LA BOHEME

The house is spacious and beautiful

The service was bad and no maintenance

The house is very beautiful and exactly as pictured. It's was big and spacious enough for all my family members. We actually wished we had booked more days to enjoy the house.

The alarm system caused a bit of anxiety for us. It got triggered several times and there was no clear instructions on the process to follow. I would recommend you provide clear instructions on what to do if it goes off beyond disarming it. Security showed up in the middle of the night and we couldn't open for them because we were not sure if they were indeed the security or someone pretending to be security. Provide details on the security company, people that have access to the house, etc. The pool guys and garden people showing up to clean is a bit uncomfortable because you can never be certain if it's the actual person or someone else with access to the house. This brought so much anxiety for me.

House is a good size, and the location is near Hout bay beach, close to supermarkets etc. but you will need a car to get around. Good security cameras, gates, bars, etc. and load shedding back ups were throughout the property but not needed during our stay.

Communication was very poor from the start. I was originally given the wrong number for the property manager so no one was there when we arrived. But luckily a friendly neighbour contacted the property owner and they gave us the code to enter. Several messages went unanswered later on during our stay. The swimming pool was freezing and not for the faint hearted but the kids still managed to venture in! There was a power cut on the last night which unnerved us when everything started back up again in the middle of the night but obviously these things happen from time to time. *** One thing to be aware of when booking! Expect to loose your damage deposit *** The owners insisted on a direct bank transfer for the deposit and then unfairly charged us for a rusty, weather corroded bbq and a wooden gate latch that was broken on arrival, they took the full deposit from us and refused to discuss it further. We are really disappointed as we ensured we followed their strict rules and kept the house in pristine condition. I feel the deposit money should be held in a neutral account like with long term rentals so money can’t be kept unfairly without a neutral mediator to listen to both sides of the story…I found the situation particularly unfair as booking.com wouldn’t help even though we had proof of prior damage. It definitely ruined our experience and I wouldn’t recommend staying here.