Do not book with Susan.
I’ve been renting spaces on Airbnb for over 5 years and have been a host for 3 and this was the worst Airbnb experience of my life. Although the location and backyard were great, working with Susan was a complete nightmare.
Summary: Susan will do everything she can to attach fees, fines and restrictions with no concern about if you have a pleasant or decent stay. The location and backyard are not worth the feeling of being under surveillance and walking on eggshells.
I booked this house 11 months in advance of my wedding to host my bridal party and rehearsal dinner. She falsely advertised her ability to host events. She seemed flexible when I was thinking about booking, but within 24 hours of checkin, she finally informed me of rules, fees and policies out of the blue that led to us having to cancel and replan our rehearsal dinner within 2 days of the event.
I asked her late at night where the extra sheets were and she responded with the location promptly. Rather than leaving that alone and letting us enjoy our stay, she sent her cleaning crew over to the house at 1:40am. They practically pushed their way in and said she made them go fix it immediately or she would fine them $500. It was incredibly jarring and unhelpful.
An example of Susan’s “hosting” style: she fines you if you roll luggage in the house.
House not as nice as advertised:
- backyard best part
- Floors were in bad shape
- Completely broken side door
- Only one key
- Cannot comfortably sleep 16, only 10
- Pull out couches we’re horribly uncomfortable
- 3 bathrooms but only two showers for 8+ people
- You’ll need to buy more paper towels and toilet paper for your stay
She had someone (maybe herself) snooping in our windows at 6am and saw some of our guests completely exposed. She claims that this was not her doing but the person was in the backyard and side yard, looked like her and I’ve seen other guest complain about this as well.
The way Susan’s properties are listed is extremely misleading. I initially believed that we had the whole house because she said there was space for up to 28. She had actually rented out two of the units in the house. When I asked what it would take to get those, she said she would consider giving us one if I paid the full rental cost plus $600 per night to put someone in a hotel plus $100 per person.
I spent 2 months messaging her over and over again asking if we could see the place while I was in town and talk about the event with no response. I finally got a response on the day that I was hoping to visit and she said we couldn’t stop by, eventually she agreed to have the cleaning crew let us in. They were kind and answered as many questions as they could but I needed her to answer questions about hosting my rehearsal dinner. This eventually blew up in the day before checkin when she came out of nowhere with event rules and policies that made it impossible. She left me in a terrible position and did nothing to try to work with me.