Tag Archives: airbnb different location

Racist Host Cancelled Over Holiday Weekend

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What was supposed to be a peaceful, relaxing weekend away with some of our closest friends for Thanksgiving weekend turned out to be a nightmare. Our group consisted of a total of six individuals, ethnically diverse (east Indian and Korean) professionals, a mix of women and men. One might wonder why is it important to mention a description of our ethnic background — why does that need to be stated on an Airbnb review?

With everything happening in the United States, racial profiling and discrimination is something I felt free of in Canada, especially in British Columbia where our communities are multicultural. However, we were all victims of discriminatory behaviour by the host.

We booked accommodations at Campbell River about a month prior to our arrival. The intent of our stay was to have a weekend away with our friends and enjoy what we named “friendsgiving.” We were all excited to share a meal around a table, play some board games and enjoy nature. Upon our search we came across a “luxurious log cabin” and the six of us decided the cabin was to our liking and suited our needs and interests for the weekend. We proceeded to book the accommodation, and the host and hostess accepted our payment.

We started planning. We are all honest individuals and have immense respect for others’ homes. We did not want to bring or do anything which was not okay with the host so we took the liberty to be honest and asked the host if it would be okay if we cooked dinner for thanksgiving at the cabin. In addition to this, we asked if it would be okay if we brought our lovely Luna (our dog) with us. The host was quick and kind to reply that the kitchen is fully stocked for cooking purposes and we are more than welcome to host our dinner. However, she was not okay with our pet.

We respected her wishes and decided to let our dog stay with family and were very thankful that she was okay with us using the kitchen. It does state on the listing that the kitchen is available for use and we do have proof of the host’s messages agreeing to the use of the kitchen.

Two days before we were to leave for the weekend, we got a message from the host asking to change our cabin and to consider making changes to our accommodation. They send us pictures of a different cabin, which looks absolutely nothing like the log cabin we had originally booked — not nearly as nice. We kindly asked the host if we could continue to keep our original log cabin accommodation as the entire group is more comfortable with our initial choice. We promised her our dog is not coming with us and that we are all professionals and will leave the place with no damage. The host agreed to allow us to continue our stay at the originally booked log cabin.

All of our ducks were in a row. Ferries from horseshoe bay were booked. It was the day of departure and the six of us make the six-hour commute to Campbell River. During the drive in the morning, we got bombarded with messages from the host saying we could not stay at the log cabin. She was going to cancel our booking unless we agreed to stay at the other cabin.

We took the liberty of calling Airbnb customer support and explained the entire situation to them. They mentioned that the host is in the wrong and should not be changing accommodations without getting approval from the booking customer. The hostess was strong arming us to stay somewhere we didn’t book. Considering we had already commuted almost four hours at this point and it was a long thanksgiving weekend with no other place to stay that could accommodate six people, we had to agree to changing the cabin. However, our condition was that we wanted to see the cabin first upon our arrival.

Once the first half of our group arrived, the host refused to open the gate and let them in. We called her and messaged her to let us in — we paid for the accommodation and travelled a long way to be here. At first, she refused until we called Airbnb and agreed to cancel our original booking and accepted the new cabin. We politely told her that we would like to see the cabin she was recommending before agreeing to her request.

This is where it gets really ugly. When she finally came out to open the gate and take the group to the new cabin, we noticed that the cabin had not been cleaned at all. There was dirt and leaves everywhere, the sheets looked slept in, there were coffee stains on the tables, and a horrible smell. The cabin looked completely lived in and had not been cleaned at all.

Immediately the group refused to stay there — this was not what we paid for and this was not what we travelled six hours to stay at. When asked why we could not stay at the log cabin we originally booked her words to us were: “People like you stayed there last time and the people like you all burned the stovetop.”

At first we were taken aback by the phrase “people like you” and then expressed to her we had no intention of damaging the place. She could take a larger cash deposit from us and hold onto it until our stay was over and return it once she was content that there was indeed no damage.

Her response? “No, I cant trust people like you, you asked about bringing a dog.”

We reassured her there was no dog. We left her back home. She could have checked our car, but she continued to accuse us of lying about hiding the dog. Repeatedly she used the phrase “people like you.” She never once addressed us by our names. She called us violent people when a friend of ours tried to walk towards the other cabin and threatened to call the police.

