I booked an airbnb place in tokyo, Japan. It was an Apartment located at takadanobaba. From the pictures, the place looked big and pristine. However, when we visited, the sheets were covered with hair and was extremely dusty to the point where you can see a layer of greyish dust on it. The whole house was covered in hair, and dust too. Everywhere. The host did not even clean the room at all. The host did not bother to clean the room everyday and only cleaned it when we checked out, and we even paid him a cleaning fee of $56!! It was horrible. The hosts’ name is Kazuto Imai.
Tag Archives: dirty
Horrible, dirty listing – and no way to warn other people about it!!!
I booked a 2 bedroom apartment (https://www.airbnb.com.au/rooms/5887408) for 10 nights for my parents during a visit to see me in Australia, as the beautiful studio they previously stayed in was unavailable. Prior to our arrival, I found the host to be responsive and the location of the listing is certainly great being as it is a stone’s throw from the epicenter of lovely, lovely Newtown. We had hoped we were about to discover another local Airbnb gem, but unfortunately we were left very disappointed by this dirty, poorly appointed and dangerous listing. Not only did we have to formally complain to Airbnb, but my parents had to check out early and waste an entire day of their holiday sorting out new accommodation. I have pictures and videos of all the issues described below, which I provided to Airbnb with my complaint. To their credit, eventually, they agreed to refund us the un-used nights and have given me a $250 credit towards the 3 horrible nights my parents stayed in the listing. Unfortunately, Airbnb told me that because I didn’t physically stay in the apartment and because we didn’t complete the reservation, the review I have written will not be made public- and so the host will get to keep his 5 star listing… which I have no idea how he got in the first place.
Having purposely booked a 2-bedroom listing, we were disappointed that the second room was not made up as a bedroom (no bedlinen and futon folded up) and feel that the photo does not illustrate how low the ceiling is. However, our principle concern was in the master bedroom- the sharp, metal bedframe was extremely hazardous, especially as the room is quite dingy and cramped, and no bedside lamps were provided. We found much of the furniture to be very tatty, the bedlinen and towels in the apartment showed signs of age, and my parents were only provided with one towel and one pillow each. The cutlery was stained, sometimes broken, and not properly washed (some still had bits of food on), mugs were chipped, and glasses and a bowl were filled with dust. The top of the microwave, base of the toilet and bathroom exhaust fan were also extremely grimey. The host was not at all friendly or accommodating when they asked for a second pillow, bedside lights, or for bed linen for the second bedroom. He also dismissed my parents concerns about the dirty microwave saying “who is going to put things there?” which they found very unhelpful and a bit rude. Lastly, whilst there is a washing machine and the price is clearly given, the listing does not make it clear that guests are not permitted to access the machine by themselves. To get their clothes washed, they would have to give their dirty items to the host, who would then wash them and return them- wet, with a drying rack- for $8. I should add that this is the first and only time I have had to complain about an Airbnb listing in over 2 years of using the site- I’ve received a great feedback from and have left many positive reviews for other hosts: I certainly don’t make a habit of criticizing or whinging and have personally received excellent feedback. My biggest complaint is actually with Airbnb- they constantly changed their story at all stages of our complaint. One minute we were going to get a full refund, the next minute a partial refund, then no refund… it was time consuming and exhausting. To know here that they won’t publicize our experience feels like disingenuous censorship. So, repeat, DO NOT STAY HERE: https://www.airbnb.com.au/rooms/5887408
Smelly, loud, and dirty. A terrible place to stay in Paris.
