Shalom Home? More Like Cold, Dark, Nightmarish Airbnb

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We recently stayed in a very cool home in the mountains of Glenwood Springs, Colorado, but it turned out to be awful. I tried to post an honest respectful review on Airbnb, it was quickly removed. When I asked the customer service rep how many reviews the host had had removed, the representative went quiet.

First of all, the host seemed to be represent herself as Jewish. When I walked in, she had Christian music playing and there was Christian and Republican literature all over the house. Was she hoping to convert us? My friend mentioned how lucky she was to live somewhere so beautiful and she told us it wasn’t luck, it was Jesus.

When we came home the first night after skiing all day and swimming in the hot springs all evening, the lights didn’t work, but we were too exhausted to say anything. The next day, the sun was out and we forgot all about the lights. We tried to shower, but the water would not get hot. I asked the host about it and she said to let it run. We let it go for a half hour and it never heated up. My ten-year-old daughter tried to take a cold shower but came out crying hysterically because she was shivering to the bone. Five of us didn’t shower for four days.

When it got dark that night and we realized there were no lights, my friend was trying to turn on one lamp and a sharp edge of a decorative wrought iron leaf sliced her hand open. When the host came to figure out the lights, she dismissed the cut as nothing. We did get the lights working, but the TV was useless. We took a photo of the lamp and the cut and Airbnb did nothing.

The host also stated in her rules that we could only eat in the kitchen. There were two chairs and a tiny table so I told the kids to go ahead and eat in the living room because if she couldn’t provide electricity and a shower in the 21st century, then I don’t have to following her eating rules. That night we had bought firewood to build a fire and sit around and enjoy the great outdoors of Colorado. When we returned, the host told us that the fire pit was closed for the season, but there was no mention of this in her description. She sent us the rules after she decided it was closed.

I tried to post this all on my Airbnb review, less the Christian stuff because I wanted to keep it unbiased and stick to the facts even though her proselytizing made us very uncomfortable, but it is her house and those books wouldn’t cause a bacterial infection like open wounds and not bathing. Airbnb took down the review and said it was not in accordance with their policy. Not bathing during a pandemic is okay to Airbnb?

Posted in Airbnb Guest Stories and tagged , , , , , .

3 Comments

  1. Airbnb hosts cannot have a review removed unless it breaks the guidelines such as requesting money for a positive review or discriminatory statements. I’m a host. I’ve tried to have a false review removed but because it didn’t violate the review rules, it was left up.

    Also Airbnb will refund up to 50% per night for each amenity listed as available but is not such as: inter-net not working, no hot water, no fire pit. I know they will do it because my guest was refunded 50% for one night without air conditioning (fixed day after reported)

    Guests need to be familiar with the terms of service and their rights. Airbnb expects problems to be reported when they occur. What do you expect them to do after you’ve left? That is part of the reason for the 48 hour window after checkout is to insure timely reports.

    This is the host’s home. I wouldn’t have appreciated the pro-Trump literature but she can leave it; I don’t have to read it.

    As long as she is not requiring you give thanks to Jesus or participate in prayer for a beautiful location, she can express her thanks.
    Anyone who is offended by a “give thanks to Jesus” or “praise Allah” or “Todah Rabah” or “thank the weather gods” really needs to think about what that is really saying.

    You failed to notify Airbnb of problems thus not giving Airbnb a chance to find you more suitable accommodations or refund. Something about the review you left must have violated the rules because I promise you they would not have removed it. A host can’t have a review removed just because they don’t like it.

  2. Air bnb does not care about anyone..
    Guests or hosts alike..they are quite happy to take your money and when something goes wrong, evade responsibility. I will cease using their services after they made it very very difficult to claim after disaster guests trashed, damaged and vandalised my property. They could not care less about anyone except for money. Their guarantee for reporting damage is 30 days however, I was told they needed all evidence in 48 hours as they cannot keep the case open for that long. People need to boycott this organisation at all costs.

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