Tag Archives: airbnb amenities

Airbnb Doesn’t Live up to Expectations

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I recently booked an Airbnb in Toronto to visit my granddaughter. The apartment is in what looks like a city housing building in a very rough area of Toronto; the building and grounds are in a state of disrepair, and the elevators were scary to ride. I would never bring my granddaughter there for a sleepover. The apartment was a mess; food was left over from other renters, and all the dishes were sitting in a dirty dish rack on the counter. The beds were just a bunch of mattresses thrown on the floor with no couch and no living room. The furniture was all beat up with blankets thrown over them, and broken old pictures taped for repair. The stove was not fit to cook on.

I have been trying to reach the host, and much like Airbnb he took my 500+ dollars and became unreachable. The Airbnb folks are turning their backs on me. When I asked them how this location was approved, they stated they cannot check each location, and became very rude and short on the phone. If you are booked into an unacceptable location, Airbnb could care less. I have resigned to the fact that I have been ripped off by both Airbnb and the host and am hoping this post will avoid anyone else booking this Airbnb hellhole. I stayed there one night, paid for five, slept in an office chair and picked up take out. So much for Airbnb.

Airbnb: A Horrible End to our Honeymoon

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I booked this property for the last part of my honeymoon in Italy. Upon arriving the place was great. The day we got there we had travelled from Turin to Rome to Naples to Sorrento so it had been a long day; we wanted to shower and nap. When trying to shower, I got only ice cold water. I told the host about the issue and she sent someone to look at it shortly and told me it should be fixed. However, she wanted to send them again in the morning just to be safe.

The next morning they came and take a look and then we left for a tour. After coming back from the tour we really needed a shower but again, there was no warm water. We had a special dinner to go to so it was very uncomfortable coming from a full day tour and not getting a proper shower.

All the way through I communicated the issues to the host through Airbnb. I even told her that this issue would be in her review. Her review for me said I was dishonest and would not recommend me. Why would I lie about this? And how is it a lie if she had someone look at the issue multiple times?

This was an extremely horrible experience especially as it was for my honeymoon and the first time I’ve used Airbnb for a trip. I tried getting the review from my profile removed and compensation for the horrible experience but Airbnb did not help. They only said if I had called during the stay, then they could have done something. This made no sense to me because their site recommends that you work it out with the host.

Airbnb Makes Fawlty Towers look like the Hilton

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Do not stay at a certain Airbnb property at Newport beach in Sydney. It’s not a house; it’s an apartment in the middle floor of what once was a house. It has the most dangerous flight of stairs leading down to the apartment with no railings, loose pavement, and roots growing across the pathway. The security lights don’t work properly so at night you get halfway down and you are plunged into complete darkness.

It has the most uncomfortable lounges I have ever sat on; a bed of nails would be more comfortable. The place is a bit old and tired. Parking at the place is impossible on the street; it’s a narrow goat track and while she might give you one spot in her driveway, she advertises the property as sleeping nine guests. In reality, there are two bedrooms stuffed full of bunk beds and a master bedroom.

The host is bordering on a psychopath. The cupboards are stuffed full of unsorted junk from cables, broken toys, and scratched CDs. I think she is a hoarder. She seems pleasant at first but if you cross her watch out. One day I was parked illegally because we came out at night and couldn’t see the one rusty, tree-covered sign which had a 4-hour no parking zone on a Wednesday so the garbage trucks can get around the goat track. She was so vindictive she rang the ranger and had me booked; it cost $120, which I am appealing.

She was endlessly complaining about the noise we made but she spent her day dragging something across the floor which we heard in the apartment… probably dead bodies of other complaining guests to bury. She endlessly texted us about the most trivial things but couldn’t come downstairs and tell us to move the car. We couldn’t wait to leave.

The worst is when we left we photographed the entire place and three hours later she hit us up for an extra $360 for extra cleaning. We left it spotless. So I pulled the metadata off her photos and found she had gone in and messed up the place three hours after we left as the metadata has the time in the data. I showed her and Airbnb our photo metadata and hers and thankfully it was dropped.

We left a blender motor there in our rush to get as far away as possible so she said she would mail it back if I sent down a return postage bag. $30 later after saying she had mailed it has never arrived. If you want a holiday from hell, stay here. Airbnb was sympathetic but did nothing in the end. She has all these excellent reviews and I’m sure if you don’t cross her path it might be a reasonably pleasant stay, but don’t complain. The photo she uses on her page of sweeping views of Newport is not the view from the apartment. You’re in a gully with a tree obscuring most of the view; the place is hell. It makes Fawlty Towers look like the Hilton.

