Tag Archives: airbnb smells

Not Happy After Leaving Airbnb in an Hour

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It’s been a long time since my little family and I had gotten away. We chose a home in Lantana, FL through Airbnb to rent for the Labor Day Weekend. As soon as we got there, there was a very strong mold and mildew odor and of course my oldest daughter has allergies. That smell triggered her in less than five minutes.

The house has changed since their pictures had been posted: the reading room is something to be said for; the couch cushion was torn and sewed; the dining room chairs were all stained (who was gonna get blamed for that?); the bunk beds in both rooms said use at your own risk; the master bed literally sat on the floor; the back shower now looked like a jail walk-in shower (not that I know about that, seen on TV); the home was hot as hell and we turned the AC down to give it a chance; and the water was coming out yellow.

We felt so uncomfortable that I realized none of us would sit down. In less than an hour, I said we should go find a hotel. We found one finally about 10-15 minutes away and rented there, went back to the Airbnb, and collected all our items. I contacted the host and out of everything I had an issue with his response was it was cheaper to stitch the couch than to replace it and to try turning the AC down. I informed him that we had done that. He also stated that he went by and saw nothing wrong.

I have requested a full refund because we did not cancel. We showed up and his home was not okay to stay in. The mold and mildew smell alone was too much to handle. Of course there was no refund to give per the host or Airbnb (as if they actually go out and check things). His pool table room is a whole different color now (this is not a problem). They should update their pictures to match all the changes they have made and give someone a fair chance to say this is or is not the home for them (people have gotten too comfortable with ripping others off). I’m definitely not done with this.

Accused of Theft and Lying About Smells

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My wife and I rented an Airbnb e to celebrate our first anniversary. From day one it smelled like a dog kennel. The second day, we found one bed bug which the co-host implied that we could’ve been responsible for rather than just quietly making things right. She moved us to a different room that was much better, but then the next day, she and her daughter accused us of messing with the way their appliances were plugged in and costing them $95 for an electrical inspection, when we didn’t and had absolutely no reason to.

The host’s daughter did not objectively serve us and was hardly involved as opposed to her mom. We filed a complaint with Airbnb the next day and the hosts kicked us out, though we had not officially told them we were canceling our reservation. They falsely accused us of filing a complaint of theft against them and took pictures of our naturally messy room before we had time to clean it up. They reported us to Airbnb corporate for vandalizing and trashing their place.

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Dangerous Road and Smelled Like a Dungeon

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We fell for the “fabulous location” lie. The photos and description of this Airbnb disguised the fact that house was on a dangerous road with no verge. The photos didn’t show the steep, nail-biting walk on the yellow lines clinging to the brick wall trying to stay alive while cars whizzed past a hair’s breadth away. Much further from the parking lot than advertised.

It seemed impossible to get luggage to the door, let alone children. The photos didn’t show the dingy grimy unloved interior with just a hard wooden chair to sit on. No or patchy floor covering. The photos didn’t show the flypaper in the kitchen complete with fly corpses. Photos can’t convey the dank damp smell that hit you as you walked in. The photos don’t show the depressing feel of the place, nor the barbecue grid like mattresses.

I couldn’t believe anyone would so shamelessly advertise this house as ‘beautiful’. Because photos can’t convey smell or danger (would have died trying to photograph the house with a road in front of it), Airbnb ruled in the lying host’s favour. We lost our holiday and our money. Never again.

Three Hours at Airbnb Cost us $14000

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It is December 10th and Airbnb has yet to resolve this. It started on April 2nd. My company has used Airbnb to the tune of well over $60000, most of that within the last two years. This was going to be a four-month rental. We were there for three hours, tried to work things out with the host as Airbnb suggested, reported everything the next day, and we were still charged over $14,000. We’ve contacted Airbnb on numerous occasions in regard to this, always told this should have been taken care of some time ago.

The entire place reeked of cat urine. This in and of itself was intolerable. The host left all of his belongings in dressers, etc. The host asked three women (my two employees and client) if he could stay on the property. The host left Playboy magazines and condoms in view

We contacted Airbnb numerous times, and was told each time “Oh, this should have been taken care of some time ago”, promised a call back, then nothing happened. The host agreed to settle for $1000 and a good review, then his daughter looked at the terms and said “we can get more than $10000”. The host has had similar complaints and violated several other Airbnb policies.

Airbnb continued to charge our Amex when they knew we were no longer a guest (the second day), when they could have helped us resettle and let the host relist. Instead, Airbnb has now paid the host and infuriated a very good client. There are several other things I could mention, but you get the gist here.

