Stayz
Verified1,387 reviews
Avoid at all costs. Property's presents well online but the Stayz process is a pressure sales environment. Told you can cancel up to a specific time without penalty but then told to pay the full price within 24 hours of booking via PayID. Cancelled within 24 hours of booking due to the email communications and the pressure sales approach about… Read more
paying when the booking was months in advance and now after 11 days of constant emails (I assume many via AI rather than humans) I still haven't received any refund. Lots of platitudes; our finance team have been advised; our finance team are looking into it; please advise us when the funds arrive in your account. PayID is instantaneous so therefore the refund should be the same. But no - I've asked for screen snapshots of the refund as they infer that payment has been actioned but again "our finance team are aware, please let us know when funds are received OR please check tomorrow and let us know when funds have arrived" The process appears designed to hold your funds (no doubt wisely invested) for as long as possible while continually telling customers that their finance team are aware and working on the refund. Avoid Stayz as an option at all costs.
Removal of Guest Property and Loss of Items This complaint is regarding a booking at a Storied Homes property in Deviot, Launceston, on 6th-8th June 2026. This host posts on Stayz. Prior to check-in, I placed several items in the property to prepare for a special occasion (a marriage proposal), including: • A prepared cheese platter with… Read more
unopened, packaged food items (approx. value $80–$90) • Champagne • Fresh roses (valued at over $100) • Additional decorative and celebratory items , all of which totalled several hundred dollars’ worth . The property appeared clean and ready at the time. Shortly afterward, the host’s cleaner entered and removed all items without authorisation. I was later informed: • The food items from the platter were given away • The flowers were removed on the basis they were allegedly “wilted” • The items were assumed to have been left by previous guests This explanation is difficult to accept given: • The goods were clearly new, unopened, and deliberately arranged • No attempt was made to contact either previous or incoming guests to verify ownership • The items were not held in accordance with standard lost property practices, despite the advertised service standards After multiple attempts to contact the host , I received a delayed response approximately 16 hours later via text message, providing only instructions for collection of the champagne. Following further requests, some items were returned the next evening, left outside the property without notice. However, the food items (valued at $80–$90) were not returned, and I have been informed that no reimbursement will be offered. In addition to the financial loss, this situation caused considerable distress and disrupted what was intended to be a significant and meaningful occasion. I was particularly disappointed by the lack of communication, absence of apology, and the manner in which the matter was handled.
- +6
Worst customer service ever. Host is a liar and ignores communications and customer service makes promises but don't deliver. Don't stay here: Mount Warren Park Stay | Sleeps 4 + BBQ & Parking The property is in Beenleigh, not Mt Warren Park and is located on a main road. There is traffic noise all day and night. There was 1 teaspoon and 1 coffee… Read more
mug so we had to bring mugs from our own house. There were no dishcloths or hand towels. The internet was intermittent for the first 5 days. Day 6 and 7 we had no internet at all. The worst part was trying to communicate with the host and customer service - a total waste of time. The host lied about the internet being down due to ongoing local works and told us it 'should' improve by Monday. He said this because one of the tenants was moving out on the Sunday and he knew the internet would work again properly by Monday. I work from home though so we were facing zero internet for 4 days. I told the host I had checked and there were no internet works going on in the area and that I would be seeking a refund and suddenly the host arrived with a new internet modem at 6pm that night. On Friday night the shower overflowed into the rest of the laundry and the hallway. I communicated this to the host and customer service but they ignored me. On Sunday night the shower overflowed again and this time flooded not only the laundry, hallway but also most of the loungeroom and the entry into the main bedroom. I took photos and videos this time. I was promised the host would attend immediately as we didn't have enough towels to clean up the water but again, he never showed. At midnight, we packed up and left. I am now seeking a refund via bank chargeback for the last 5 nights we didn't (couldn't) stay.
