The listing led me to believe that I would be staying with a friendly host family and their dogs. Upon arrival, the host was nowhere to be found.
Later I heard people talking upstairs (within the same apartment) and I thought those were our hosts. Only after a couple of days did I realise that (1) the host was never going to show up (2) there were other guests / strangers in the house whom the host never told us about.
This, despite the fact that we were 2 females traveling on our own AND there was NO lock on our bedroom door. Meaning, no security for our belongings whenever we went out, and no security while we slept.
The listing prominently featured photos of the kitchen, but when we asked to use it, the host messaged that the kitchen was “not included”. Why feature those photos then, even before showing the room itself?
The host agreed that I could use the kitchen to boil water for instant noodles, which we did, and for this we were thankful. I wiped the counter after every use and even messaged the host to offer to take out the trash.
BUT after we had left, the host complained that we had made a mess of the microwave oven — which we didn’t even use! (I didn’t use it simply because I didn’t know how to operate it.)
How can we be held responsible when there are other guests in the house? (When we left, the other guests had asked if they could use the kitchen, but I told them the kitchen was not included and to ask the host herself).
On the last day, we had an accidental stain on the edge of the bed, the size of a 50 cent coin. I personally took out the sheet and scrubbed it completely clean so the cleaning lady wouldn’t have to. I also tipped the cleaner £20 for the trouble (even though I had already scrubbed it clean myself).
After that, the host claimed reimbursement from me via Airbnb for a stain on the mattress (a much bigger stain and in a different location on the bed). She also claimed that she had to pay the cleaning lady extra for the mess we made. How can it be when we had already scrubbed it ourselves?
I don’t know if the host is just misled and if the cleaning lady is trying to earn from both sides, but this is the first and last time I would stay here.
Security was also an issue: Throughout the stay, we had people shouting, talking, fighting along the pavement outside our bedroom window at night (we were on the ground floor). We also discovered that the other guests who stayed in the house the same time as us did not lock the door properly when they came back — which means the door was left unlocked overnight and we could have been in danger had anyone tried to open the door from outside.
This happened because there were other guests in the house (something not mentioned in the listing) and the host wasn’t around to show us how to operate the door (and no instructions were left either) — quite different from the other Airbnbs I stayed in on this trip.
Lastly, we needed a hair dryer and couldn’t find one after washing our hair. As weather was cold, I messaged the host about this. She said I could find it in her bedroom upstairs. But I was uncomfortable at the thought of entering her room and didn’t want to search her room for the hairdryer. Now I’m glad I didn’t, because who knows what I might be blamed for, if I had searched her room and opened her cupboards. Thanks, but no thanks.
Summary:
1. If listing says you are staying with a host family, they should physically be there.
2. If there will be other guests and your bedroom door can’t be locked, the host should inform you in advance so you can mutually agree to cancel your booking if you are not comfortable.
3. If the kitchen is not included, it should not be featured in the photos, much less be the first photo in the listing.
4. If there are other guests in the house, host should not assume one guest is responsible for the mess made in the kitchen / oven.
5. If you are not comfortable doing so, please do not rent out your house when you are physically absent.