Please don't be fooled by the good reviews about Sylvie. She is a terrible host and even more disturbing, a really cruel and awful person. I have been using Airbnb for years both as a host and a guest and have never once written a bad review. In fact I don't write bad reviews about anything but the way Sylvie chose to treat us during the coronavirus pandemic was beyond appalling and actually caused me great deal of mental and financial stress. She should not ever be trusted to do the right thing and is clearly only concerned about money, not her guests or their well being.
My husband and I rented her apartment from March 1st-June 17th. When I was renting I told her that we owned a business in New Hampshire and we would be using the apartment as city place to go back and forth from. Around March 15th it started to become very clear that the coronavirus crisis was escalating and that countries were starting to close their borders. My husband was in Montreal so we decided I should drive up and bring him back because we couldn't be possibly get stuck in Canada as we have a business here in New Hampshire. We took everything from the apartment just in case we couldn't get back and after a couple days in New Hampshire it became clear that things were getting crazier and crazier so I wrote to Sylvie and asked for a reservation change. She did not respond, so 2 days later I texted her and she still did not respond. Finally she texted me and said she was "confused" because the borders were fine. This was not true. Canada had already prohibited non-citizens from crossing the border and it was clear that it was going to be shutdown completely in a matter of days. That was the very last I heard from Sylvie. At this point we were in a panic because we had to close our retail stores and would not be receiving any income until the situation was over. So it looked to me if I cancelled the reservation I would get most my money back. Immediately after canceling my card was charged a huge amount for the entire reservation. This was so devastating because we had no income and now we didn't even have the apartment but had paid for it all. Airbnb said Sylvie would have to agree to a refund and when they contacted her she said no because the borders were open. This is just ridiculous. The borders as you all know are now completely closed, there is no way we could have used the place how we wanted, we were in a really tough situation and Sylvie had zero sympathy and did absolutely nothing to help.
The worst part is she just never communicated to me at all. What kind of person does that? I wasn't being crazy or rude, I was simply trying reason with her. Sylvie, our business is shutdown, we have no income, the borders are closed, no one is supposed to travel, we can't even get to Canada !!!!! She wouldn't communicate at all. She basically stole $3000 from me without saying one word to me. She didn't explain her side of things or listen to me at all . Just Silence. Like I didn't even deserve the dignity of a response.
Now her apartment is available to rent again, so she can actually make double the money during this world crisis. It is really disgusting. She is disgusting. Do not rent her place. She is a bad person and you should not give her a single penny. And don't believe a word she says in response. Everything I said is true. Just ask me. My name is Greg Vander Veer, I own retail stores in North Conway, NH and I am a good and decent person who would never dream of treating people the way Sylvie has chosen to treat us.