I just saw Airbnb’s CEO on the news promising to clean things up. Here would be a good start. We’ve been in business 15 years and are an extremely moral and ethical company. We do not deserve to be treated in this manner. I hope to hear something soon from Airbnb’s department that is supposedly working on this again.

Hosts will offer any sleeping arrangements for a easy buck

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We had our first Airbnb experience on October 12th, 2019. We should have requested more pictures than the host’s profile provided. When we arrived, we soon learned the hosts didn’t put a lot of thought into what they were pitching on Airbnb. They had an old Murphy bed in their basement behind their garage and called it a “private suite”. Because it was their basement, they had a large dehumidifier that turned on and off every five minutes throughout the night. The private bathroom smelled of mold. The basement space could only be locked from the host’s side of the door. These horrible conditions are apparently okay with Airbnb. We won’t be using Airbnb again as it’s obvious they don’t have monitored standards for their hosts who are simply looking to make an easy buck.

Not quite what I expected from Airbnb

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How to begin? My wife and I had never stayed at an Airbnb but needed a place in Anchorage, AK. This place was reasonable priced so we booked it.

Upon arrival, we were instructed to remove our shoes outside. Upon entering, we noticed a stairway down immediately adjacent to the front door… hazardous in my opinion, but we adapted. There was a faint animal smell to the whole place, but we have dogs; that was okay.

The room was one of two sharing a bathroom with nostalgic pictures of the host’s family. The mattress had one of those plastic protectors so I felt like an infant in a crib: very crinkly whenever I shifted in the bed. The oddest thing, among many, was that we were told that a certain cabinet held dishes for our use but we were not to use the floral dishes in the microwave. Why are they there? Why the extra rules? Just remove them.

We discovered that to go to Anchorage proper required a $20 Uber. We quickly learned how to use the bus which was its own adventure. My expectation was that we would be in a slightly or mostly separated part of the house and rarely see our hosts. Such was not the case. We got up early one morning and our host was at the kitchen table where breakfast was available. She greeted us nicely but it was just a little off putting. If you like going to your Aunt Mable’s and having her follow your every move you will love it.

We had spent two nights and got a message asking if we would like the sheets changed. The host entered our room and moved our belongings while we were out. No smoking, but the host smoked on front porch adjacent to our window. The smell of cat was pervasive. What can I say? Not wanting to be a jerk, I posted the briefest review possible and will ask more questions the next time we book an Airbnb. Not hell, but not the best.

Hope Making Good Curry was Worth it

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I’ve been a host with Airbnb for years and found with solid house rules, filtering guests with no government ID through using Instant Book and reminding guests using a house manual including rules, I’ve had no problems.

I recently had guests who cooked curry every night for a week and the cleaning was a nightmare. I hadn’t thought to put “no cooking strong curries” in my house rules. The whole guest suite needed cleaning, including the walls, curtains, verticals, lounge and I had to hire an ozone machine to do the rest.

One week later, the smell had gone. This could happen with any rental, so it’s important to add this rule into a contract or house rules list.

Even though the guest was non responsive to my request for payment, Airbnb followed up immediately (after their 72-hour wait for guest to respond time), and refunded the costs of this incident. So even though my curry nightmare was not good, Airbnb was responsive, positive, caring and great.

Many of the things I’m reading on this site may be due to hosts not choosing to set firm enough boundaries and house rules. Those who choose anyone as a guest over filtering guests with ID, are always running a risk no matter which platform they choose to list their property on. I’ve found Airbnb to be nothing but wonderful.

Worst Airbnb Experience Ever, Rust Smell

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My destination was Acadia National Park. Everything was booked nearby so we decided to book an Airbnb outside of Acadia, and in Sullivan. The house was on a street in a rural to suburban area. In rural areas, I expect and know that rust might be in the pipes, but I also was banking on the fact that it would go away after a few minutes. I was so wrong.

I was in a group of four. The first person went into the shower for twenty minutes, and the smell of rust didn’t dissipate in the hot water. The second person went in and tried the cold water shower, only to end up with the same rust smell. No matter how long the shower water was running, the rust smell was so bad I couldn’t stay another night. I can’t even document the smell of rusting pipes or the water tank for Airbnb.

Chemical Smell at San Diego Airbnb Nightmare

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Anyone up for a horror story, a real one that happened to me last week, which is, as of yet, unresolved? If so, read on for my cautionary tale.

It was the last day of a three-day intensive transformational workshop through Sistership Circle and I was both exhilarated and exhausted. After many “Jewish goodbyes” with my dear sisters, I was excited to join a dear friend for a four-day stay in an Airbnb bungalow in San Diego.

