My experience at Christiane’s (Host) was difficult. Supposed to stay for 1 month. 1/2 would be with Christiane, and 1/2 Christiane was on vacation. 4 days before my trip, Host informs me her daughter would be staying the full month as well.
Several events took place within a week which made me extremely uncomfortable.
- Host asked me to pay cash for the last 9 days of my stay. I was eating dinner with 5 minutes between meetings & quickly agreed, intending to ask her to put it through the platform once I had settled in.
- With Host gone, the first time her daughter spoke to me was to pressure me to agree to let her friend stay for 5 days. I was new in the city and the apartment and didn’t know her. I very reluctantly agreed after repeatedly suggesting that her friend find alternatives.
I experienced deep disrespect from Host’s daughter. All of the below happened within 3 days.
- I was working from home the first evening her and her friend were there, and the entire apartment filled with smoke (from an illicit substance).
- I did my laundry. Joana let herself into my room without asking & hung her own laundry on the same rack.
- Joana and her friend came home at 4 am and from 4-7 am, they talked, ran water, opened and closed doors without any regard for how loud they were.
- The kitchen was full of flies (everything I touched created a cloud of 10-20 flies). I had only cooked once 5 days before. I asked Joana where I could take the garbage.
Finally, I communicated with Host. This was not at all what I agreed to. I thought we were having a very healthy dialogue and finding solutions that fit both of us. However, Christiane suddenly informed me that her “apartment is not a hotel” and that I should find somewhere else to stay. I was shocked by this and deeply apologized, surprised that she was upset. Host insisted I find new accommodation for my stay. I spoke with her daughter who informed me that “(Host) doesn’t like tourists” and that I could “stay at a hostel”.
I felt deeply anxious in Christiane’s home as a result of all this - I didn’t do anything wrong and I didn’t mean any harm in having an open conversation with Christiane. I was shocked by the disrespect from her daughter and the unpredictable response from Christiane. I contacted Airbnb for support & blocked both Host and her daughter on messenger because of how intense, dramatic & unnecessary this whole situation became. It put a definite damper on my first few weeks in Berlin and left me worried and stressed.
With Airbnb, I consider that I am paying for privacy, reasonable quietness, and reasonable cleanliness. I did not get those things in Christiane’s apartment with her daughter.