Our stay at Marjan’s house was the single most unpleasant in my experience with airbnbs and hosts.
When we first booked the house, Marjan asked me to cancel the booking and rebook it. I did as she instructed and when I rebooked it, she had unwittingly raised the price. Once we noticed this and raised it with her she agreed to refund a small amount but not the original listed price.
Despite this red flag, we went ahead and decided to stay here because photos of the house made it seem to be large and new/newly renovated. Unfortunately, It was not as it seemed. While the rooms and backyard are spacious, the basement is much smaller than the pictures, bathrooms are especially tiny, the kitchen has very little counter space, and the dining room is crammed. What bothered me about this was not the actual size of the house but that the pictures posted were taken from strategic angles to manipulate actual size. The renovations are also much older and shoddier than they seem in the photos. The hard wood floors are very old and creaky and loud. We were awoken as family members went up and down the stairs.
Despite the description, the house was very poorly equipped for a long term stay and especially for 5 guests. Some essential items like bedside tables, closet space, and bins were missing and made the stay considerably less comfortable. We were only supplied with one set of sheets. When I asked Marjan for extra supplies like sheets she gave us less than what we asked for. We personally spent a couple hundred dollars on a radiator, sheets, laundry hampers, a bedside table, shower caddy, and more. There were a few issues with the sink and heat in the house that Marjans husband came by to check, but they were not sufficiently fixed and continued to be an issue.
While Marjan was communicative throughout, communication with her was not clear and that led to more issues. Again, when we decided to shorten our stay by a few days, she assured us that we would be refunded for the number of days, but we realized that we were charged instead of getting reimbursed. When we raised this to her she told us to speak with Airbnb directly to figure out the issue despite the issue being the discrepancy she made in the listing price. We spoke to Airbnb directly and when we showed her that we needed to be reimbursed, she did not refund us the full amount saying that she would discount Airbnb fees that she was charged. Time and time again we were left feeling that Marjan was not an honest host. Finally, upon check out, she turned nasty in her communication with us. Needless to say, it made an otherwise OK stay at the house that much worse.