eview of our stay in "Studio Mins to Culver City Downtown, Sony & Venice" April 29-May 2, 2022
We had a very poor stay in this place. We think the listing description was very misleading. The general amenities are very poor, and the customer service was nothing short of horrible. Worst of all, we found many stains on the bed linens, with some indications (earrings) that the linens might not have been changed after the prior guest's stay.
Out of our three nights, only the second one was at best acceptable. We would like therefore to request a refund for two out of the three nights.
Below is a summary of all of the issues we encountered.
1) Misleading Listing
- The charming photos of a patio that are shown is a small shared space that is located at least 150 feet away from the unit, and you have to go through a very dilapidated parking area to go to it (photo 1). In no way could we easily access it for breakfast for instance. This is not a "backyard", as described in the listing, but rather an offsite space.
- The listing states that there is a "Scenic View: City Skyline Views" (screenshot 1). Instead, the small window looks out straight to a couple of parked cars, mere feet away (photo 2)
- Street parking: On our last morning, there was no parking after 7am, and we had to vacate the unit early to avoid being towed away.
- Workspace: The listing describes a desk with a "Comfortable chair" (screenshot 2). Instead, the chair is a hard plastic one (Photo 3)
2) Cleanliness
Upon arrival, we found red lipstick marks on the duvet cover (Photo 4). We requested immediate change of linen, but this was not granted until the next day. In the morning, we found additional stains on the upper sheet (Photo 5). After the linens were changed, we found three earrings on the table which were left there by the cleaning crew, who probably found them in the bed (Photo 6). As these were not ours, we concluded that the linen had probably NOT been changed after the prior guest left. This really felt awful. And more gross stains (perhaps blood ?) were found on two pillow covers of the new linens (Photo 7 and 8).
3) Customer service
Upon arrival, I called our host, inquiring about the backyard. When she indicated that we had to walk across the parking lot next door and around the building to find it, I inquired who and how many parties this space was shared with. Instead of an honest answer, the host refused to reply. She told me that it was "none of my business", threatened to report me to AirBnB, became irate, and eventually hung up on me. Furthermore, after we communicated about the bed stains, the host suggested that we were lying, and told us that if we were not happy with the place, we could always leave and find another place. This was very insulting.
4) General Amenities
- Sound issues: The place is extremely noisy, with loud music from the corner store nearby and the upstairs neighbor. As a matter of fact, there was a party upstairs that lasted late into the night on our third night, with very loud music, and loud foot noise. This might explain why we found earbuds on the bedside.
- Bed comfort: the quality of the bed was very poor, with a deep "channel" in the middle. We had to constantly move back to the sides all night long.
- There is no bedside table on the right side of the bed
- The portable AC unit is extremely noisy, and cannot be run at night