Date of arrival - June 21, 2026 Reservation ID: No.HA-CH9PDD
Reviews with attachments
- +2
Ours stay in addis ababa was a disaster. We were notfied it had generetor when it didnt. The power kept going out so we had to climb to the 8th floor with out 3 years and 5 years old daughters. Very little kitchen utensils. It was advertised it had hot tub, kids playground, towl, soap. They didnt provide us with none of the things mentioned.… Read more
Shower presure was very low. The shower was leaking so we were left with a pudle of water every time we showered. Wires were sticking out of power points. The host was nowhere to be found for the two months we were there. Miletery personal were coming in and out of the building with intimidating weapons. We made so many complaints to stays via emails and phone calls. No response from them. We paid $80 a night for this horrific experience we had at this accommodation. I will not recomend the property or to use stayz for my worse enemy. The place is called diaspora apartments in addis ababa. Megenagnia. Hosted by [Name Removed]
The things hilighted red in the pictures below are things that was not provided to us.
DO NOT USE! TAKE Stayz TO VCAT! Stayz uses Vrbo and other smaller companies to confuse you. You will pay through the Stayz website and your bank statement will show you paid Stayz but they will constantly tell you that you didn't pay Stayz if you want a refund. the property I booked was in the Artic, it had multiple vents that allowed air from… Read more
outside directly inside. The main problem was that it was -18 degrees outside and it makes it impossible to sleep with air that cold coming directly on your face. I contacted the owner and they said they could not fix the vet but they gave us a heater. i explained to them that the heater does not stop the air from coming though. Long story short I contacted Stayz for a refund based on their Stayz Guarantee but their argument was that I din't pay Stayz. So when I showed them that I had paid Stayz directly they said well we already paid the owner so we can request it form the owner but if they say no then there's nothing we can do. DO NOT USE Stayz!
Beware Stayz! The property we stayed at in St Leonards, Victoria, (29 old St Leonards Rd) was nicely fitted out especially the kitchen, but it had a series of issues as well. These issues included plumbing leaks, very thin curtains in bedrooms, so those rooms were very hot in summer and also very light at night, so hard to sleep. Air con didn't… Read more
reach bedrooms. Also not enough supplies for 8 people for a week. (Toilet paper, shower supplies etc ran out after 2 days) Front door sticking and bungalow out the back also very hot with no air con. No WIFI to use at all and so even the smart TV also only had free to air channels. Only one indoor bin in kitchen - not even one in the toilet. Other issues as well - and no one at all from Stayz to contact about any issues.
I wrote out a long review to let people know and even generously gave it 3 stars as it has a nice kitchen and lounge sofa, but then Stayz didn't even publish my review! In fact the whole property when I checked only have ONE review at all and it just says "all good" Maybe fake? Other sites allow reviews so owners can learn what to fix and people who book know what to expect! BUT looking into it, Stayz allows owners to choose which review to publish or not. No wonder it only has one review! It was huge waste of my time to write a real review. Also with Stayz, we had paid fully in the weeks before our trip. Then the day before we were to leave they hit us up with another fee we had to pay before letting us in - it was for insurance in case we broke anything?! Never had to do that with any other BnB experience or in other cabins such as caravan parks.
Turns out Stayz started out as an Australian company and then bought out by overseas multinational company and now is part of USA company Expedia Corp. We will NEVER book with Stayz again.
Booked a property nearly a month in advance. Two weeks before we were due to arrive, the owner cancelled because he'd "double-booked". Now we have to wait 15 days to get our $2,700 back and anything else suitable is booked out. This was the first time we have used Stayz, and will also be the last. Show details
On the day of the booking the Stayz inbox stopped working - I tried troubleshooting as per instructions on the net (clear cache, try different device/computer/app etc) but nothing worked. I had screenshot the property owner's details so I texted them... they did not respond. I rang them, they hung up on me 5 times. We went to the booking address… Read more
and spoke to the receptionist- she couldn't help us and tried ringing the property owner and they hung up on her.
We tried the virtual assistant and it told us we had no booking. We came to the conclusion we must have been scammed and booked additional accommodation so we could at least proceed with our plans.
After all that the property owner finally contacted me via text and sent through instructions, but it was too late as we had paid for accommodation elsewhere.
We're out of pocket for accommodation we didn't use because the Stayz website failed and the property owner was uncontactable.
Even now, just trying to get help about this issue on Stayz is ridiculous. I ended up on the UK website just to get a phone number. There is no email/online support in Australia.
We'll never use Stayz/Vrbo again. Completely unreliable.
