Very bad experience overall.
Host didn’t provide check-in details leading up to reservation, I had to contact them and request the information.
The host provided the incorrect location for the key pick up, so upon check-in we couldn’t access the keys. The unit is in the heart of downtown, so finding parking to be able to pick up the keys is a slight challenge/costs money. However, when the keys aren’t actually in the location they’re supposed to be it’s even more of a pain.
Once we realized the keys weren’t at the key cafe kiosk, we attempted to contact the host to help us check in. No response to phone calls or AirBnB messages. No room to leave voicemail on the host’s phone either. Called multiple times as we just walked around wondering how we were going to get ahold of the host to figure out the check-in issues.
Eventually after hours and repeatedly calling, the host finally answered the phone. Nonchalantly, they said “oh, the keys are in another location”. No real concern for the massive inconvenience or the fact that they weren’t answering their phone during peak check-in time.
We successfully accessed the keys at the new location. When we walked into the unit it was immediately clear it hadn’t been cleaned from the prior guests. We attempted to contact the host again, but of course they didn’t pick up again. Eventually they text me back asking what the problem was. I explained the unit was never cleaned after the previous guests. They apologized and said they had it scheduled, but that for some reason they never cleaned it. We then had to step out of the unit for one hour while the cleaning person cleaned the unit. So after not being able to check in for hours, we finally check in and see a dirty unit, then have to leave for an hour while it gets cleaned.
Once we saw the very dirty unit, and once the host got back to us, we asked if they could please just cancel the reservation and refund us the money as at this point we were ready to relax and a hotel seemed like the better bet. They immediately denied my request, without any explanation as to why they wouldn’t. However, they did at least offer to refund $60 worth of the cleaning fee. It was a small consolation after such a poorly executed check in with horrible communication.