The Boho House Collective — Attraction in Goleta

My wife and I were disappointed in our stay here due to general lack of cleanliness and hosts who were defensive and unresponsive. The hosts are pleasant unless/until you raise issues about the stay. They were away for the weekend, leaving the premises in the hands of a housesitter who left the screen door open allowing a chicken to walk into the house (see photo), which guests access for its bathroom. When we alerted the hosts to various issues, including a moldy smell in the cactus cottage, a clogged bathroom sink, uncleaned chicken feces in the living room, dog feces in the yard, and meat on the kitchen floor, Megan was defensive and retaliated by saying that I had violated house rules by wearing flipflops inside (understandable considering what was on the floor). I then asked Megan's husband whether there were security cameras inside the house and he said there were and that these secret cameras were required by the rental agency (in fact the opposite is true). Eventually, Megan wrote a much more apologetic note and offered a small discount. When we asked for a larger discount and said that we would be prepared to write a positive review in return for addressing the issues adequately, the hosts refused and then publicly accused us of violating the booking agency's policies by asking for the discount in exchange for a less negative review.

• Edited to respond to reply post below * Honestly, I don't like writing a critical review and never would have if you accepted responsibility for your guests' experience like a true and gracious superhost. Your calling me "lovely" and Gillian "challenging" on Air BnB while simultaneously trying to block her review also left left a bad taste in my mouth. Rather than just fixing the issues we raised, you reviewed footage from your creepy hidden cameras to brandish house rule violations in order to ward off accountability. On Sunday of grad weekend, when you came home to clean up after the mess caused by your unqualified and poorly trained housesitter, you tried to make it right, but then you doubled down on the defensive behavior by desperately trying to block Gillian's review. AirBnb found your ridiculous "extortion" claim to be without merit and therefore has published her review . Yes, you also deserved a nice weekend with your family, but you still get one star from me for the multiple ways that you tried to avoid taking responsibility for our unfortunate...

Be warned of an exorbitant (and ineffective) cleaning fee.

We had a reasonable time staying at Sargeant Place in LA - but found the company itself to be shockingly deceitful. At time of booking, we received a quote for the stay along with several sets of guidelines about the deposit required for the property.

The amount we were charged appeared to be the quoted amount plus a deposit of approx $24USD per night, which we paid. We received a single receipt, of the total amount we had paid, with no further breakdown of costs. Since leaving the property, we have repeatedly chased this deposit, were regularly told 'it will be released', 'it has been released', and then finally the company declared that an amount we believed to be a deposit was, in fact, a non-refundable cleaning fee. This was close to $170 USD, which is an exorbitant amount of money for a cleaning fee, and which we would never have agreed to had we been told this was what it was for. Furthermore, the cleaning was clearly done poorly, as upon arrival at the property, we had to scrub down the high chair and pack n play, which were both disgusting. We have since been routinely dismissed by Meghan from the company. We are disappointed by the deceit and lack of professionalism, not to mention being left substantially out of pocket.

It's also worth noting that there are so many pieces of pottery out in this property that you can barely move for them. The wall art is great but the amount of pottery is over the top.

ETA: We very much understood the nature of the property, and the expected artwork - the photographs on the listing (which was what we anticipated the property would look like) display a small number of pots out alongside the many wall paintings, but you aren't actually able to lean your head back on the sofa (for example) without touching them. We did not mention the filthy pack n play and highchair because we had already cleaned it for use and reasoned it wasn't going to be swapped. We flagged it here because of the ridiculous cleaning fee that is for (in Meghan's own words): 'The fee covers a professional cleaning and reset of the entire home and property, including laundering, sanitizing, restocking, the grounds, and preparing the space so that each guest arrives to the same high standard.'. We are stating that this wasn't done adequately, therefore not...

Before writing this review, I read through all of the other reviews and the bad reviews can’t be any further from the truth. I hate writing this wonderful review because it just means I will have less access to it when I return. BUT, I have now stayed at the Boho House multiple times and the hosts are some of the best hosts that I have ever experienced and I travel a lot! The Cactus Cottage was clean, wonderful and as expected. I think it is important to understand that the two cottages in the backyard look like sheds from the outside but the interiors are some of the most beautiful rooms I have ever stayed in. There is 24/7 access to the main house and they allow the guests to make use of any of the dishes, glasses, etc. that are available, use the kitchen to cook food (another guest there at the same time used it often and loved it), and the cottages have access to a communal bathroom in the main house. They also have a large hot tub for the guests to enjoy that is just the right temperature and well-maintained. I have also stayed in the main cottage attached to the house and it is great for a family. These hosts and their accommodations are amazing! It has a beautiful bohemian feel, the interaction with other guests was refreshing, and the easy check in and access was amazing. If you want to stay in a nice B&B, this is the place to be!

Google wouldn’t let me write a second review so adding to my previous one. I now stayed in the bedroom inside the house and it was outstanding with its own bathroom and easy access to the shared kitchen. Another 5 star stay!

It looks like I might not be coming back to Santa Barbara in the future so I wanted to update this review one last time. If you are looking for a place to stay that has some cool vibes and get amenities, look no further than this place. They have added an outdoor shower, a sauna and new outdoor areas that all were wonderful!! Check out the night time photos that I...