AvantStay — Attraction in Culver City

AVANTSTAY AWAY! These people are most definitely deleting reviews and comments, I would know, I stayed in the house in Catskill, NY. This was one of the worst experiences I have had by far and tainted the very little vacation and family time I get. Firstly, I want to address the first night we had stayed, the start to the chaos. Immediately when we first got to the house we were confused because in all the photos it was luxurious and put together. The first thing that I noticed was the color of the house change, not a big deal but immediately lit some red flags in my head (if the color of those looks like a warn in white, how old are the website photos where the house is yellow?). Then I noticed that the grass was super long, and as someone who is afraid of limes disease I immediately felt uncomfortable and had a bad gut feeling before even entering the house. Walking into the house I quite literally tripped on a brick in the entry way. I as a young 20 year old tripping over a brick was alarming because what if my grandparents trip and cannot catch themselves? Then I went to go pick my room, thinking that I would be going upstairs, until I felt how sweltering hot it was. Crazy for somewhere that is supposed to have AC, right? So my cousins and I decided that we wanted to take one of the rooms downstairs. From first glance everything looked fine other than the ceiling which had obvious water damage, which now looking back on it was major foreshadowing. After going back to the main floor to help unload groceries, my family had alerted me that we would need to use a lot of things because the fridges were not cold and couldn’t keep anything cold. So now we are at 3 problems within the first hour of being at the “vacation” house. While unloading groceries we start to see WATER dripping from the ceiling from a toilet that was used properly. Disgusting. My family members and I decided to go around and find some more things that may be an issue in the house, which we then learned would be an enormously alarming amount. From broken porch boards, to rusty nails, to water damage not only in the ceilings but in the walls, to stains all over everything, there were so many problems I cannot even remember the extent because I have tried to block out how haunting being in that house was. It had gotten to a point where we would split up around the house and come back with 5 problems each. My family is NEVER going to cause a scene over something small, especially because they realize small things happen, but this was a WHOLE new level of problems. That night after the maintenance guy stopped by I asked him if it would be okay to shower and he said that there should be no problem. I got in the shower and the tub was moving around underneath me, but I figured that it was just a small quirk of this house. Then I realized that there was HAIR coming from the grout of where it had not been cleaned, and it was not just strands, there were little shaved off pubic or beard hairs everywhere! After that I was disgusted and felt that I could never be clean the entire trip. I then went to go to sleep and there was not only hair all over my bed but my comforter was stained to the point of no return. The next day my family and I wanted to have a pool day but there was A) nowhere for everyone to sit B) Dirty dishes outside everywhere C) the pool and hot were very obviously not cleaned. This inevitably turned me away from being out in the pool along with the fact there was long grass and people were getting ticks just sitting outside. Everyday we would find a new small problem, my room had water damage down the walls, tvs didn’t work correctly, my brother was literally ELECTROCUTED, our outlets in our room didn’t work, and overall filth. I see them responding to comments and they continuously shrug off responsibility, it's really sad that the first time i've seen my family in years was...

Our vacation was ruined because we rented a vacation home through AvantStay. We stayed at 3941 Fredonia Dr Los Angeles, CA 90068

At first the house looks old but cute. However, after staying in this house, we quickly learned this place is not cute at all.

Concerns:

Cleanliness: the house is filthy. Dirt, dust, blood, urine, body fluids, calcium build up, stains, smells, etc

There's something wrong with every bed in the house:

On top of being filthy, the master bedroom mattress is so thin that the bars in the bed frame are digging into your back and hips the entire time you're trying to sleep. The bed frame is bent and makes the mattress uneven. We literally had to sleep with our head at the head of the bed so we didn't feel like we were laying upside down with all the blood rushing to our heads.

The couch bed is bent and uneven as well. Also very uncomfortable, stained, and dirty.

The air mattress is stained, dirty and doesn't hold air.

The twin bed is okay but filthy

We have had to kill 10-12 spiders during our stay. My family has bites on them! It's not safe or sanitary.

The whole house has a mildew moldy smell

The AC is constantly being changed off the temperature I set it to

The master bedroom fan doesn't work

The master bedroom TV doesn't work. It turns on but you cannot access any apps to watch anything.

The landscaping is overgrown with numerous trash bags filled with dead weeds

There's no privacy. The curtains in the bedroom are so thin I literally saw the neighbor as I was changing my clothes. The curtains do not cover the windows and they are so thin you can see through them.

The bathroom smells like old standing water. There's not an exhaust fan so the foul mildew smell is constant. The shower tiles are broken and the bathtub is filthy. The steam buttons and one of the knobs don't work for the shower.

The microwave light display is broken so you can't see the time to heat food.