Airbnb Stripped away my Rights as a Guest

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Airbnb was initially very supportive of our situation and processed a full refund but denied me the privilege of sharing my full story because I had initially mentioned the company who was managing the key collection. They did not ask that I remove the name of the company, but they removed my entire review as written below. Your rights to share your experience on Airbnb are very limited. Know your rights and be careful.

We felt cheated staying with these hosts. The whole set-up seems like a scam. The key collection area was unwelcoming; there was a notice to say that it was under construction. A man came up from the basement: no “hello”, no explanation, and zero hospitality. He just handed a set of key to us.

At this point, it all felt like a scam, and we were worried. As we entered the building, there were trucks with graffiti parked on the roads. It didn’t give us a welcoming feeling for a place that is described as a modern five-star apartment. It also claimed to be family friendly. There was a homeless man sleeping at the entrance to the building, blocking our path to use the ramp (we have a baby stroller). There were foot steps and dirt all across the common areas and entrance. This was our first impression of the place for which we paid the premium price of AED 805 per night (167 pounds).

There were alcohol cans and rubbish at the entrance. It was a shelter for the homeless (sleep during the days, take drugs and drink alcohol during the nights). The apartment was serviced, but it was not clean (as a five-star modern apartment). We were also charged AED 200 in cleaning fees (42 pounds). This was what we found as we walked in: pubic hair in the bathroom, hair in the corners of the whole apartment, mold on curtains and edges, salt built up in the kettle – not washable even after I tried. I needed a kettle as I was traveling with young children.

We decided to come home before dark as the area felt unsafe. When we came home at 7:00 PM, there was another homeless guy sleeping at the walkway. We decided to order food to be delivered to the apartment. We felt trapped as the walkway and building entrance was not suitable for our needs and always blocked by homeless people. Our delivery guy had informed us that our food was snatched by one of the homeless who on either drugs or alcohol. That was when we decided to look for an alternative accommodation for the remaining of our stay.

Our apartment door was opened from the outside in the morning while we were still there. When my husband inquired she said she didn’t speak English (Spanish speaker). We decided to check out after our first night there as we were concerned about our safety.

This property was not suitable for family. It is not a modern five-star apartment if the entrance is a home for homeless people. The shower and bathroom was two-star. The cleanliness is zero stars. Both beds were sofa beds (not one bed and one sofa bed as claimed). The amenities were very poor. It was an unsafe area for families.

The hosts didn’t meet me or call me even once although I called the emergency number. She only communicated using the Airbnb messaging and the response was slow. They didn’t provide any hospitality or assurance whatsoever. She claimed to have visited the apartment to take pictures of the cleanliness but didn’t even have the courtesy to come up to check on us. She also said she lives around Camden. It felt like the reason why she visited the apartment was to take pictures after she had cleaned the entrance and walkway to defend herself. Very disappointing. We didn’t want to ruin our holiday and left.

I lodged an official complaint to Airbnb and the host and she only wanted to give us a 20% refund despite us moving out after one night. I logged a safety complaint with Airbnb. The case manager worked on my case and I have received my refund. However they have now removed my honest review of this case and all pictures that I have shared. Airbnb has stripped my rights as a guest who wants to share her poor experience to others.

Do Not Stay in Airbnb Houses When the Amenities Differ

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My niece booked our Airbnb house in Potsdam, New York. We had six adults and an infant, so we were looking for somewhere with two bathrooms. A couple of days before we arrived, the host texted my niece to say that they were remodeling the second bathroom, so there would only be one bathroom available. As it turns out, even if both bathrooms were available it wouldn’t have helped much as the water pressure was so low that only one shower could be used at a time and if a toilet was flushed during a shower… well, just imagine.

The dishwasher had a note posted on it not to use it. After being there we assumed that was also because of the low water pressure. The water tasted quite bad and we bought bottled water. There was no mention of this in the description. The instructions asked that only cold water be used for laundry, so that’s what we used. Unfortunately, there was also no mention that the water would stain whites and two of my shirts were ruined.

