Hillcrest Homestay, NorthShore, Auckland

As soon as I entered the room, I found a bed bug on the bed and contacted the host. I told her there was a bed bug on the bed, and she looked very annoyed and asked me, "So what do you want? Are you going to leave?" It was 9 pm, and I was so shocked by her response, but I felt so uncomfortable that I didn't want to stay any longer. Even if I had to sleep in my car, I asked if the accommodation fee would be fully refunded. She said she would refund the full amount and told me to leave immediately. I said okay and sent her my account number because I didn't know much about the refund system. She told me to contact booking.com, so I did. In the process, I complained that a bed bug could appear, but I was more upset that the host told me to leave that night without even a word of apology. The host called me several times after that, and I had no choice but to leave the accommodation and call again. She asked me if I was out, and I told her I was already gone. Only then did she apologize, but it didn’t seem sincere and was probably because she had been contacted by booking.com. I was so stressed out at the time about having to find a new place to stay that I just said okay, hung up, and ended up paying $215 for the night. I was really shocked and disappointed by the host’s rudeness.

Very kind and helpful hosts, quiet location and secure on-site parking. We enjoyed our stay a lot! Thank you :)

very quiet and clean the house just has three rooms with all electrical blanket under bed sheet and another heater. The bed was so comfortable

Even though there was an air con unit, there was no way to turn it on, so the place was cold. We were not aware there would be 'house rules' once we checked in, although they' were not hard to abide by, it would've been nice to no beforehand as I wouldn't have booked the rental. The beds were highly uncomfortable.

Host was quick to clean shower when we asked if they could do so.

Shower was very dirty and bedroom sidetable needed wiping down. Towels were thin. Very cold in lounge, heatpump not working.