The location is lovely and the apartment is furnished and decorated nicely. However, our concern was that we booked two months after Hurricane Ian and did so based on the ad "no damage to the condo or the complex". This was not a true representation. We paid the full amount upfront. A couple of weeks later, the owner/manager said that she just found out that the elevator was broken and that it might not be working when we arrive. She said that if we wanted to cancel, we would have to file an insurance claim or that she would give us a discount if we still wanted to come. Our travel insurance, like any others, is only for issues related to events that occur after a booking, not for an inaccurate listing. Prior to our arrival, I asked on three different occasions what the discount would be. I never got an answer, even when I told her that one of our party of four (people in our 70s) would not be able to come without the use of an elevator. Since we had already paid, we could not cancel.
When we arrived, we learned that the elevator had not been in use since the hurricane in September and that it would not be repaired until after our stay. During our stay, I reached out to VRBO and told them that I couldn't get a response from the owner/manager regarding the discount and asked what remedy we would have. They contacted the owner and she finally offered a $300 refund, about 5% of what we paid for the rental. She again said we should try to file an insurance claim. I don't think what she offered was fair compensation but more importantly, we would not have booked this property in the first place had we known that we wouldn't have an elevator. The apartment is four stories up from the parking garage.
With a vacancy following our stay, she continued to advertise no damage.
