Islay House

This was the worst Airbnb home I have ever stayed in: it. This experience was a blatant example of 1) false advertising 2) breach of baseline health & safety standards of a property that is hosting paying guests 3) disappointing hospitality and customer service. I would not recommend this home to anyone and strongly advise Airbnb ban this host from their platform or at the very least, update the listing to accurately reflect the state of the property. See below for a detailed overview of why the Islay house offered no version of the “comfort of a large home,” “consistency of a luxury hotel” or “conveniences of a 5 start hotel” as outlined in the Airbnb listing. 1. FALSE ADVERTISING - The Airbnb listing spelled out a number of amenities that were not available and oversold the state of the “luxury” historic home. Examples include: a) private beach, b) breakfast baked for the guests, c) Big Kitchen used as a bakery, d) all new heating plumbing, electrics and fibers throughout - Specially on c) the kitchen advertised on the listing was completely inoperable and not even accessible due to flooding and other construction. Instead of the catering size kitchen that was shown in the photos (multiple Arga ovens, counter space, etc), the actual kitchen was a make shift room not a single working oven or stove, leaking commercial dishwasher, dirt and grime on all surfaces, no kitchen knives or prep utensils, and a giant hole in the wall. There wasn’t even a working coffee machine. After raising the issue with the house manager, a new oven was brought in that was also useable due to power issues. The only working device in the kitchen for cooking was a hot plate - Specially on d): there was no heating throughout the common areas of the house, WiFi was barely usable and due to the storm, the power in the dining rooms has gone out. Only upon multiple requests were space heaters provided for the bedrooms and additional lamps provided for some of the working sockets. The only working fireplace to generate heat was a small furnace in the entrance hall 2. BREACH OF HEALTH AND SAFTEY - All throughout the home, the carpets were stained and ceilings cracked throughout due flooding; a number of the bathrooms had mildew, one bathtub leaked and was unusable, and the master bedroom had slugs. I wish the last comment was a joke but beginning on the first night of our stay, we noticed slime trails all over our luggage and sweaters - on the third day, we woke up to a large slug crawling out from under the bed - As mentioned above, the only way to access the advertised kitchen was through a back staircase that had flooded. In order to access the kitchen that was available, one of the entrances led you through a part of the home that the listing describes as “remote, inaccessible and unrenovated.” As such, it was a freezing cold, dark section of the house that incredibly unpleasant to experience as guests who were expecting a safe and light kitchen. 3. HOSPITALITY AND

This hotel is being sold. It has no chef and the restaurant is closed which they did not bother to tell us about until less than 48 hours before our stay even though there had discovered that there been been no chef for 3 weeks. There was no apology or offer of a discount. This meant that we were forced to drive to eat elsewhere each night and although they did book us into restaurants there was no offer of a taxi. The overpriced room we stayed in, Bluebell, was small, cold, had nowhere to store your clothes and dirty windows. We had to ask the staff to clean our room on the second day because they had ‘forgotten’. There seems to be a skeleton staff of 3 people maximum. The hotel is poorly furnished and feels unloved and unwelcoming. The only plus points are the exterior and the location.

We stayed at Islay house because we needed 3 rooms, and our hotel in Bowmore cancelled on us 3 weeks before we left. As it turns out, it was a blessing disguise because this place was wonderful! The house and rooms were breathtakingly gorgeous, and the grounds were just amazing. We ate at the house one evening, and they were so accommodating, considering that 2 of us were vegan and they found that out at the last minute. Breakfast was wonderful, and the staff were so kind and attentive, I couldn't have asked for a better place to stay, I am so grateful to them.