I don’t like writing negative reviews and I’ve never felt the need to; however, this experience was so terrible that I feel a responsibility to share.
Communication when booking was friendly and helpful.
When I arrived, the room was filthy—surfaces had layers of dust, debris, and hairs; dried sauce or some other kind of food caked to one of the tables; room smelled unpleasant in a general unwashed way; random trash lying on the window sill. There was a pair of pants lying on the bed, a half-unpacked suitcase, a laptop, giving the appearance that someone else had been staying in the room.
When contacted, the housemate that Aaron had told me was managing the Airbnb room and would help me with “anything at all” refused to talk to me or answer my questions. I felt very unwelcome—not to mention still disgusted and confused by the state of the room--and couldn't believe the lack of hospitality and basic decency in his refusal to speak to me.
I messaged Aaron to tell him what was happening. I didn’t relish trying to find a different place last-minute, so I decided to stay and try to make it work. The housemates didn’t seem to have any compassion for how uncomfortable and confusing my arrival had been. They said they hadn't known whether I was coming (Aaron told me he’d update them on my arrival time).
I heard from Aaron the next morning. He said he was “getting the feeling you are not very comfortable with the room” and asked if I wanted to stay. I responded that it was a stressful arrival and I had felt very uncomfortable, but that I was going to try to make it work. I never heard from Aaron again; he never checked in, addressed the concerns that the room “manager” had refused to speak with me, or even responded to my message.
There wasn’t even a sheet on the bed. I went downstairs to where the guys were playing video games and told them there was no sheet. Without putting down their games or getting up, they told me I could look for sheets in the washroom or the closet. I yanked a sheet out from where it was stuffed in a plastic bag. I ended up being unsure of its cleanliness and used the spare sheet and blanket from my car (since it seemed as though the comforter was the source of the unwashed smell).
That night and several others, including weeknights, the housemates played video games and shouted and at times screamed—not exaggerating—until past 2:00am.
Kitchen sink was often overflowing with dishes, with bugs swarming. Thick grime covering shower curtain.
The two housemates I saw most weren't very friendly and I felt very unwelcome and unwanted. Questions were generally met with shrugging, deflection, lack of concern or care, and “I don’t know.”
One day I went into the bathroom to find that they had left for a trip for a few days and taken the spare toilet paper roll and left 3 squares of toilet paper on the end of a roll. Yes—with a guest in the house—a paying guest—they took all of the toilet paper and left, without notice. A couple days later, I went into the bathroom to find a roll of toilet paper on top of the toilet. It was shredded and covered in grime and soot.
One night I knew I’d be returning late, so I left dinner for myself in the refrigerator (labeled with my name). I came home and it was gone. I asked the housemates about it, and they just shrugged and said, “I don’t know.” Nearby places were closed and I ended up eating pretzels for dinner. Nobody ever admitted to eating my food, expressed anything about being sorry it had happened, or paid me back for it.
One evening I came home to a dog that was growling and barking and gritting its teeth so ferociously that I was concerned it would bite me as I walked by. No one home, no heads up that a dog would be in the house. (I like animals and have stayed in many Airbnbs with dogs; this one’s level of stress/upset was concerning not having any context or knowing when someone would be back to tend to it.)
A housemate told me that they don’t wear shoes in the house, so I started removing my shoes, even though I felt reluctant to do so since the house is not very clean. Then, I noticed the housemates and their friends were wearing shoes in the house regularly. So I stopped removing them. One day the housemate said, do you remember what I said about shoes? I told him I did, but that I had seen the guys wearing them in the house so I had thought it was not so rigid. He said no, we don’t wear them anywhere in the house. That night, I came home, removed my shoes, and saw 4-5 people in the kitchen, including that housemate, all wearing shoes. I approached him and tried to ask him about it and he refused to speak to me—he kept cutting me off and saying “no problem” which was nonsensical since I was trying to resolve my confusion and ask him to clarify. He actually walked away from me while I was speaking and refused to continue the conversation.
Inaccuracies:
—No air conditioning in the room. Very hot for part of stay; lack of airflow made bad smell worse.
—Listing says 2.5 shared bathrooms. Asked where the others were and was told, “No, just one bathroom right now.”
—No offstreet parking ( NOT a surprise as I asked Aaron about parking before booking—but may be important to others).
—No TV in room as pictured (least of my worries).
—No smoke detector or carbon monoxide detector in room.
—One of described lounge rooms is actually a private bedroom.
Excellent location.