We booked a five-bedroom home in Blue Mountain Beach advertised as "luxury" accommodations. Check-in was supposed to be 5 pm. We arrived at 5:15 pm on July 4, 2020. Despite the late check-in, housekeeping was still cleaning the home. We were told they were just finishing up and to come inside and wait. It was obvious that the first floor of the home had not been cleaned. There were dirt, trash, and dust bunnies on the floor, sand on the tables and staircase, a used, wet towel in a dining room chair, hair and trash on the living room rug, spills on the appliances, a stained table cloth on the dining table, etc.
There were only two women cleaning the home which was too big a job for them. They told us the reason for the delay was that the previous guests left an unusually big mess behind. They also said the first floor had already been cleaned. We called the owner and he had the housekeeping manager contact us. We agreed to leave the house while the first floor was cleaned. The same two women returned (along with their manager) to clean the bottom floor. This was uncomfortable for us, to say the least. These poor women were exhausted already. We drove around for an hour waiting for them to finish.
When we returned, the downstairs floor had been mopped and the appliances had been wiped done, but the home was still dirty. By this time, it was 9:30 PM on our first night.
Once we were able to inspect the upstairs we saw that it was also dirty: mildew in the shower, and on bathroom walls, hair on the sinks, stains on bed linens, rugs, and carpet. We swept the sand from the staircases, removed the stained table cloth, wiped down the glass top tables, and sprayed the bathrooms with Clorox cleaner ourselves. The next day, we had to purchase towels and washcloths b/c there weren't enough for our party of nine people.
In addition, the furniture was oily and dirty. Water stains on the ceiling. The outside grill was dirty and the tank was empty. The wifi did not work - the message said the data limit had been reached. When I spoke to the owner the next day - after several texts - he told me we were welcome to check out and find another home. My response was that we couldn't find a home the week of July 4 and that we believed a refund for the cleaning fee and the first night was fair. He said he would be in touch and we never heard back from him.
We have always trusted VRBO before.