I was a little hesitant at first to book Steven’s place based on a couple reviews concerning the cleanliness of the place, but decided to go with it anyway because of the reasonable price. I had let Steven know prior to booking that I usually stay at my girlfriends parents place when I visit Los Angeles, but decided to book an Airbnb to give myself enough time to self-quarantine and get tested for COVID before visiting them since they are at-risk individuals. Steven assured me the place was clean and disinfected so I went ahead with it. Upon arriving, I was so disappointed at how disgusting the place was. The first thing I found was a dirty wet towel in the bathroom sink with someone’s wash cloth wrapped in it. The shower rug was still wet from whoever just left and completely covered in hair. There was also a dirty soap bar in the shower with pubic hair all over it. The stove had not been clean in months with all of its grease caked up around the burners, the toilet had nasty stains all around it, and the floor had not been swept or mopped in what looked like weeks. On top of that, the bed sheets were sloppily made that made me question if they had been properly washed. I messaged Steven pictures of all my concerns to which he replied “the amenities reflect the price” and “I had no idea of the bathroom towel”. He should have told me “the cleanliness reflects the price”. I spent my entire first day scrubbing the entire place down with bleach. Thankfully my girlfriend dropped off fresh new sheets and towels, so I just put all the dirty ones in the closet.
I kindly asked Steven after I had disinfected and cleaned the place (he never offered to send someone back to clean it) if he knew when the previous guest had left. With the spike in COVID cases in Los Angeles, I was concerned that if the previous guest just left before my arrival, I may have been exposed to COVID while deep cleaning the place since they say the virus can last up to 72 hours surfaces. Steven absolutely refused to answer this question, and simply replied “I can assure you the previous guest did not have COVID”. This is obviously something he could not “assure”, to which I voiced my frustration at the ignorance of that statement and got no reply.
A couple days into my stay, I unfortunately lost a very close family member to COVID. I messaged Steven I had to cut my trip short and take the first flight back home to make it to the funeral. At this point, I felt like the least Steven could do was refund me for the remaining 3 days that I would not be in the Airbnb. I understand that this isn’t Airbnb’s policy, but given his initial lack of concern for my health by failing to clean the place properly, I was hoping he would show a little empathy and just refund me for the 3 remaining days. I told him to just let me know what’s fair compensation, but I never heard a reply back.
If you read this far, you can probably assume at this point that I would not recommend this place. The place itself would actually not be that bad if the host took the proper steps to properly clean and disinfect everything - especially as the world faces a pandemic where these things should just be common courtesy. I also did not appreciate Steven’s attitude towards me when I called the place out on being dirty. I was very polite at first but as he continued to gaslight me more and more, I just got frustrated. Please do not stay at this place. If someone cannot respect something as simple as your health during these times, then why give them business? I usually do not write bad reviews, but this one really got to me. If anyone wants pictures of the place upon its arrival, message me privately and I will share them with you.