Category Archives: Airbnb Guest Stories

These are real, uncensored stories from Airbnb Guests.  We encourage our site visitors to read and share their Airbnb Guest Stories to help warn others of the dangers of using Airbnb, and consider using alternative options in the sharing economy.

No Confusion about Check-in Time, Only Excuses

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The day we were leaving we received an email from one of the people who ran the Airbnb wanting to know when we planned to arrive. Check-in time was 3:00 PM; I estimated between 4:00 and 5:00 and sent her that information.

We arrived in town and decided to do a couple of things before check in. We arrived at 5:15 PM and the room was not ready. None of the rooms were ready. Somebody was cleaning and she said that she would call us when the room was ready. The off-street parking was not available and that was one of the primary reasons I chose this property.

We went off to a restaurant and waited to hear. After hearing nothing, we started texting the owner who said he was “sorry for the confusion”. What is the confusion? I said we would appear and we did. The room was not ready. That’s simple; not confusing.

We are elderly and we look for things such as off-street parking and we care about the check-in times. We obey house rules. I’d like to leave a negative review, but fear that the host will ruin our reputation by reviewing us negatively.

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Infestation = $9 Refund on a $750 Charge

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My current Airbnb is not at all as described: there has been a carpenter ant infestation for the past week and a half where there are literally hundreds of them in the kitchen on the floor, shelves, and cabinets. I have been unable to cook because of it. In addition, there are cockroaches in the hallway and stairs.

The house is very dirty and under maintained overall. Many of the photos do not match the description. For example, there is supposed to be a “garden” in the yard but it is overrun with old chairs, wood planks, construction material, and leaf debris. The pool is empty, the “library” is a shelf with books covered in dust with broken glass on the floor (no joke), and the stove does not work as it was promised to be fixed on day two of my stay.

My host claims fees such as laundry or A/C are separate but in the description they were said to be included. I disputed this to Airbnb and I was switched to three different case managers in the process. They refused to give me a refund, and I left my Airbnb early (more like as soon as I possibly could). My Airbnb was $17/night. I left a full four days early and got back nine dollars in total.

The reason they dismissed my case is because the host provided “alternate photos” of dishes being left out, claiming this to be the cause for the hundreds of ants and cockroaches. My roommate and I never cooked in the kitchen because of the bugs; we wasted so much money on eating out because it was too disgusting to cook in there.

The son who lived in the house and used our kitchen always left dishes out – they were not ours. A few dishes does not result in the infestation of hundreds of vermin: only months of neglect, water damage, unfixed holes and leaks, and vile conditions will result in this. Absolutely ridiculous. I’ve been in touch with Airbnb and they immediately sided with the host.

Host Took Advantage of Airbnb and Guests

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We found a place in Boston for the Charles River Regatta. The city was extremely crowded that weekend so we took one of the few places left. Once we made contact with the host via Airbnb, he contacted us via phone to say he could save us the deposit fee but that we had to discontinue our quest for his place through Airbnb. So we did.

His place was an absolute dump. He slept on his couch and we slept in his room. He had two other guests in another bedroom and we all shared the same bathroom. There were many unsavory issues about this place: the cat sleeping on top of the coffee maker; not being allowed to use our own soap; one bar was shared by all five people.

The fact that Airbnb thought we had turned down this particular place meant that we could not leave any comment on the site to warn other people. Our host made a very pretty penny that weekend and honestly, I’m extremely hesitant to use Airbnb again.

Shared House Meant Nowhere to Poop

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My boyfriend and I booked an Airbnb in a neighbouring town for one night so that we could attend a wedding and have somewhere nearby to crash. The lady we communicated with seemed nice and the room we booked seemed clean and modern.

We arrived at a big house in a sleepy neighbourhood and knocked on the door. Nobody answered for quite a while and finally a young man came to the door and initially didn’t know why we were standing there. This was clearly not the lady we had originally talked to. When we explained we were guests for one night he let us in, showed us the room upstairs we would be staying in, and gave us the keys. I think he was another long-term guest at the house who was told how to greet us, but there was a bit of a language barrier.

After a bit of awkwardness, we settled in and got ourselves ready for the wedding. Other than not really having any storage or surfaces to put things down on, as the room was basically just a bed, nothing was out of the ordinary. We also had access to a bathroom through the suite that we shared with another bedroom.

After a lovely wedding, we arrived back at the suite tired and a little tipsy so we immediately went to bed. In the middle of the night I woke up needing to use the bathroom. I headed towards the door and found that it was locked. I realized that the other guest must have locked me out while using the bathroom that night and forgotten to unlock the door on our side.

Since it was the middle of the night and I needed to go bad I had no idea what to do. We had not explored the rest of the house at all before we left for the wedding. Desperate, I went downstairs towards the kitchen area to see if I could find a bathroom nearby. Fortunately, I did find one but what I came across was a nightmare. I couldn’t believe how bad my luck was stumbling upon a bathroom like this one, and I have no idea who was using such a neglected bathroom like this.

