Here is a [disclaimer: scary] tale which I hope someone finds useful.
There was a university professor and researcher in sociology, who had to leave his home country when a terrible war started. While he was waiting to be relocated to his new position in the UK, he decided to work on his articles in the calmness and quietness of the after-season Greece, also to save some money which he did not have much of, owing to obvious reasons. Since it was crucial for him to remain in solitude and quietness for the sake of his work, he was looking for a calm place with a beautiful view to sit out and work. The cover of the property he chose had a tremendous view which looked like a roof and the title next to it said that the hole property was offered. (The photographs also featured a beautiful apartment alongside with the view). However, the description also said that some areas were shared. This was puzzling, and since having a quiet place was crucial, he asked the host very explicitly before booking, whether he would be alone on the floor that was offered. The answer was also very explicit: “Yes, only you”. Therefore, professor booked.
The host was very polite when the guest was arriving late because after a long journey his luggage was lost, as well as hosts’ parents, who lived at the same property, right above the rented space, which was hidden in the listing’s photos. When the guest saw the apartment, he was a bit surprised, since it did look like in the pictures of the listing, at all. There were cracks in the walls, the door merely closed and could not be locked from inside or outside. So he did not feel safe when sleeping or going out. The curtains were full of all sorts of insects. The smell in the apartment was funny. It was not very clean either. In the bathroom wall (which had shower right above the toilet), there was a 1-meter-high hole covered with some cracked piece of concrete, or so. On the closet, there were some brown-dirty bottles with some personal hygiene liquid. This all was not very pleasant. However, the guest was terribly tired after traveling 19 hours and his luggage lost. Besides, he did not want to lose money for cancellation fee, and the hosts seemed very nice, so he decided to stay despite of the poor state of the apartment. After all, this was of secondary importance.
On the next day he saw the beautiful view from his level and decided it’s ok for him to spend his time out there writing, and tolerate the apartment. (He also noticed video cameras in the area, without any warning sign or permission asked). Unfortunately, later this day, another person suddenly appeared on the same level where the apartment was, 5 meters from the apartment’s door, which would not lock up. The guest immediately asked the host who this person was, and the host responded that it is another guest. The guest drew hosts’ attention to their initial conversation suggesting that nobody would be on the same floor. And this is where things went really bad.
This was the moment the host turned very aggressive. Throwing several insults at the guest, the host suggested that he either cancels the booking for a fee, or accepts it. Since it seemed to be simply a mutual misunderstanding (perhaps, because of the automated translation of the hosts’ replies, and/or maybe because the host did not really speak English, despite of his profile description, it is hard to say). So, the guest politely suggested the host to simply change the dates of his stay, so that he could leave the next day without being fined. To his surprise, the host very much wanted to get a cancellation fee, so the host rejected, accompanying this with several more insults and threats. This was a scary night for the guest, provided the door could not be locked from the inside. On the very night, he also read another guests’ comment which he did not notice before, about gunshots she heard at night in the neighborhood (in response to this comment, the host accused her of lies, which sounded somewhat familiar). Anyway, this did not make the guest’s night calmer.
At about 8.30 a.m. the next day, while the guest was still in bed, the host messaged that he was going to come (over 2 hours before the check out time), to get the keys (why, if the door would not close?) and see the guest leave. The guest wondered why, since his booking was not yet cancelled. In response, the host threatened he would come with police and attorney, for some reason. The guest welcomed this, but asked him to arrive once he was done with his shower. To no response. However, the guest also mentioned that his position here (in the local area?) is so strong that he can do anything, so the guest was wondering if the host was part of a gang and/or has powerful friends, immediately remembering the gunshots mentioned in another guest’s comment. This was scary, for sure. This review might turn out a means for the guest to make this situation public and, perhaps, protect himself from what might follow.
The guest was reporting everything to AirBnB, but unfortunately, he received no response for 2 days, so there was no help to come and he was not sure how to proceed. In the end, he had to simply leave the property without any immediate refund, because the insults, threats, and aggression from the host would not stop. For the record, he passed the key to the owner’s father, who accepted the apartment and said he had no negative comments about the state of the place after the guest.
While the guest was driving away from the place, he was still receiving insults from the host, while the guest was just asking