Horseshoe Bay Magnetic Island. Staying from the 8/8/25 to 11/08/25. We got to the house we were going to stay at for the next 3 nights. We were very disappointed the elderly lady cleaning the house was the owner and she told use she lived in the house. She said she stays at a friends house when people stay in her house. That information was not… Read more
in the details when we were looking for somewhere to stay if it had we would never have stayed there. The house was very dirty In the Kitchen ; The bench was Dirty with food on the bench and gecko poo. We had to clean the bench before we could use it. The microwave is very rusty and I don't believe it would be safe to use. The kitchen floor was dirty unswept and not washed. We were going to have a cup of coffee and make some lunch. I opened the cupboard it was very old and dirty inside the cups and plates had food scraps from the dishwasher on them. We decided to go out and get coffee and a meal. In the lounge the chairs were clean the TV worked well so did the Internet the floor was very dirty wall and windows very dirty throughout the house The main room; The floor was very dirty and gritty the bed had a cover on it the cover was stained we pulled back the sheets then we had to brush the sand of the bottom sheet the pillows were flat old and no body the bedroom door didn't close properly. The bathroom was clean. During the nights we were woken with rats running around the bedroom. My niece and her partner started in one of the other rooms their linen was clean but the door did not close and the floor was also very dirty. They had left some clothes on the floor when they picked them up there were rat droppings on them. We had to close the external windows and doors because of mosquitoes and put all the fans on high so we didn't get eaten alive. The backyard backs into skip bins full of rubbish. The outdoor seating on the back veranda is very dirty (pictures attached). The veranda posts are rotten and eaten out by termites. The front veranda was very dirty as well. The house is in needs of maintenance The property is surrounded by very large trees and it makes it quite dark that's why there are so many mosquitoes. Mosquitoes carry so many diseases.
Latest follow-ups
Stayz is still advertising “Ocean views, 10 beds, sleeps 14. 2 minute walk to surfers paradise beach. BEWARE this unit has 1x queen 1x double 2 bunks” the rest sleep on the lounge and foam mattresses Show details
Follow-up · To improve the unit it should be removed from Stayz. She’s still the biggest con artists. We were lucky we got back all our money over $7000. But she is still ripping off guests. Old tired units, fresh air through no glass panels fitting in doors. The process with the owner was shonky. Focus at surfers paradise won’t have anything to do with her and she owns 2 units. BEWARE!
Follow-up · Still advertised at no 1 slot for surfers paradise. Property # 4994179vb Has a rating of 2 says it sleeps 14 but 4 must sleep in the lounge on a mattress with a small pillow and a blanket. Can’t believe stays still allows it to advertise!
Accommodation booked for 3mths. while in flight accommodation cancelled. customer service promised to find alternate suitable accommodation. They did not. They said they would cover cost of accommodation. They did not. NEVER again booking with them or their affiliates. what a sham. Show details
Follow-up · No compensation received. Do the booking yourself, direct with whereever your booking. it might be more troublesome initially but you wont find yourself abandoned in the street. They wore me down with lies and i gave up. I will never recommend or use this service again.
- +7
I wish I could have selected zero stars. I would not recommend the Stayz/VRBO booking system. I booked a property in Wandin North in the Yarra Valley. Problems were identified as soon as we arrived, mainly cleanliness, so I reported it via email to… Read more
the management company (Wheel Property Management) via the Stayz portal. That was 2 weeks ago and I have had NO FEEDBACK. I expected to hear from the Wheel Property Management while we were staying there. I didn’t know that I should have contacted StayzCare, as far as I was concerned, I was contacting Stayz as I sent the message from their portal. We had to just clean what needed to be cleaned and enjoy our planned activities and look past the filth, as we were 7 people and couldn’t relocate, not to mention that we’d spent $2000 for this of which $600 was the management fee… Since returning from the trip I have sent countless emails to Stayz, spoken to nearly every customer service person, waited an hour to speak to a supervisor and still I have heard nothing, they just say they are waiting for Wheel Property Management to contact them, well good luck with that. So they will just keep fobbing me off saying we stayed, we checked out and it’s not their problem. Upon my return I received an email asking for me to review of the property, which I did and it is still not published (2 weeks later) so other poor people will have the same experience we did. I have found a review on Booking.com for the same property (after we stayed there), which echoes almost exactly our complaints, except they didn’t find the chewing gum on the windowsill.
