Tag Archives: airbnb noises

Odd Pet Situation: Host Expects Guests to Take Care of Dogs?

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I will start off by saying that this Airbnb listing did not mention that pets were in the apartment, so I was both shocked and pleasantly surprised (I like animals) when I saw two small dogs outside on the patio. They were puppies. I don’t mind dogs, and I just thought that they belonged to the owner. It turns out the owner was a live out owner, and no one owned the dogs. There was one guy who (I think) was supposed to look after the flat and the dogs, and serve as the attendant for the Airbnb, but he was gone (sometimes all day and most of the night).

I don’t know if this guy had a job, but while these dogs were getting food and water, they weren’t getting walked, and would constantly cry for attention. The neighbors would knock on the door, and leave notes telling us that the dogs were crying. There were three adults in the apartment who gone for most of the day. These poor dogs were not getting the best care. The other tenant in the apartment and I offered to walk them but they had no leashes.

Cut to later in the week two people came into the flat to adopt one of the dogs. Okay, so the owner breeds dogs, and then dumps them in her Airbnb until they can be adopted? Thats a pretty shitty thing to do to the dogs.

There were some other odd things about the place as well. The place looked like it was being lived in by someone else entirely. The kitchen had random family photos, none of which included the photo of the host. There were boxes full of stuff, and luggage in the closets. The bathrooms were stocked with a whole bunch of half used toiletries. It felt like a dumping ground, which someone never really moved out off.

On top of that, the place was on the bottom of a massive building, which was under construction. I’m sure this isn’t the worst experience, but it was odd, and misleading from the photos and description. There was no transparency, and neither the random guy or the host ever explained what was up with the dog situation.

Airbnb Cozy Modern Studio Over a Dumpster

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We were super excited to stay at this property because all of the photos on the Airbnb ad showed a lovely walk and beachfront condo. Little did we know that none of the exterior photos were of the unit being advertised. All of the exterior photos showed views of a beachfront unit with a patio and grill, when in fact this unit was in a separate building, facing the other direction, over a wall and an alley. There was no view, and no patio.

The only furniture near the patio (which was between the beach view units) was walled off with a sign that said: “owner only, no trespassing.” There was no view and no outdoor space, and it was the opposite of beachfront property; it was dumpster alley front. The inside was tiny, with no fans or air conditioning, only a tiny bed you had to climb a ladder to reach that faced an alley. There was not even a window that opens, just a tiny crank window in the bathroom that opened about two inches. We couldn’t sleep because there was a window (that does not open for air flow) right next to the bed with no shade. Cars drove down the alley all night with lights shining in our faces. It was also extremely loud due to all the drunk people fighting and running up and down the alley all night. It turned out, the bed was actually over the alley dumpster. Good luck sleeping with drunk people throwing bottles in it all night.

There was also a sunken shower that extended into the middle of the walkway – super dangerous and not at all family friendly. The Airbnb booking included TV. There was a TV, but it was mounted about nine feet off the ground, had no working remote, and was not actually hooked up even for local channels. For $250 a night, most people would think things like TV and air conditioning are standard. This is clearly a professional investment property. No one lives here – or could – full time. It is a tiny closet-sized box in an alleyway.

Airbnb did not care that the place was not as advertised. Simply not advertising them doesn’t relieve the host of his responsibility to be accurate. Accuracy includes divulging information, not withholding it. There should be a map showing that this is a back wall-facing unit with no views, no air conditioning, no TV, and no patio. I paid $978 and the place was so bad that we packed up and left at 7:00 AM, and moved to a hotel. I immediately messaged the host and agreed to pay 25% of the total price, so $734. He messaged me back and said he would refund me in accordance with the moderate cancellation policy. I thought that meant we had an agreement (which is more than fair, considering that we only stayed one night).

I didn’t hear from him again until I had arrived back in my hometown and he messaged me saying I would be refunded only $195. This really made me mad and I am sure it was tactical. He then told Airbnb that because I didn’t click “cancel” on my reservation, he couldn’t rent out the place for the remaining three days. He never told me that I had to do anything other than notify him. I am sure that this guy is out for the maximum return on his investment and doesn’t care about the comfort of guests. He also clearly was comfortable crossing the line into false advertising because he knew Airbnb wouldn’t do anything about it. They didn’t. They even acknowledged that some of the photos could be misleading, but have done nothing about it.