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/947097 We booked this nice-enough-looking place for our stay in Paris. Our host contacted us and told us that we wouldn’t be able to check in until after 4:30PM. We made the necessary travel arrangements to accomodate. There are only so many international trains per day between southern Switzerland and Paris. On our way into Paris, the day of our reservation, our host contacted us again telling us we needed to check-in before 5:30PM, leaving us the slim window of 1-hour to check-in after traveling internationally. Somehow, we made it on time. When we arrived, the host showed us around very quickly and then left. He said he might not be able to meet us for check-out, so we should leave the keys on top of his mailbox. The kitchen smelled like rotting vegetables. The stove needed to be lit with a grill lighter and the only available utensils and cook-ware were covered in food. There was a load of laundry in the washing-machine. We were left with two towels for a 5-day stay, one of which had a giant hole in it. The sheets provided has a small blood-stain on them. The apartment was also quite noisy. The noise ranged from being able to hear a neighbor’s cellphone vibrating on the floor above us to hobos screaming down the street at 3AM. Also, from the pictures, an Eiffel Tower view is suggested but there was no such view in sight. The host told us if we weren’t happy with the apartment we could contact airBnB on the first day for a refund. As much as I would have loved to, that would leave us on the streets of Paris with nowhere to stay for 5 days. Not a viable option. The host claimed that we broke glasses and stole his keys. The keys were left in the decided-upon location and we were not even provided with any glasses. The whole experience felt like a scam from start to beginning and the host is now requesting more money from us.
Hali the ‘river gypsy’ operating a slum-boat in North Amsterdam
This report follows on from my report about Shay Hwa in Delft, The Netherlands, ‘Airbnb host never showed up.’ As a result I had to make several other Airbnb bookings. I booked to stay with Hali at her boat in Amsterdam on the 1st to the 3rd of September 2015. I arrived at the location by appointment at 3pm on the afternoon of the 1st September. The location is an old sailing boat which is very characteristic. I made an error when I made this booking, apparently there is no shower on the boat but there is one available quite nearby. This in itself was not a real problem. It was still summer and there is always some novelty when staying at an Airbnb location. One unexpected issue would not cause me to cancel. I was very disappointed that the interior of the boat was very cluttered, very untidy and dirty. The shared sleeping quarters absolutely stank. There was also no source of running mains water on the boat. There was also no place to securely put luggage or a place it where it could be supervised by the sole volunteer who was in charge of the boat. I left my luggage in a cupboard and took all my valuable items with me and found a location nearby where I could send the owner of the boat an e mail. I sent a message which was polite and conciliatory given that she is using her Airbnb income to fund the restoration of the boat, which seems like a worthy project. I cancelled the booking because then the owner would have a chance to re-book with another Airbnb customer. I then spent some time trying to organize alternative accommodation. When I returned to the boat at nearly 9pm to pick up my luggage I discovered that it had been moved from the cupboard where I had put it and placed in a common area of the boat, visible to any person who wanted to look inside it or pick it up and take it. I have a lot of experience of staying in cheap accommodation such as hostels. I do not mind basic and simple accommodation with fewer conveniences but the standard of this accommodation was very bad. Earlier in the day I was in a more sympathetic frame of mind but by 9pm I had wasted yet another day of my vacation. The owner of the boat had obviously informed the volunteer staff member on board that I was not staying, which is why they moved my bag. Moving my luggage is not an acceptable or appropriate thing to do, an immediate violation of privacy. By the time I returned to the boat at nearly 9pm, the owner had not replied to my messages from circa 3.40pm in the afternoon. The owner replied the next day to say that she acknowledged that the condition of the boat did not meet my standards. The problem is that she did not take any responsibility for setting a reasonable standard or for admitting that there were things that were actually wrong with the location. This owner is operating a very low quality form of accommodation. There is a difference between something that is cheap and not unpleasant to stay in and something that is poor quality. I think that the description of the boat which the owner gives as a restoration project is intended to make the potential customer think that the owner has values about the accommodation they are offering and that it will have a lot of character, when my experience today was distinctly that of a ‘don’t-care’ attitude. The boat is located on a canal opposite which is the main road from central Amsterdam. Actually visiting this location is not really at all like the description and rustic-looking photos on Airbnb. There were also people living on the river-bank close-by who looked like very deteriorated homeless people. In all this is not a pleasant place to even visit quite different from the rustic impression given in the listing. I cannot e mail airbnb as their support email is bouncing but inquiries are being made about a refund.