We were very excited to finally see Barcelona in all its glory, and had an apartment near La Sagrada Familia booked. However, when we got to our Airbnb in Barcelona we were greeted by two dogs. Cute, but not in the listing. We went to our room and it reeked of urine. I mean, it was gross, like a cloud of piss hanging in the air at all times. It looked as though she left her dogs in the room while she was away, and they used the floor as a bathroom, because there were brown and bleached discolorations in the carpet all over the place, and jars of silica gel to try and absorb moisture.
To boot, our host used a fake name; she goes by Maria, but then told us her name was Anna. She also initially gave us the wrong address on purpose, and told us she was letting another random person stay at the apartment while we were there. Then there was some story about them moving in for ten days, we will like them a lot, no need to worry… She asked us to leave the front door unlocked at all times. Very unsafe.
But mostly, it was about the smell. The smell of piss. All throughout our room. After leaving and cancelling our reservation, we now have to dispute our situation with Airbnb with a host who is now sending aggressive emails to my girlfriend and personally attacking us because they feel their livelihood is threatened (pathological?). We don’t know if we will be getting our money back, and it very much disrupted our trip. If we don’t get our refund, we will certainly have to pack our bags and go home much earlier than expected. Here is the listing. Avoid if you can.
Hello
Sorry to hear of your experience.
As you know Airbnb tells guests to notify them within 24 hours if the listing is not as described and they will consider cancelling your booking, refunding you and giving you a 10% credit.
That being the case, as I am sure you did this, I am not sure why they haven’t done this in your situation.
Also how is the host contacting your GF? If via email she can simply block her.
Of course you should forward any emails received to Airbnb.
By the way of course Airbnb could easily require hosts to provide a license before listing, areas where it is required. it just chooses not to.
Airbnb has been banned in Barcelona and you still took the risk to rent an illegal dwelling in central Barcelona whilst depriving many hard-working locals of affordable housing. You got what you deserved.
Actually, Sarah, I think you might be misinformed. It is my understanding that Barcelona has not banned AirBnB. However, they have begun to crack down on people renting AirBnB spaces without an official licence from the city to do so. Unfortunately, AirBnB does not require their hosts to post whether they have this licence or not, and there is no way for a traveller to distinguish between what is legal and illegal. Besides, blaming the guest for the situation is an ad hominem logical fallacy. Spending a few nights in Barcelona as a tourist is not the cause of a housing shortage, but deeper more problematic issues, including the rampant purchase of rental property for the sole purpose of renting to tourists, or AirBnB’s complicity in allowing these unlicenced hosts to be renting out without any verification. It seems that AirBnB is choosing to ignore the problem because they make money off the situation.
Sarah
Your reply is both rude and incorrect.
Airbnb is NOT banned in Barcelona, you just need to apply for a license to do short term lettings.
How horrible of you to tell the guest they got what they deserved.
No-one ‘deserves’ an experience like this.