Let us begin by saying we like AirBnBs. But this one was the first one that made us pine for a hotel.
The apartment was as depicted — but we arrived in the grip of a brutal heatwave, which our host acknowledged. He also knew the place has no air conditioning, no cross ventilation, and only one fan. But did it occur to our host to provide a second one, even though he knew we’d be sleeping in separate rooms?
We like to imagine the Golden Rule applies to AirBnB hosts. If Philippe doesn’t want to sleep in a room hot enough for Bikram yoga, then don’t make us do it.
Maybe we shouldn’t have been surprised. Upon arrival, after 16 hours of travel, including delays and a painful shin injury at the airport, our host griped and scolded us for inconveniencing him. Awesome.
He didn’t seem to know about the controls for the stove, “forgot” to tell us about the washing machine in the room, and provided none of the basics you need to cook. Not even salt and pepper.
We have used AirBnBs at least half a dozen times before — domestic and international. But after our experience with Philippe, we bailed and spent the next leg of our trip in a hotel.
How this guy got to be a “super host,” we’ll never know.