In all my years of travelling and staying with AirBnB, this by far has been the worst and most disappointing.
Upon checking-in, the apartment was discovered to be in a poor state of cleanliness, despite Edmund's claim of it having been "professionally cleaned". The air was musty, the carpet was dusty, and there was a strong stench of cigarette smoke in the air. I started wheezing, sneezing and tearing up. Opening all the windows and starting the air filter did not help, the latter only served to kick more dust into the air, aggravating the situation.
The photos also show an apartment in a very different condition. The middle of the living room, there was a counter stacked with no less than 100 books which all had a layer of dust atop it. Other surfaces such as the book shelves, counters and various lights were all also very dusty.
I immediately contacted Edmund within 10 mins of getting into the apartment, and his response was absolute lackluster. All he did was to suggest "open the windows and start the air filter", which had been done. When I told him that there was a strong smell of smoke, he flat out denied it until I showed him a photo of the lighter and box of cigarettes in the living room.
I left the apartment within 30 mins, and informed him that the apartment was not liveable. I wrote a long letter politely requesting for a full-refund, but he never got back to me.
Furthermore, all the other accommodation within the area was fully booked, and I had to book a costly hotel at last-minute rates.
Despite having had really wonderful previous stays with other AirBnB hosts around the world, this has significantly impacted my impression of AirBnB and my future use of the platform.