First of all, the toilet was plugged up. Luckily there was a plunger present and after a few tries I managed to unclog it. When I went to do my business I realized I couldn’t find toilet paper anywhere, so I was left in a lurch. In fact there was nothing at all in terms of toiletries in the whole bathroom, so I had nothing to wash my hands with either.

After this disgusting experience I crawled back up to the bedroom to wait out the rest of the night. As you can imagine, I recounted my horror story to my boyfriend and we got out of there pretty quickly in the morning. We didn’t really have a choice as the bathroom upstairs was still locked.

After this experience I am not sure whether I will use Airbnb ever again. We didn’t realize we would be staying in a house with multiple units that was so neglected by the host and the tenants that lived there. Even if the place looks nice you never know what you’re going to get until you see for yourself. This kind of experience just wouldn’t happen at a hotel. We picked this place because it was very affordable but ultimately you get what you pay for.

Problems at Paris Airbnb Make Guests Leave Early

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Three years ago, I spent several weeks carefully reviewing Paris Airbnb apartments to rent for ten days. After some back and forth with a few hosts, I settled with one and booked it four months in advance. The host was a Superhost with more than 100 raving reviews. The cost was a little over $2,000 for a one-bedroom studio in the Marais.

I exchanged several conversations back and forth with the host inside the Airbnb platform to confirm things that were important to me, including a working kitchen with adequate cooking utensils. When we met the host outside the apartment, the first thing he told us was to not mention we were renting. If anyone asked we were to say we were relatives of… and he gave a name, which was not his.

Inside, we quickly realized there was no real kitchen to speak of, not even a knife to slice an apple. There was also no natural light; the windows were masked with film since they overlooked other apartments across a tiny, debris-strewn courtyard. There was one dirty-looking bed sheet, ancient pillows, and two small, worn towels in the tiny bathroom.

After two days there, we realized we couldn’t stay and made arrangements with someone we knew to rent another apartment. We complained to Airbnb but never got through to an actual person and never got our money back. To this day that host continues to receive raving reviews. That’s why I will never use Airbnb again. I don’t understand how a host like this could be a Superhost and receive rave reviews. The game is rigged as far as I’m concerned.

Airbnb Took my Money and Gave no Refund

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My friends and I needed a last minute apartment that we could spend the night in as we were going out of town. I found a very good apartment that was near the city centre and was available for the night we needed. I booked the apartment and the money got taken from my bank. Then the host messaged me saying that the apartment was now unavailable. This now left us with nowhere to stay and down £125. The host said to contact Airbnb for a refund. However, I am finding that their customer service is awful and the number I am ringing doesn’t recognise my booking. When I message them, they’re very unhelpful. It’s becoming very frustrating as I just want my money back.

We are not Alone in our Airbnb Complaints

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As I have read on numerous posts on your site, we are not alone. Airbnb is annoyingly uncooperative in providing a refund based on two reservations. However, in this post, I will only discuss the first one. A reservation was made in error. In order to correct the situation, I reached out to customer service and had the agent told me that we would lose the bulk of the deposit, I would have never agreed to cancel the reservation. The excuse, repeated again and again from the agent, to the case manager, to the supervisor, is that’s the policy and they can’t do anything to help, no exception, not even a goodwill gesture. Now, we’re out of pocket for more than $1000 CAN.

Expensive Earrings Lost at Airbnb Overnight

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I stayed overnight at this particular Airbnb. I placed my diamond stud earrings on the bedside table connecting them together using the ‘earring back’ parts before I went to sleep that night. We left in a hurry the next morning; I forgot to take my earrings, they were left in the host’s flat (small flat, tiled floor).

The day after leaving the host’s flat, I touched my ears and realized my earrings were not in; I had forgotten them at the host’s house. I immediately texted, called and Airbnb messaged the host that day (Sunday), then again on Tuesday – still no response.

Finally, I heard back from her on Wednesday after three days. She told me her phone was broken. She then called and told me (as she was standing in the flat) that she could not see the earrings anywhere, and that she was the only person that had been in the flat. I told her I was coming down to collect them as that’ where I left them.

I headed down the next day (Thursday), and searched the whole place. I found nothing. I asked her about the earrings and she was adamant no one had been in the room. I left. A while later after thinking about it (after the first time I had searched the flat) I came back and asked to search the vacuum cleaner, broom, dust pan and washing machine bed sheets (she checked the vacuum and washing machine when I was not present). She then mentioned that she did in fact have guests stay the night after us, and that she had already called them. When asked if they found earrings, they said “no”.

I am so baffled as I left them there, to me there could be two options: someone has clearly taken them, or they would still be there in the room on the table or on the floor next to that table; or the guests that stayed the next night took them. Why did she not contact me ASAP? Surely upon cleaning such a small space she would have picked them up.

Was she the only person that cleaned the room that morning after we left? I’m not sure whether or not I can factor any of this into the review. What do others think? I guess I’m just upset they haven’t been returned to me…and wonder where the hell they are?