The website claims there’s plentiful parking. That is definitely a lie.

I understand this is an old house so I was really trying to be understanding and enjoy our vacation but I must say I'm highly disturbed by the things I've discovered in this home. The bed sheets were not washed. I thought they were stained but then I washed them myself and all the "stains" came out. I sat down at the kitchen table and my entire shirt was covered in dirt from the chairs. The fan in the bedroom does work. The house has a very potent old musty mildew wet smell. After washing the sheets, I'm so worried to know what we slept in for the first few days of our trip. This house was clearly not cleaned before we came and I'm highly concerned.

We slept on the couch with no privacy because the master bedroom bed is broken and absolutely horrible. This has not been a vacation at all. We literally took time off of work to bring our daughter to Universal Studios but the condition of this house and the lack of sleep has truly impeded our vacation. She's absolutely terrified to fall asleep because of all the bugs and spiders. We have improvised and made it work but honestly I've cleaned the majority of the house myself. I even rewashed the dishes because I'm terrified from all the other issues we've had. This has truly been a nightmare vacation because of this house.

Their website claims the houses undergoes a 100 point checklist for top to bottom cleanliness. THAT IS THE BIGGEST LIE IVE EVER HEARD. We brought our concerns to the AvantStay team and the only thing they offered was a late checkout. They completed disregarded the filthy and unsanitary conditions of the home. They completely failed to see they ruined our vacation and put our health at risk. Why in the world would we want to stay longer?! This company does NOT abide by their website and guidelines. The pictures on their website is not what you get at all. It’s...

When you hear AvantStay, you should know: Stay Away! On May 22, 2023 we made reservations directly on the AvantStay website for a 4-night stay at the White Sails rental property in Destin, Florida, from August 16, 2023 to August 20, 2023, for a total amount of $3,079.48 (reservation number - DRWVBLQ6). So, on August 16, 2023 at approximately 1:30 pm, after a long drive from Atlanta, my wife, her elderly mother and I arrived at the above property (for highly anticipated long weekend together), completely unaware of a distressing experience awaiting us. The condition of the White Sails property and our dealing with AvantStay turned out to be disastrous! Not only was the property completely dilapidated (very run down, with rust everywhere, missing/broken shutters, doors not open properly, very scuffed floors and walls, run down and moldy bathrooms; living room couches were extremely stained and wet with odor of urine (the fan was left blasting on high to dry them out); dirty swimming pool full of debris and with signs of algae - not at all what the pictures had shown on the company website), but the primary/master bedroom’s FRENCH CLEAR GLASS DOOR/WINDOW, which was promised by AvantStay website to provide million dollar views of the harbor/gulf, WAS ENTIRELY MISSING! Instead of replacing it, they simply BOARDED UP the space with plywood, leaving the broken French clear glass door/window next to the house! The overpowering smell of mildew in the property was intolerable! We had to immediately vacate the premises and contacted AvantStay to report the issues. After engaging in futile phone conversations with several AvantStay representatives over 2 hours (sitting in our car with the running engine since it was 90 F and we had groceries), we were unable to reach a resolution. They flatly refused to fix the issue with the boarded-up window in the master bedroom. We then requested an alternative property nearby (we could just drive there), which was met with another firm denial. Our last resort was to demand a full refund, to which a representative responded with a promise to follow up. Due to the above circumstances, we were unable to stay at the White Sails property and urgently sought an alternative accommodation in the community on our own. What a nightmare! Around 3 pm on August 16, 2023, we managed to secure a different vacation property (in the same community) that was clean and, most importantly, not boarded-up. At 5:45 pm on August 16, 2023, we finally received a follow-up from AvantStay via email: they refused to provide a full refund. They acknowledged that the missing French clear glass door/window is boarded up but claimed that it would not impact our stay - an assertion that was inconceivable to us. Perhaps it’s AvantStay’s standards, but no reasonable person would stay in such boarded-up dilapidated house on their vacation (unless they are trapped and have no other choice). AvantStay promises experiences like home, only better. Well, in our home we don’t have boarded up windows, and we would not stay in a boarded-up house on our vacation - even for free! I replied to their email providing detailed explanations, and insisting on a full refund, but unfortunately, I did not receive any further communication from AvantStay. We still haven’t received our money back! Moreover, we later found out that at least since June 26, 2023, AvantStay had been aware of the issue with the boarded-up space of the missing French clear glass door/window in master bedroom, but they chose not to disclose it to us! Just imagine staying with your family for a luxury vacation in such a smelly dilapidated house where the first thing you would see in the morning is a space boarded up with plywood - a space that should have been a French clear glass door/window with a bay view?! Would it be staycation...