Guesthouse Anica in Dubrovnik

I wasn’t planning on writing another review,but since I cannot edit my original review on Booking to defend myself against the owner’s private messages, I feel the need to post this here.The owner has contacted me privately via Booking, demanding that I delete my review and accusing me of lying. I want to be very clear: my friend and I both have years of experience in the hospitality industry. We understand how difficult it is to run a guesthouse and how important guest feedback is. For this reason, I would never write a dishonest or malicious review – I know how hard this business is and respect the people working in it.
Moreover, I travel a lot around the world, from hotels to guesthouses, and I love leaving positive reviews and recognizing great places. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case here, and I feel I must honestly explain what happened.
It started when the key box broke apart while we were retrieving the keys. I’ve never had any problems with similar lockboxes anywhere else. The owner claimed in their response on Booking that this was the first time it happened. Interestingly, when I sent a message during check-out explaining that we had to leave the keys on the table because the door wouldn’t lock and the box was unusable, I only received a “thank you for letting me know” – no one asked for details. If this truly was the first time the box had broken, why didn’t anyone follow up?(I have a screenshot of this response)
The room had a very unpleasant smell, and the bathroom had visible mold on the walls. I’m not saying this to – as the owner claimed – “be mean,” but to point out a potential health hazard. As someone with allergies, I reacted immediately – and others might have even worse symptoms. We had to keep the window open the entire time, and I have a photo to prove this. Again, this isn’t a matter of opinion, but of health and safety.We never asked for a refund – that wasn’t the point. We simply wanted to give honest feedback, knowing that other guests might face similar issues.For the first 24 hours, the front door wouldn’t close. We had to block it with a heater because we felt unsafe in a foreign country. The next day, we messaged the owner and were told to “lift up the knob.” After struggling with it, the door finally closed – but then the next morning, we couldn’t open it from the inside, so another stressful situation. On the last day, we kindly asked if we could leave our luggage for a few hours after check-out. We fully understand it’s private property, so we would have accepted a “no.” The owner replied that they would “check tomorrow and let us know.” No one ever got back to us. Now the owner claims that we didn’t reply – but the message clearly said they would follow up (I have a screenshot). We waited, and when no one responded, we made other arrangements. We didn’t want to chase them repeatedly.
To be fair – the location is great, the garden is well-kept, and the guesthouse is close to the city center. I really didn’t want to write another review, but due to the pressure and false accusations from the owner, I had no choice but to defend myself.

When I originally wrote my review on Booking, I did not mean any harm. I simply pointed out cleanliness and maintenance issues, thinking that maybe the owner would read it and improve a few things – which is completely normal, as oversights can happen. That’s why I thought the Booking review would be enough.However, the way the owner responded – asking me to delete the review and accusing me of lying – crossed a line.

Very disappointing service