a) The downstairs double bedroom's headboard has split away from the bed. A bodged repair was made. The overhead bulb had blown. The shower leaked so badly it flooded the floor, making it unusable. The battery in the fire alarm was flat and beeped all night until we removed it.

b) The upstairs single beds are so creakingly noisy (cheap and old) my son hardly slept all week. He weighs about 9.5 stone.

c) Sheets and comforters on three of the beds were stained - my own were blood stained. This bedding was changed by the agency when they were informed.

d) Not enough towels for 5 people, let alone 10. Shabby, grey and/or ripped in several cases. The agency brought us some new ones round.

e) The kitchen floor was dirty when we arrived. This wasn't remedied during our stay. Every blind, every fan, was thick with dust.

f)The booklet emailed by the owners is out of date in crucial details. Once in the house, there was no house manual from the agents, despite requests.

I spent all week sorting this nonsense out.The owners repeatedly referred us back to the agency, who rarely answer the phone. Nightmare