This apartment was new and modern. Other than some issues the night of our check-in (no wifi or hot water on a snowy night), this had the basic furnishings that provided a comfortable 7-night stay for me and my parents.
However, a situation came up during our stay that tainted our experience, and exposed the dishonest character and intentions of the host. I’m giving an overview of our experience so that future travelers can proceed with caution.
We were originally booked for a 5-night stay to quarantine after our flight, with plans to stay with other family members after. The day before check-out, we found out those family members tested positive for Covid, so we couldn’t stay with them.
I reached out to Yokkumar asking if the apartment was available for an extra 2 nights. He confirmed availability, so I submitted an official reservation extension request via Airbnb. The extension pricing accounted for our original 5-night stay, therefore giving us a weekly discount for a 7-night stay. But at this point, Yokkumar challenged me on the pricing, asking me to pay more than the 7-night rate he had listed on Airbnb. Not only did he coerce me on pricing, he also messaged me on the side telling me to make a separate new booking so that he could charge me the extra money for the new nights.
We were 12-hours from check-out and I didn’t want to further stress my elderly parents with a sudden move, so I gave in and made a new booking with Yokkumar for the two nights. In doing so, I paid duplicate cleaning and service charges (even though we didn’t move out between bookings), and lost the weekly discount that should have been applied.
All in all, this experience revealed a host who jumped at a price-gouging opportunity and circumvented Airbnb channels to maximize profit. It’s clear his priorities are on short-term profit rather than building a long-term Airbnb that his guests will keep coming back to.