We have stayed in nearly 30 Airbnbs around the world over the past year and a half, and this was, hands down, our worst experience. We splurged on a nice place for our week in Madrid only to have the listing not match reality. Multiple amenities in the listing were not present. The space was not adequately cleaned and certainly not in line with Airbnb’s Enhanced Clean policy (ex. hairballs and stains on the carpet, unclean surfaces, a condom wrapper on the floor, and more). The internet did not function reliably. When issues were brought to the attention of the host, they only made half-hearted attempts to fix them. Instead of adequately addressing the issues, they attempted to placate us by leaving a bottle of wine and chocolates. The host showed up multiple times without warning and never knocked, only sending a message in the Airbnb chat announcing their arrival. If I weren’t by my phone or out of the apartment, I wouldn’t have known they were there. Rather than genuinely fixing the persistent internet issue, they eventually accused us of lying about it not working (because it had worked for past guests). Instead of enjoying our week in Madrid, the most memorable part of our trip will be how much effort we put into trying to get the host to adhere to the expectations they themselves set.