As a person who lives with the insidious autoimmune disorder known as MCS (Multiple Chemical Sensitivity) or EI (Environmental Illness), I had carefully done my homework to be sure the place would be environmentally safe. The response I got from the host was assuring. He wrote that they use all natural products and would wash the linens in vinegar just to be sure.

“Wow,” I thought, “that is so accommodating. Surely it will be fine…”

Wrong. The chemical stink was emanating from the place before we even opened the door. I had hoped it was coming from the laundry exhaust of a nearby neighbor. I never thought I would hope for that before.

Once we stepped inside, we were blasted with strong synthetic chemicals. You can imagine the horrors when my friend and I found three Airwicks. We opened all the windows, but it was too late – the place was saturated with toxins. Even the bedding reeked of strong chemicals.

We had been deceived and had to leave within minutes of arriving. Our hearts sank as we sat on the patio trying to calm down our bodies’ reactions to the chemical assault: burning eyes, asthma, nausea, irritated throat, mood irritability and major brain fog, AKA neurological impairment that affects cognition.

We weren’t thinking clearly and needed to come up with a back-up plan. It was such a drag. The host found us outside and came out, speaking all smooth as he calmly blamed us and his housekeeper. He was a living snake-in-the-grass and of course offered not one iota of compassion or a single suggestion as to where we might could find a place to stay during spring break at 11:00 PM.

Both the host and I reported the situation to Airbnb. Since this host had a five-day notice required for canceling (which I had foolishly overlooked), he charged my credit card the 100% full amount for a four-day stay with all fees included, to the tune of $633.05. Meanwhile, Airbnb’s resolution was to apply an arbitrary $111.00 to that fee which was not acceptable.

You can imagine the flurry of calls to Airbnb and my credit card company that I made to dispute the charges and the hassle of finding a mediocre-at-best hotel late at night and so on. Unfortunately, the only place we could find was toxic too, but we managed as it was bearable, albeit barely.

It seems Murphy’s Law was in effect for us, but we did the best we could with what we had, spending most of the time out in nature on the coast or in Balboa Park. Airbnb’s case manager said she was leaving town for two weeks after she applied the $111 to the full charges for a place that we not only could not stay in but made us feel quite ill. Again, this was unacceptable.

I felt I had no choice other than to call my lawyer and open a case. First thing tomorrow morning, we will discuss the case again and get moving toward an acceptable resolution.

Some “professional”. Never again. I am owed my refund in full and am determined to reach that solution, even if I have to get the Americans With Disabilities Act (the ADA) involved. Airbnb is culpable here too and they need to be reasonable and have the backs of their guests when it’s called for, not just the hosts who bring them so much money.

Rental Nightmare From Smelly, Dirty Airbnb

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I rented a home for the first time through Airbnb – worst mistake ever. I usually go through HomeAway and never had an issue.

The home I rented, for starters, was in an unsafe neighborhood. Directly across the street was a huge dumpster and alcoholics just doing their thing. The yard had dry weeds in the front.

Upon entering the home there was a foul odor of sewage. I decided to take a look around to see what the place looked like and discovered dirty dishes in the dishwasher. The refrigerator looked as if it should have been in the dumpster across the street. It had some sort of lining inside the refrigerator. It was dirty, not something I wanted to put anything in.

The microwave had food fingerprints as if someone recently had food on their hands and opened the door. The garbage can lid was completely soiled with who knows what. Because I had an event the next morning, I thought it was no biggie, I could take care of that.

I dashed off to Walmart for some cleaning supplies because I didn’t want to seek lodging this late in the game. I came back and proceeded to clean when I discovered there was no hot water. At this point, I realized I could not do anything without hot water.

At 7:41 PM I contacted the host. She messaged back saying she’d be by when she got out of her meeting. 10:00 PM rolled around and I didn’t hear from her. I messaged again. No answer. At 12:00 AM, she messaged saying she had come by, but it was late so she did not want to disturb me. Then she said she would send a plumber in the morning.

Now at this point I was tired and frustrated and just wanted to rest. I was sitting on the couch and one of the throw pillows fell to reveal a large white stain on the sofa.

Trust me; this nightmare wasn’t over. I decided I was not staying here. I messaged her letting her know I was leaving in the morning and I wanted a refund. She then messaged back saying I could change my reservation date… as if I would want to stay there.

I decided I was going to the bedroom. I opened the closet. Because the area was not so savory, I checked all of the closet. I found dirty sheets in a tote with no lid. I was disgusted at this point. I decide to pull back the covers on the bed; there were crumbs in the bed, and one of the pillows had something green on it.

Needless to say, there was no sleeping going on that night. As soon as daylight hit, I was out of there. I informed the host of everything, and requested a refund. She wants to give me $76.48 of my $264. I will never rent from Airbnb again.