The working shower control had to be turned “just so” to obtain a comfortable temperature and maintain enough pressure to shower. A fraction of an inch to the left of that magic spot and the water was scalding. A fraction of an inch to the right and water pressure was not sufficient. The water pressure continued to decrease and on the last night and day we were unable to shower at all. The toilet wouldn’t flush on the last day either.

The property is posted as being able to sleep seven people. There is a two-person size bed in one bedroom and a twin bed in each of the other bedrooms. The couch in the living room folds out, so I’m assuming two people could sleep on that. That adds up to six people. I’m not sure where number seven would fit.

I should mention that the host did refund $150.00 for having only one bathroom at the last minute. My niece has emailed him since, explaining the problems as he may want to remedy them before he rents it out again, but he has not responded. I will mention that it was clean and the air conditioning worked fine. Personally, I would like to have a large bit of what we paid to stay there refunded as it certainly was neither convenient nor pleasant and my shirts were ruined.

This experience makes me very reluctant to use or recommend Airbnb in the future. In fact, I have already told the story to quite a few people, some of whom were specifically inquiring about Airbnbs.

There are reasons to choose motels over Airbnb

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Why not pay for a hotel? You are paying for staff who usually answer the phone (unlike Airbnb hosts), maids who might bring spare towels without having to take a picture of a bathroom with no towels, and dispute resolutions that are face to face, not a parade of characters who bounce in and out and come up with an ever-changing list of requirements to get a miserly refund. My favorite was the request that I take a picture of the Airbnb website to prove many of the advertised amenities were missing and it had the wrong address listed.

I was told I should have videotaped the standing host who spoke no English and closed all the windows while ratcheting up the heat in 95 degree weather. How could I prove the sheets on the bed were soaking wet? Easy in a hotel but impossible even by the Airbnb customer service standards. My contact with customer service ended with an email to which I couldn’t reply and a refusal to allow me to post a review. After spending $4100/week I guess I shouldn’t have scrimped on the private detective/videographer that customer service demands but really how many nights could I have luxuriated in actual functioning AC at a motel?

Aggressive Airbnb Host Falsely Advertising Lakeside House

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We made a reservation for four nights at a lakeside house in Langstini, which the host advertised as having free wifi (and I have the screenshot to prove it); this was essential for us. When we arrived and asked about the wifi he said he decided to disconnect it because he thought people should appreciate nature and not be addicted to the internet. He was talking in a very aggressive way so I didn’t want to argue with him and tell him he couldn’t change the terms after he promised something. It’s also not his job to educate us, so I just told him that it’s crucial for me to have the wifi for my work, for our trip planning and most of all because I have a son at home who has some problems at the moment – I needed to be in touch with him.

He said that tomorrow he would give us the wifi, but only for WhatsApp, not for media. That evening the wifi stopped working and when we told him he just said “I told you it’s just for WhatsApp. Now if you want more you’ll have to pay for it and charge it at the gas station.” I found this very unacceptable: not because of the the money but because he actually lied about the wifi and I don’t have to waste time during  my vacation looking for the specific gas station where I can charge his wifi.

That wasn’t all: the place was filthy, with hair and dust everywhere (he said the cleaning lady couldn’t come). The beds weren’t ready and I had to put on all the linen; not all of them were the right size. There wasn’t enough hot water for the shower and on the third night when my daughter was in the middle of a shower the electricity and the water stopped and we were left in darkness. We wrote to him (he wasn’t there) and he didn’t respond at all. The water and electricity returned after about an hour but he never contacted us.

Worse than anything was his attitude: he was always inpatient, arrogant and vulgar, like he’d really prefer we weren’t there at all. Even when he explained about some places we wanted to visit and I asked something he started to shout: “Are you gonna listen or not?!” My son got really scared from his shouting.

He also entered our room whenever he wanted without knocking on the door. We really felt uncomfortable there and after the incident with the water and electricity my kids didn’t want to stay there anymore. I also didn’t feel that we had to feel so bad during our vacation that we waited, planned, and saved for so long, so we decided to leave after the third night.

I’m not asking for refund for the nights we stayed, although he clearly didn’t fulfill what he promised and didn’t provide what he was supposed to. His attitude was terrible, and I think we definitely deserve a refund for the night we didn’t stay because we just couldn’t suffer anymore.

