I have been using Airbnb since 2014 and this is the worst experience I have ever had.
1. To begin with, Carla sent the wrong address to me and explained that I needed to download an app to get into the apartment. I asked her many times if she had sent the link for the app but she failed to reply. It turned out that my registered email was for an old email address so that wasn’t her fault but her failure to respond was frustrating.
We only found out that we had the wrong address because we called the hosts. It was not Carla who I spoke with and for a while, it seemed they didn’t have my booking. It was only when I gave him my booking reference that we realized Carla had given us the wrong address.
2. Contacting the host(s) was very confusing because on the website via messages it was Carla who I spoke with but when I called it was a man. I didn’t feel I received the personal AirBnB service that I have received from previous hosts. I know that companies operate on AirBnB now but even the companies I have stayed within the past have delivered the Airbnb service I expect.
3. Carla sent a guide to the wrong apartment and when I asked her to send the correct one, she seemed to ignore me. I asked several times for her to send me the guide, but even by the end of my trip I still didn’t receive it. By that time I was arriving in 40mins I sent her a message to ask her to give me a call or a number I could call her, But I was also been ignored. She sent the WiFi password but I had to work out how to do everything else in the apartment by myself.
4. The apartment was also quite dirty and the drain in the shower drain was full of hair and it was blocking when I took the first shower so I had to clean it by myself, There was also a dirty mop and Hoover in the only wardrobe which had a strong smell. This obviously meant that I couldn’t put my clothes in there. The mirror was dusty and the remote control was dusty.
5. In regards to the extra person, I understand that only stating one person in the booking was my fault but I explained to Carla many times that my friend would be coming for the 2nd and 2rd night and she told me it wouldn’t be a problem and would put an extra towel and cup in the apartment before my friends arrived. When I arrived there was only one towel and cup. I sent a message to her just asking for another cup and towel, she told me to get Airbnb involved. Even after making the change on Airbnb, the guy didn’t come till 7 pm. She also only brought a towel and didn’t bring a cup. We had to buy our own paper cups.
6. The check-in system is quite frankly ridiculous. Having to download an app and then use the app to get in is something I would expect from a hostel or hotel, not Airbnb. What if my phone ran out of power? I don’t think it’s too much to ask for the host to come and meet me at the apartment for 5 minutes. This is what I have received from every other host I have stayed with.
In summary, I paid 322 euros to stay at this space and It was the worst Airbnb experience I have ever had. I was so disappointed and failed to show my friend’s first experience of AirBnB in Spain which I always told her how warm the Spanish hosts, how amazing the decoration and some Artery design in an AirBnB house is.