Shawna Quaglio
We rented a home with Grand Welcome Austin through VRBO - two nights 12/27/25- 12/29/25. I requested a refund for our stay due to the unacceptable and unsanitary condition of the property upon arrival, but have only received $52 of the $784 paid. When we arrived, we were happy with the general appearance of the home; the decor and design of the space. However; that is the extent of the positives of the stay. We noticed a large black stain on the wall inside one of the closets upstairs. We were hopeful that it was only a stain or paint issue, however when we wiped at it with a baby wipe, it smeared and started to wipe off. We were fairly certain it was black mold, raising serious health and safety concerns. This is especially troubling, as mold exposure can pose health risks and should never be present in a rental property. I contacted Grand Welcome Vacation Rentals who asked for pictures of the stain. After an hour, they told me it was a stain. Although I was not satisfied with that response and had hoped that the company would at least come check it out, I didn't want it to ruin our trip and decided to just keep the closet closed and spend minimal time in the room. Around 9 pm, we noticed quite a few specs of dirt or fuzz on the flat sheet. We pulled back the covers to discover that they were obviously not washed. There was dirt, glitter and hair scattered all throughout both the flat and fitted sheet. We checked out the second bed in the master room and found more of the same. We found a massive dark brown stain on the mattress. I again contacted Grand Welcome, and their only solution was that we look for spare sheets (there were none to be found) and then to look for laundry detergent and wash all of the sheets. Had our special needs son not already been about to fall asleep, we would have packed up and left before sleeping in the property. Since he needed sleep, we decided to go ahead and wash the bedding. 30 minutes after we used the master shower, we noticed a large puddle in the master closet. The shower had leaked through to the closet. The spare mattresses for guests stored in there were wet and had old, existing stains on them. There were numerous smaller issues with the property. It was generally unclean and not well-taken care of. One of the master beds was extremely loose and had to be tightened with an Allen wrench we found in a drawer. There was dust on light fixtures and food in the couch cushions. We were told to bring wood for the outdoor fire pit and discovered it was actually a propane fire pit. There was water damage along the baseboards in the upstairs bathroom. The shelves in the queen upstairs room were damaged. There was a leftover cap to a razor in the upstairs bathtub. The outlet in the upstairs bathroom didn't work. The sink in the master bathroom was very loose and wiggled when we turned it on. We found some dead bugs in the master closet and a bottle of body lotion in the shower. The bottoms of all of our feet were dark from walking on the floors. Just a general feeling of uncleanliness. We could not stomach another night and decided to cancel the remainder of our trip.