Eventually we noticed that there was someone already staying at the log cabin we had originally booked. She accepted our payment but gave the accommodation to a family member of hers to stay at for the weekend and was forcing us to stay at another cabin so she wouldn’t have to return our payment. The host then admitted that she gave the log cabin to a family member to stay at and that she forgot to tell us earlier.

We as a group have never been so humiliated, insulted, discriminated, and racially profiled before. We have never had someone threaten to call the police on us, to be treated so inhumanely and to be referred to as “people like you.”

My advice to anyone of ethnic origin or of colour: please save yourself the long journey and headache and do not book accommodations unless you are okay with your weekend being sabotaged. The six of us had to resort to booking a one-bedroom place which slept three people. 600 square feet for the weekend because there was no other place to stay due to the long weekend. We tried to make the most of our weekend, but the horrendous behaviour from the host and hostess was unforgettable.

Florida Airbnb Not Close Enough to Beach

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Well, let’s start with our arrival. Upon arrival, the door code that the host sent didn’t work. We had to stand around for 45 minutes until we received the code to get into the key box located downstairs. She then failed to send her maintenance guy over to program the code for the door.

On Monday morning, we woke up at approximately 7:30 to the sound of construction noise at the building next door. We set out to find the beach, which was supposedly across from the unit. After a 10-minute drive down the road, we finally in came across Sombrero Beach. It was not within walking distance for the kids. Both the image posted for the unit, as well as the one from Google Maps, indicated the unit was across the road from Sombrero beach.

For the rest of the week we endured noise and construction workers gawking at our 13-year-old girls. This made the girls too uncomfortable to swim without an adult present. Additionally, music was blaring from the construction site all day long. After explaining all of these problems to the host, she indicated she was going to give us a credit for three nights. That never happened and I have attempted to contact her multiple times since with her simply ignoring my text messages and phone calls.

The location of the property, the hassle we endured, and the inconvenience was not worth the $2800+ we payed. I would not stay at any property that this woman represents. She simply lies to appease you for the moment and does not honor her word. Find another property.

Nightmare Airbnb in the Middle of Nowhere

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I thought that I found a new Airbnb holiday flat in a good location in a city centre in Spain. The host lied in his profile by saying “everything is nearby” and had also market names that were not really nearby. I believed their lies and lost time and money.

The host had an incorrect map showing the apartment in the city centre but after booking he had a new map with other details and another place far away in countryside. The location was not excellent as the host and some of his guests lied. I saw fields, not the markets he mentioned. There was a heatwave and nothing nearby. There was no possibility to buy water without walking 3-5 km. The host just didn’t care; he and his friend didn’t even leave a bottle of water.

The host didn’t bring the keys as he was living abroad. He had a friend or worker who gave me the keys and his friend didn’t speak English at all. His friend tried to communicate but he didn’t speak any English and he wrote everything with a translation app.

It felt like a scam. The dirty apartment had too many good reviews and false information about services nearby. It was not a suitable place for walkers; it was just a countryside location out of the centre and only suitable choice for drivers. I wonder if some guests really like to spend all day waiting for a bus or taxi in middle of nowhere to go buy food.

Now I think that the former guests were the host’s friends and not many real guests because they bragged about the apartment and its location without a good reason. The apartment was in an old hotel building. It had a strong urine smell, and almost everything was broken. The microwave was burnt and couldn’t be used. I had to walk a long way to fast food places during a heatwave.

The air conditioning was not the best inside, keeping the temperature about +30 or +33 C. The towels were left dirty even though I saw a cleaner and paid cleaning fees for nothing before seeing the apartment. I don’t know from where the smell came but the floor must have also been dirty. The washing machine was somehow broken; it took three hours to wash a few clothes. The oven I didn’t even try to use, but many plates were left broken.

The apartment felt to me like a old sock left for new people. The host told too many lies without even being in the same country. I wonder how Airbnb accept these hosts who don’t need to be in the same country where they rent apartments. It’s okay for Airbnb that a host has some friends (who don’t even speak English) bring keys. The host was thinking that all people on this planet have cars for driving to the food market. I cancelled and lost money from the cancellation fee but at the end it was best. Even hostels were better than this nightmare dirty apartment far from everything.