Never have we had a worse airbnb experience. We would highly advise avoiding this host at all costs. The issues began once I had politely declined sending a personal email address (which air bnb strongly advised against for protection of both hosts and guests) for a welcome letter which I genuinely felt we didn't need. The host became hostile, insisting that we must check in at the same time for an ID check as we were not comfortable sending photographs of our ID’s. We complied with this, given that it was a fairly big group of 6 couples and an additional friend so we did not have to provide copies of ID, even though we were all arriving at varying times throughout the day with our luggage. However, once we had arrived at the property for check in, the host took photos of our ID anyway. We did not feel it was appropriate or necessary for copies to be taken due to not having seen a privacy policy stating how long our personal information would be kept. He threatened to kick us out if we did not let him take photos of our ID’s. We have never met someone who was so extremely aggressive and rude throughout our interaction despite us being absolutely nothing but polite throughout. His reason for taking photos was due to a previous "attack" on the host and the need to use our photos to report to the police should the same occur.
He asked personal questions about our jobs of which we explained we were all working professionals in an attempt to reassure him and his mother (an unannounced visitor to the property on our arrival) that we were responsible guests, however, they proceeded to insult said jobs despite it being completely irrelevant, accusing us of being "difficult" and "paranoid".
The accommodation itself is mediocre for what it is, and it felt like basic student accommodation. Unfortunately, the property was also filthy and almost uninhabitable. There was dust and dirt everywhere. The plant pots were filled with stagnant water. Some bedsheets were stained. There was mouldy bread in the bread bin. There was a mouldy fridge. There were screws sticking out of the floorboards on the stairways making this a hazard (house rules required no shoes). Bathrooms were filthy. Cobwebs everywhere.
We were extremely shocked by his rudeness and his unpleasantness but could not cancel the accommodation as we were such a big group and we would not be able to find a place at such short notice, as well as already paying so much money for an airbnb accommodation which did not even meet proper hygiene standards. I am not sure what the cleaning or service fee would cover at all given the state that we found it in.
We had seen reviews that were negated due to the fact that they hadn’t reported their complaints during their stay so we reported this to airbnb on the first night (we requested no action be taken whilst we were at the property due to feeling as though this would cause problems and possible withdrawal from the host). Air bnb have not resolved our complaints as the host claimed that this is something he "could have resolved" however, this really was not a reasonable or feasible resolution due to the extent of the uncleanliness and us being in the house during the stay - the place should have a reasonable standard of cleanliness, safety, and hygiene in the first place.
The entire experience was appalling, and directly as a result of his incredibly rude and unprofessional behaviour throughout the process. Following our telephone call and check-in meeting, we also noted that he had altered his listing on Airbnb to suddenly include 1) the need for an email address for a welcome letter 2) the potential need for copies of the photo ID - both of which were not mentioned in the house rules previously. It left our entire party feeling very upset and uncomfortable with the way that the host had acted towards us, ruining our stay.
We would strongly advise not staying with this host as we had such a terrible experience and should have been more wary of this, when we had seen a review of someone who had a similar experience with another of his properties.