I have rented many homes in Europe and in the US through VRBO and HomeAway. I am a seasoned traveler who understands that occasional mishaps happen. I also have waited six weeks before posting this review in the hope that the SMAAC property manager would reply to my private email to her.
I rented Casa Alessia for a 3-night stay with six relatives (cousins, nieces, no couples). It is a 2-BR home, but is rented with a house directly above it for larger groups (Casa Giorgia, also 2-BR). We arrived in raw, rainy 50F weather, and were greeted by Norman from the SMAAC Office. Within minutes of arriving at the upper house, the electricity went out. We had to text Norman for help with the circuit breakers, outside and in the rain, all to no avail. Also, the front door had been recently painted and was sticking. We couldn’t open it from the inside or the outside; we had to exit from a side, unlocked door. We were exhausted, so we went out for dinner while Norman resolved the power issue. Later he told us that the electrician would not arrive until the morning. The six of us reluctantly agreed to bunk in the downstairs house. My sister and I slept on the couches without sheets and with a soiled comforter.
The next day, I texted Norman for an update. He replied that there was an unresolvable issue with the electricity. (He also mentioned that they’d had similar issues with that house.) He offered a 3-BR house (Casa Fralisa), but all six of us would have to move. We told him that this was unacceptable as our reservation had been for a 4-BR place. He finally relented and allowed three of us to move to that new house; the others could remain in Alessia. The next day, we left Fralisa early and returned that evening to a freezing, 42F-degree house. The power was out in that house! We had to re-set the circuit breakers 4 times in 45 minutes, outside and in the rain. Still no power. I texted Norman. His verbatim reply: “I am not in Praiano. I can meet you tomorrow morning only.” That was it. I then called Enza in the SMAAC Office. She brought an electrician to the house, then told us that we had turned on too many lights and we set the heat too high. Why had no one advised us that we could not turn multiple lights or that we needed to keep the heat below a certain temperature?
There were other issues as well. Steer clear of this property company!
Note: there is no direct link to post reviews on the VRBO site. I had to write to VRBO to request the link.