Follow-up · Six weeks after the stay Vrbo got in touch and offered $300 for our inconvenience, which is better than nothing. They claim they never heard from the managing company; Wheel Property Management. I recommended they remove their properties from their Stayz portal, as they are devaluing the Stayz brand, but to date the Wandin Farm Views property is… Read more
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Positive reviews
Do Not use Coffs Harbour Holiday Rentals – I have changed my review from 1 to 5. The unit offered was not up to par and we left in disgust and went elsewhere. Give Coffs Harbour Holiday Rentals credit as the refunded me the full 3 day rental. Show details
All the comforts of home – After reading the reviews, I was hesitant to book a property through Stayz, but it was the most convenient location for our needs (49 Brighton Rd, Glenelg.) We arrived to a perfectly clean and spacious apartment which had every facility you could want, including a laundry and outdoor entertainment area with BBQ. The kitchen was well equipped,… Read more
with a dishwasher, coffee machine and heaps of pans, plates, glasses, even some olive oil, tea, etc. Even though it was on a main road, our unit was quiet at night and the bed comfortable. The Wifi was good. It felt like home.
Clifftop Tathra – Fantastic house and location. Everything and more in the house for us to use including binoculars. Bed super comfy and would definitely recommend and rebook Clifftop. Thanks from us and our staffie George who loved the five minute walk to enjoy the beach. Thanks Chris. Awesome house. Amazing holiday. Vanessa, Richard and ofcourse George x Show details · 1
Negative reviews
Wish I could give it zero. AVOID AT ALL COSTS. I made a booking for a property in Marseille France for August 2026. The booking conditions indicated the upfront payment would be $0, and the total amount for the booking (1700 euros) would be charged in August 2026. The terms and conditions stated the booking was cancellable and fully refundable… Read more
until 7 August 2026. Once I made the booking, I received multiple messages from the host of the property asking me to pay additional fees via another platform (and providing links). They asked for a 200 euro cleaning fee and 88 euro tourist tax. The total amount for the booking which Stayz indicated would be charged in August, already included a 200 euro cleaning fee.
I did not click the links or pay the fees as this seemed like a scam. I then checked the credit card I used for the booking and saw it had been charged $1300 AUD. I did not authorise this payment. I do not know why I was charged this amount. This amount does not reflect the total cost of the booking and, as mentioned, the website indicated there would be no deposit. I then tried to cancel the booking via the Stayz website. Despite indicating the booking could be cancelled for a full refund for another 2.5 months, the website only allows me to submit a 'cancellation request' to the host. The host has not responded.
I have called Stayz multiple times. They are unable to tell me what happens if the host just doesn't respond or refuses the cancellation. They refuse to process the cancellation themselves or issue a refund. They have not been able to explain why I was charged or whether I'll get that money back. Every time I call Stayz, they just say they will send an email to the host and tell me to wait another 24 hours.
I have asked Stayz why their website indicates a booking is cancellable and refundable, when in fact the cancellation and refund is subject to the approval of the host. They have no explanation for this. They have said if the host doesn't accept the cancellation then their property could be de-listed. So this means people are basically incentivised to list fake properties, take payments and then just refuse a cancellation and keep the money. I can only assume this is set up to allow this to happen. Otherwise I cannot imagine why you would require consent of the host to cancel in line with the terms and conditions.
Absolutely wild - avoid at all costs. I have reported this to ACCC.
NEVER USE STAYZ! BEWARE. The host at Stayz stated they would provide a refund. I lodged this matter with customer support and good lord.. they have been useless. They still owe me $250.00 They appear to be operating as a scam site disguised as a business. Don't use them.
