Quite honestly my worst ever travel experience. First time I’ve booked a place through a host with no reviews and certainly the last.
For a start the apartment was absolutely filthy: nasty stains all over the cushions; dust, hair and debris on the floor and tables; dirty kitchen with a used ashtray on the table and smelly towels hung over the doors and chairs.
The apartment was also incredibly noisy. I had written to the host to clarify the meaning of ‘potential for noise’ on the listing and I was assured that although the place was in a lively area: ‘the apartment I offer is quiet’. This was most definitely not the case as it was situated on the busiest eight lane crossroads in the area and the noise was absolutely unbearable making it impossible to sleep at night and very very stressful.
On the listing it was marked further down the road in a much quieter area.
I contacted Airbnb straight away and, having sent photo and video evidence of the state of the place, was advised to ask the host in good faith whether, seeing the circumstances, he would be willing to accept an early checkout before having Airbnb intervene. His answer was no and to check the terms and conditions. He also suggested we deal with the matter in person and not online or by phone which I found worrying.
The only reason why I did not leave the place immediately was that I wanted to deal with the situation correctly through Airbnb so as to avoid the risk of not being reimbursed. In hindsight I should have, as Airbnb made me speak to eleven operators before resolving my problem three days later by allowing me to check out prematurely.
I have always treated the places I have stayed in with great respect and this can be seen by my reviews so far and I’m really sad to say that this has been my first negative experience on Airbnb and it really has been a nightmare.