This was the worst experience I have had on Airbnb in over 7 years. It might be my last Airbnb experience.
Here are the facts:
Before booking, I sent an email to the hosts asking if the apartment was quiet and that I needed somewhere peaceful to sleep and work. No traffic noise, etc.
They replied but didn't answer the question. That should have been a warning sign.
I asked again and they told me the apartment was very quiet.
The apartment is right beside a busy road with constant traffic, day and night. There are several loose access hole covers in the road in front of the apartment which make a loud bang every time a vehicle passes over them (which is every couple of seconds).
But that's not the worst thing. When a large vehicle (bus, truck, van) passes by the apartment, the walls and floor shake. The bed shakes violently, which makes it impossible to sleep. It feels like every minute someone shakes your bed. It's really quite disturbing.
After my first night, I was exhausted and tried to sleep during the day whole looking for alternative accommodation. I spent another night in the apartment while I looked for somewhere else.
I wrote to the host (a faceless, corporation called HostWise, running multiple Airbnb's in the city) but they ignored me. I wrote several times but nobody answered. I moved out and told them about it. No reply.
I asked for a refund. No reply.
Next, I spoke with Airbnb's support who juggled my issue between different support people, and basically kept repeating the same, irrelevant stuff about:
1. Speaking to the host - useless, as they don't reply.
2. The host's refund policies - irrelevant as the apartment did not conform to the standard they said it did.
There are other problems with the apartment like the really bad/patchy internet. But that's not the main issue and I didn't even raise this with Airbnb
I was lied to about the noise level. The apartment was not as advertised. It is absolutely not quiet.
I moved out after two days, went to a hotel, and asked for a refund. I explained everything to the host and to Airbnb. One week later and the host has not replied even once and Airbnb keep repeating variations on a theme. Over the weekend, they have not replied at all, which is strange as people do not stop living and inhabiting apartments on weekends.
Look out for this company called HostWise in Porto and make sure you do not stay with them.
Airbnb are going to lose several customers in my family thanks to the complete lack of empathy for the situation. I wonder if their CEO, Brian Chesky, currently living out of Airbnb properties, will ever have to deal with this kind of support.
Avoid this apartment if you like your sleep
Avoid HostWise if you don't want to be treated like a number.
Airbnb may be getting too big to care about us. Prices are already inflated and I recently defended the company online. But I've changed my views on this.
Terrible experience.