I have have been fortunate to stay in multiple Airbnb’s across 10+ countries, which is why it’s a bit uncomfortable for me to ever leave a 1 star review.
The experience I had with Mrs. Carlota, unfortunately, was not a pleasant one.
For context, due to a medical family emergency, I found myself having to fly from LA to Mexico City. This meant I needed to find a listing that would allow for same day bookings. I ended up booking Mrs. Carlota’s place from Monday Sept. 29th-Saturday, October 3rd. Even though my flight would be arriving early Tuesday morning, I reserved Mrs. Carlota’s place for a day early so that I could conveniently check in early.
At first I was delighted that Mrs. Carlota’s booking was both available for same-day reservations, and even more so that when making the reservation I could select an early morning check in time (between 12 am-2am).
After confirming the reservation, the itinerary email indicated that the “host would reach out with check in details.” Since I was making a same-day reservation I decided to be proactive and message Mrs. Carlota first in order to square out the check in details.
I did not hear from Mrs. Carlota neither from the Airbnb app nor when I messaged her through text. Eventually, the time frame for the 12am-2am hit and I had still not heard from the host.
At this point, I was unsure if I was even going to have a solid accommodation option, so I decided to cancel the reservation.
I want to be clear: between the time I initially made the reservation and the time I had to cancel due to the host’s lack of correspondence, my reservation was only active for a maximum of 3 hours.
Due to Mrs. Carlota’s strict cancellation policy, I was only refunded around 25% of the total cost.
The following morning I decided to contact the host to inquire about a compromise we could reach. I tried explaining that due to the unforeseen expense of my family’s medical emergency, I would appreciate it if we could work something out, since recuperating the $253 USD I was not refunded would make a great financial difference in my situation.
At first, Mrs. Carlota essentially said no because her policy is in place to account for cleaning and also to ensure she doesn’t miss out on future reservations.
Throughout this conversation I assured Mrs. Carlota I meant no disrespect in seeing if she could make an exception on her policy. On multiple occasions I said “with all due respect...” so she understood I meant no ill.
I tried to reason with the host by explaining that the the itinerary portal had said she would be contacting me to confirm check in details. I attempted to explain that I had tried reaching out through the Airbnb app and through text to ensure I could make that early check in from 12-2:00 am. I explained that when I didn’t hear back from her, even when that 12-2:00 check in time frame had commenced, I found no other recourse but to cancel the reservation.
I communicated to the host that I inquired about a possible exception to the her rules because just as she explained to me that those rules are in place to make sure her guests are responsible with their bookings, I think it’s also part of a host’s responsibility to communicate details with their guests.
At this point, Mrs.Carlota became defensive and essentially exclaimed that rules are rules, and her profile is clear about it.
But her booking guidelines are not clear — there are discrepancies. Her listing allows for same day reservations AND early check ins between 12-2 am. Moreover, even though her listing is catalogued as a “self-check in” the itinerary also indicated that the host would finalize details with the guest before arrival.
After trying to communicate this with Mrs. Carlota — mind you I repeatedly kept saying “with due respect” throughout this correspondence — she became combative, further exclaiming that because of her job she “can’t be looking at her phone every 2 minutes!!!!”
At this point I decided to cease trying to reason with the Host and communicated to her that due to her undue combative and snide remarks, I felt uncomfortable continuing any correspondence with her.
Anyway, I’m kinda just in limbo. While I understand rules are set in place to assure some kind of guarantee for hosts , I also think rules should be put in place to make sense. It’s rather juxtaposing that the host allows for same day reservations AND midnight check ins AND her itinerary portal says she will contact guests to confirm check in details, while simultaneously saying she hasn’t got the time to be checking her phone “every two minutes” for messages from her guests.
I have contacted the AIRBNB customer service team for further assistance on this matter, but even if nothing else can be done, I wanted to make this review public for accountability purposes. Something about someone using the black-and-white nature of “rules” to make a $253 profit in someone’s time of grief just makes my stomach churn.