I want to start this review by prefacing that in the many years my partner and I have been using Airbnb, we have never initiated a refund request from a host or asked to be relocated before. I have always had amazing experiences with Airbnb and with previous hosts and therefore, this experience with Philip was the one and only time I have ever felt the need to report an inaccurate and unclean listing.
My fiancé and I arrived to Philip's home for a long-term stay as we just recently moved to London and needed a place while we secured more permanent housing. We were dismayed to find an extremely unclean and unkempt space upon our arrival. Our bed covers had a smell, were clearly ruffled, and strangely had rubber bands across them. Upon further inspection, we found the kitchen to also be dirty with sticky substances on the floor, limes left in the sink, and old vegetables left sitting with flies on them. Later that night, we each tried to take a rinse in the bathtub and found that the temperature of the water was only either scalding hot or freezing cold. Furthermore, the light in the bathroom did not work, and a small, inadequate, substitute light made showering at night unfeasible anyway. There was no actual lock for the bathroom, but rather a nail that you pushed through the door in order to lock the room. The living room was attached to the kitchen area and although this room was not part of our airbnb listing and we did not use it, we could still see that a mess was left behind - sofa cushions strewn about and old sheets lying haphazardly. Overall, this home was not cleaned, sanitized, or organized for any potential guests.
On our first night, we reached out to Airbnb to try and get relocated as it quickly became clear that we could not stay here long-term without access to a working shower or clean kitchen. We sent photo evidence of the conditions and launched an official case with Airbnb. We were told that we needed to contact the host for a refund for the process to get started. I was hesitant to reach out to our host as I felt uncomfortable saying anything while we were still residing in his home with all our belongings.
When my partner called the host a few days later, he attempted to amicably and politely request a refund of the remaining nights based on the issues we documented with Airbnb upon our arrival. We told him that our plans had simply changed and we wanted to relocate, hoping to part ways without a larger dispute over the documented issues. The host, who told us he would be away on work despite later stating that he was on vacation, gave us Airbnb’s official policy saying that we were not eligible for a refund. At this point, we were advised by Airbnb to set up an official request for a refund through their resolutions center and to explicitly name the issues we were dealing with in that request. We did so and attached our photo evidence and told Philip that we had also been in contact with Airbnb from the first day of our check-in. He declined our request and became hostile, calling us "dishonest", reporting that we had made a “mess” in the bathroom, and threatening to leave a horrible review for us.
The host’s claims were quite surprising to us, as we each have a long history of very positive stays with Airbnb hosts. We are appreciative that Airbnb worked with us directly to process a refund and relocation out of this stay, to a more suitable accommodation for the rest of our month here. Overall, I would not recommend staying at this host’s home. I would like to see this listing improve on its cleanliness, organization and, above all, guaranteeing basic access to kitchen and bathroom as expected. This experience added considerable stress to my fiancé and I as we are in the midst of trying to navigate a new city and securing an apartment. We wish that the host was less combative when we raised these issues when he initially declined our request for a refund. We hoped in earnest for a smoother resolution and as such, I am disappointed with the way that the host handled his end of this situation and would warn any potential guests from booking with him.