Had the worst experience with this booking site. The host kept $1500 from our booking which was only made 2 days before cancelling. They still had 2 weeks to find another guest. The stayz team tried to assist but the host happily kept this substantial amount of money. Will never use this site again. Show details
Recent reviews
Property description wasn't completly accurate. Had to climb four flights of stairs, three mentioned, a trash double bed where a queen is listed, feet poking out the bottom of the bed. Property maintenance and cleaning was terrible. May not be stayz fault, however its their listing so should be accountable to a degree. Show details
Do not use. Had a refund approved 3rd April and still waiting 8 weeks later. Advised to contact via email but then they never respond. Call and advised payment will be made soon we can’t say any more Show details
Booked an apartment 2 days ago and have not been able to login to app or online not receiving the login codes spent 45 minutes on the phone only to be told to try in a couple of hours still no luck on the third day and supposed to be arriving at the property tomorrow, payment taken but now no check in details, i will never be using Stayz again and will not be recommending them, terrible site. Show details
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Absolutely disgraceful business. Pity a still have to give one star. They deserve zero. Stayz's policy refund is based on ripping off customers. When you pay for Stayz accommodation and need to cancel within the allowed term Stayz refunds a portion of the amount paid. That's robbery. Unfortunately this situation happened already twice with me. I can guarantee it won't happen again. So, you plan to book anything with Stayz .... DON''T. Show details
Buyer beware. I had to cancel a booking but my credit card has changed. Just need to give them the new credit card details. Seems Stayz / vrbo blames Expedia and Expedia blames Stayz and Vrbo. All part of the same company. 8 hours on the phone talking to people all over the world - going nowhere. Seems the $1100 refund will be staying in their pocket sadly, I will never book with them again. Off to consumer affairs to see what they can do.
Booking a holiday house with Stayz is the WORST experience I have ever had. I found a suitable place and booked it, all went smoothly. About 3 weeks prior to my stay I was sent a message saying the fridge had broken and the booking was unavailable - I could either rebook through the same local company (Mollymook Milton Holidays) and in 3 days… Read more
receive a refund. I could not find a suitable alternative place, so waited for the refund so I could book elsewhere. Nothing happened. I rang the Stayz helpline and waited on hold for 90 minutes, only for the call to drop. Rang again, waited 90 minutes and someone from VRBO answered - apparently an affiliate of Stayz. They said yes they will cancel the booking. Nothing happened for several days. With my holiday date fast approaching I called again, only to be told by VRBO that my only choice was to call my credit card company and have them dispute the charge. I said YOU CANCELLED IT, NOT ME - but bad luck. I contacted the local company again (Mollymook Milton Holidays) and after several conversations the full refund appeared in my account. So overall, I had to deal with THREE separate companies (Stayz, VRBO, Mollymook Milton Holidays) with massively long phone wait times and being told to dispute the charge AFTER THEY CANCELLED THE BOOKING!
DO NOT USE STAYZ!!!
Stayz double booked our property twice and then delisted our property after we cancelled their bookings. We were getting limited requests through them anyway and the local agent Fleurieu Accommodation do a far better job and generate more enquiries 5:1. They also make it difficult to speak to them, not clearly listing their contact number. Steer clear of VRBO/Stayz, they are disingenuous.
Avoid at all cost… they cancelled booking 7 days before our proposed arrival, despite the fact that we had already checked in online! They have non existent customer support, just virtual assistants that are next to useless. Show details
Each time I google Stayz properties, I get a list of places miles away from the town I want to stay in and virtually nothing in the actual town! The Stayz website does not give a contact email address, therefore there is no response. Show details
DRIP PRICING SCAM - NEVER AGAIN. Booked an apartment via Stayz. Was contacted a day after booking confirmation by Host [Name Removed] requesting a further $179 cleaning fee and $500 deposit to be transferred directly to their bank account (had already paid $500 deposit). I refused to pay both charges as all fee’s are required to be shown at time… Read more
of booking. I requested the host to cancel the accomodation due to their failure to indicate all fees at time of booking - drip pricing which is illegal. Host cancelled, however because it was within 36HRS of booking, Stayz policy states 0% refund. I had discussed with the host that I would be getting 100% refund due to their deceit in the booking process. Contacting STAYZ / VRBO to assist with the cancellation / refund was a complete waste of time. They did not provide any assistance or support, and basically stated that I had to work it out with the host myself. Even thought the entire booking was processed through the Stayz website - zero accountability / help was provided from the STAYZ / VRBO platform. It took almost 2 months of communication with the host, threatening legal pursuit, ACCC inolvment etc to get my full refund. I will never use Stayz / VRBO again, nor would I recommend anyone to use their platform after they wiped their hands completely of this drip pricing scam.
dont bother with using th platform. there is no way to contact stayz by chat if you dont have a booking (dont know about phone but was a cumbersome process to use that). They are another organisation that wants your money but not you. If you send a message using the privacy option (only way to send chat if u dont have a booking) they say they wont read it. Unreal. Good luck competing with Airbnb with that attitude Show details
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If this is monitored by Stayz. How come you advertise her 2 units?