Airbnb Host Warns of No Air Conditioning During Heat Wave

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I had planned on having a fun, relaxing weekend for my husband and booked a cute cabin in Flagstaff, AZ for Father’s Day weekend. It was listed that there was no AC but that it is cool in Flagstaff and not needed. Based on the reviews, I didn’t think twice honestly.

I booked his airfare (I was going to drive to Scottsdale to stay with family with our two boys) to meet us in Scottsdale and researched hikes in Sedona. Upon checking in to the cabin, it was cute and had everything we thought we’d need for the weekend. It was 86 degrees F upon check in, but noticed that the host had left the largest window opened and it was 101 degrees outside. I was a little annoyed but figured once we left the windows open all night and immediately closed them upon waking up that it would in fact stay cool as the host left his “stay cool tips.”

Well, the joke was on us. It finally got to 71 degrees F at 4:00 AM. We couldn’t sleep comfortably at all. The kids tossed and turned (ages 1.5 and 8) and it wasn’t until 4:00 AM that I was able to finally fall asleep for two hours. We got up around 6:00, closed the windows and headed for Sedona. After hiking for a few hours we headed back to the cabin. It was 86 degrees F in there, again.

I reached out to the host while nursing a migraine and dealing with three very very grumpy and miserable boys. He basically told me that it was a heat wave and outside his control. Which yes, I understand he could not control the weather, but I mean come over and check out how hot it is. Bring over fans or a portable AC (we paid him enough), get us a cheap hotel with AC, give us a partial refund… anything. He could not have cared less honestly.

I ended up having to take a cool bath with our baby to just calm him (and myself) down. My husband had started packing because we couldn’t imagine staying another night like we already had. I messaged the host again to let him know it was now 93 degrees F and there was no way we could stand another night there with it being that hot. I asked for a partial refund (we checked out with 24 hours of check in) and was told no, that his cancellation policy said no refunds.

I can’t imagine treating anyone like that but especially knowing how hot it truly was. To expect us and kids to stay in that is infuriating. It was mostly disappointing that someone could be that selfish and cruel. After reaching out to Airbnb, I was ghosted for two weeks. I decided to just call and was told “unfortunately the host said he won’t issue a refund.” I explained the situation to the gal and she was very nice but not very helpful. I was told she was going to reach out to the host and see if he’d change his mind basically. I told her it was unlikely and asked if I’m basically out all the money even though we checked out within 24 hours and she said I could escalate it to some Airbnb team and go from there.

Well, now I’m being offered a $100 coupon. All I want is my partial refund for the night we couldn’t stay. We didn’t even ask for a refund for the night from hell. I can’t believe the host and Airbnb just wouldn’t do the right thing.

Airbnb Teeming with Spiders, Leaking Pipes

We booked five nights at a house on Kentucky Lake for the family vacation; it was pet friendly for our two dogs. After driving five hours to get there in 98 degree heat we arrived to the house closed up and the window units not running; it must have been 150 degrees in there, and smelled very strongly of mold. We got the units turned on and then tried to get some water for the dogs. There was only a small trickle from the sink.

Then there was a knock at the door. The neighbor informed us (in a not friendly way) that the water was leaking at the top of the road and creating a nice river running down the hill. We messaged the host who actually was a very nice guy and he showed up promptly, and got the water running inside. Yet it continued to leak outside the entire time we were there.

While we waited one of the dogs chased a spider crawling on the floor. The next day there were spiders in our cooler that were thirsty; one was still alive. We decided to just drink alcohol and deal with it all… we decided to cook a frozen pizza. We heated up the oven and put the pizza in, and house proceeded to fill up with smoke since the oven was so dirty. There were obviously no smoke alarms in the house or they would have gone off. This was not safe and against Airbnb rules. My eyes burned from the smoke. Thank goodness I had eye drops with me.

We ended up leaving a day early and decided we’d laugh about this someday, but it’s going to be a while. Sorry I didn’t think to get pictures. I had nightmares about the spiders…