Airbnb Nightmare in The Bahamas

This is my review of my last Airbnb experienced with a host named Reno in the Bahamas:

Get a Hotel!  The cover photo does not reflect how dilapidated the actual building is. Christmas 2015 was going to be special because I surprised my college daughter with a fun trip to the Bahamas – where the hotels were almost full everywhere. Reno was attentive to our inquiry which gave the me faith to book Airbnb. Upon arrival things appear worn out but okay. We arrived with refrigerated food for snacks and dinner to take to the beach. Within 24 hours of being there: living room was uninhabitable due to overwhelming smell of CAT Urine embedded in the couch, TV non functioning-no cable, refrigerator NOT working – failed, $50 worth of groceries wasted. We lost vacation time due to mechanic in kitchen. We had to go out to dinner with an expensive taxi to eat. Within 2 hours of mechanic’s repair, the same refrigerator fan broke and high pitched “Whining” noise continued for the next 24 hours. The floors were dirty. Black mold on corners of floor/carpet interface upstairs and throughout outside balcony – unusable. Closets have space but are filled with junk. NO dish soap, no toilet paper, no garbage cans, no useable pots/pans (aluminum pots with scratched out Teflon – leached out and dangerous), no coffee maker, no coffee, no tea, no kettle, dirty dishes in cabinets without soap to clean and use, No blankets or bed covers -one sheet only. 2 small bath towels given to 2 women for 5 days, no beach towels, one roll of toilet paper only for 5 days. (We asked for more toilet paper and at least some tea for am which we had to microwave as there were no usable pots) As an Airbnb host and guest myself, I spoke with Reno about the issues we had and suggested we leave the next day. He assured me that he would get the refrigerator fixed and get us some toilet paper. Reno asked me to write down all the corrections that he needed for his AIRBNB (Hello? This is MY vacation). The next day when Reno brought toilet paper and a box of tea, he said that he refused to spend any more money on this venture and that the toilet paper, towels, tea, coffee, etc. were THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE GUEST. I did again re-iterate that he should act like any decent hotel with basic preparations; sufficient toilet paper/towels/coffee maker/coffee/ tea/clean utensils/clean dishes/pots/pans/dish soap/bath soap/shampoo/conditioner/blankets/bedspreads/hangers in the kitchen/clean floors-sink, carpets, etc…………there is a certain level of expectation that we all enjoy. It was Christmas. In an effort to be compassionate in the season, my daughter asked me not to make a scene with Reno and leave, plus it was Christmas Eve. My daughter and I stayed away at the beach, restaurants and in town. Taxi’s are horrendously expensive with gas at $6/gallon. We recycled our Dunkin Doughnuts/Starbuck cups to use at the house, we recycled the one towel we each had for beach & shower daily – leaving them and us perpetually damp. We did not eat in the apartment. We did not use the bottom floor due to the cat-piss smell. We did not enjoy “Junkanoo Parade” on T.V. since it was not hooked up. The lack of shower curtain put water all over the toilet and the slick, slate floor – we used the one small face cloth on the floor to keep from slipping. We recycled our grocery bags to create garbage bags up and downstairs. My daughter and slept cold each night, no bedspread. This was the worst AIRBNB experience I ever had in almost four years of Airbnb travel.