When I arrived, it was a beautiful & spacious room in a guesthouse with a shared kitchen/common spaces. This guesthouse has 7 other rooms/potential sets of renters. It was very close to the metro with a public park in front of it. To my knowledge, the hosts don’t live on site but were communicating via on a non-AirBNB communication platform, per their request.
A few nights into my stay, I woke up throughout the night due to insect bites. There was a bedbug next to my pillow when I woke up for the morning. On instinct, I killed it immediately. I didn’t get a chance to take a picture of it before this happened.
I reached out directly to the host by text right after that to let her know what happened: “Joanna, I got a few bites last night. I just killed a bedbug on my sheets just now.” I was told “We don’t have bedbugs in Portugal only bugs”. I was uncomfortable continuing this conversation after receiving that. After spending the day dealing with intense itching, getting bedbug spray, doing laundry at an outside facility to ensure I don’t have bedbugs in my clothes, and finding a new place to stay, I reached out to AirBNB to help resolve the situation. I was told eventually that because I cannot prove that there was a bedbug, and I would not be refunded any money for the stay.
I then officially cancelled the rest of my stay through the app. I then placed an official complaint with the Portuguese complaints book, since I didn’t want other travelers to have to experience a similar thing when they brought up a concern.
The next day, I received 3 phone calls within minutes of each other and a voicemail requesting a call to understand the situation. When I replied by text that I would be more comfortable texting, I received numerous texts back repeatedly saying they don’t have bedbugs, they deep cleaned the room, and that I need to withdraw my complaint.
In short,
1. beautiful place, great location
2. I say I saw and got bit by a bed bug. They say bedbugs are not one of their problems.
3. Bedbugs are problems that can be treated/fixed, but only after someone is able to even acknowledge them as a possibility.
3. The hosts’ skills in communication and creating a safe space to bring up guest concerns definitely could use some work.