This was the worst Airbnb experience I ever had.
Issues:
* Communication getting into the place was terrible. I had to ask what the building number was, how to get in, what floor the apartment was on, etc. It was a very choppy start to our stay, which was the first red flag. Also, as an FYI, if you want to go in and out during your stay, you have to call him every time to get into the lot (you can easily leave). There is no fob or anything you can use. While I don't recommend you stay here, if you do, you should know this (also not listed on the listing). Second red flag.
* Air conditioning (Part I) We only stay in Airbnbs with AC. This was advertised to have central AC. I saw before our stay that the ac was broken and that he had not managed the situation well. Third red flag. I should have reached out BEFORE we got there, but I was under the naïve assumption that he would have reached out before our trip to let us know if there were issues.
* Air conditioning (Part II) When we arrived at the apartment, the windows were open and then room temp was 78 degrees. I noticed a portable AC in the living room, but it wasn't hooked up to anything (portable ACs MUST be vented to work). Also, there was only a portable AC in the living room and nothing in the bedroom). Fourth red flag.
I went to turn on the central AC and noticed that it wouldn't turn on. I texted him about it and he said that the portable AC was "just a back-up" (but then later admitted that the pervious guest "used it all week" later in another conversation) .
Concerned that I wouldn’t be able to understand what was going on via choppy texts or convey my concern about the situation, I called him to express my deep concerns that he knew this was an issue and hadn't communicated about it in advance and that it wasn't cool that he hid it. He was apologetic on the phone, but took no responsibility for the issue. Blaming it on the maintenance people. I understand he can't fix the AC himself, but he could have told his guests that it wasn't working. Fifth red flag.
Because he took no responsibility for his actions and because we knew nothing would change (since he doubled down on the fact that the portable AC "worked fine" which, again, is impossible due to it not being vented and there being no way to vent it). We left.
We told him we left and that my husband would call him and speak to him about the reasons. He communicated that he was on the phone with Airbnb, so I asked him to call me after he was done. Lucky for me, he didn't. Instead, he doubled down further and texted me that we should cancel our booking since it was "our choice to leave" and then sent me a screen shot of the weather for the week, indicating that we should just keep the windows open. As you likely already guessed, we would have lost the full amount of our trip if we were the ones who canceled.
Once we got to the hotel that we booked while standing in the apartment, we called Airbnb. By the way, the hotel was $200 cheaper than his place. During the time I was on hold with Airbnb, High Tier texted me over 20 times blaming me repeatedly for "choosing to leave" and continued to take no ownership for the issue, repeatedly stating that the portable AC was adequate. Again, it was good for me that he texted me, because I had a ton of proof of his inappropriate behavior.
Once I connected with Airbnb, they refunded my entire trip and gave me a credit due to the deceitful nature of this listing. I simply took screen shots of all the texts. The customer service rep told me that there were 3 other complaints from people about his listing related to air conditioning.
All totaled this took about 4hrs out of my vacation managing this situation that I could have been having a nice relaxing time with my family. Save yourself the hassle and stay elsewhere.
Oh, one final note, this is not "steps from the beach". Don't believe the headline of this place. Since booking he added a map to show how “close” it is to the beach. That wasn’t there when we booked.