Airbnb Host Does Nothing About the Lack of AC

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I was flying into SoCal for business. It was hot that summer. The host confirmed I was coming in after midnight. It was a second floor walk-up. She had the windows all closed up, and it was hotter than hell in there. I opened the window and plugged in the wimpy fan across the room because the cord was too short to place it near the window.

After an hour of trying to air it out, it was still 90 degrees in there. There was no way I was going to get any sleep in that stuffy room. I left her a note that I couldn’t stay for the above reasons. I posted a two-star review that the host could’ve opened the window to air it out a bit, and/or turned on the fan before my arrival, knowing it was so hot in there. The carpet was also quite dirty and dusty. It’s just not a great place to sleep. The host had some nerve to send me this nasty message in response to my objective review.

Very Disappointed in Airbnb’s Property Advertising

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Unless pictures are posted of the actual space you are staying in, don’t stay there. We paid over $1,200 for seven nights. The pillows were stained, the microwave was disgusting and the air conditioner was plugged into a cord that ran upstairs to another Airbnb. There were so many people coming and going from the home. The weather was extremely hot and the air conditioner was unplugged from upstairs; we called the host and he came the next day to plug it in upstairs.

Two of our guests left for a hotel room due to the heat. One left to go home because of the living conditions, and two left early. Airbnb said I had no grounds to stand on although they said they understood how I felt. Right up to the very end apparently the property had this to say: “Please note that the apartment is currently in the final phase of being better soundproofed and insulated. Some exposed beams and unpainted walls may be present.”

On top of it all we asked to stay until the 29th. It said they accepted the text and I made sure to recheck on it, Now they are saying that we overstayed a night and want to charge us an additional $280.

Airbnb Farmhouse with Unexpected Extras in Store

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We were looking for an Airbnb in Portugal from July 22nd until July 30th for four persons and a dog. After a big search we found a farmhouse in Sao Bartolomeu de Messines. The pictures were looking good: nice bedrooms, a swimming pool, two bathrooms, wifi, a terrace with a mountain view, a clean house, and very comfortable.

We made the reservation, paid the amount of a little more than €1200 and prepared for our holiday there. We bought a bigger car (the dog had to come too), made a list of things we had to take from home, planned the route to drive, booked hotels to stay at night, etc. In the meanwhile our dog become sick so it was better for him to stay at home in a dog hotel.

The hotels to stay overnight while driving to the Algarve were already booked and plane tickets are highly priced in the season; we decided to drive the full 2400 km to the Algarve. When we arrived in Portugal after a three-day drive, we couldn’t find the house, even not with a description of the route by the host. We had to call her several times to explain to us how to drive there. Finally she picked us up at a local gas station.

We drove to the “farmhouse”. First of all, regarding the access road: with a big 4×4 you would easily manage this road, but with a fully loaded station wagon it was a real struggle. The road was so narrow that turning the car was a real test in survival. On one side there was a ditch and on the other side, after two meters a deep ravine. The first signs already made it seem like we were staring in an episode of National Lampoon’s Vacation.

The farmhouse had a kitchen with an oven, full with rust. Frogs were in the bathroom. Salamanders were everywhere in and near the house. Big spiders were everywhere. The swimming pool (a little bigger than a bathtub) was full of green algae. The nice wooden garden chairs we saw in the pictures were replaced by old dirty white plastic chairs and sun beds. The TV as seen on the pictures had suddenly disappeared. The wifi was bad, really bad. Mobile phones didn’t work (no contact from any transmission mast). There were spiderwebs and dirt everywhere.

We arrived there Sunday July 22nd. On Monday morning, July 23rd we were going to the beach and contacted Airbnb to complain and to ask our refund. After several contact moments with some “specialist” they approved refunding us the money we paid and agreed we would leave the farmhouse the same day. Of course we had already booked a hotel in Albufeira to continue our holiday.

Airbnb said they would pay the refund first within 2-3 working days, then it would be within 5-7 working days. This was taking too long. I wrote to Airbnb directly that Mastercard guarantees refunds within one, or a maximum of two working days. After two working days, we had the refund in our account.

That’s not all: we wrote a bad review with pictures that proved the bad shape and bad conditions of the farmhouse. Airbnb decided to not publish this bad review on their page. Questions from our side: why they didn’t do it? It would give the host a bad name. It would not be in anyone’s advantage. Unbelievable. Well, this was the first time for us with Airbnb and for sure the last time.