Unfortunately our stay in Long Beach was not what we had hoped for.
Pros: Clean, close to beach
Cons: check in, communication of host, professionalism of host, unclear instructions, uncomfortable furniture, building smells like marijuana, our car got towed after parking in a space our host said we could park in, never received parking pass.
Upon arriving to the AirBnb we contacted the host for instructions as there were minimal check in instructions on the listing. “Call me when you get there”. Once reaching the host on the phone she explained we would need to drive to area 6 and take an elevator up to the apartment. After navigating to area 6 I exited our car and begin to approach the elevator when I lost service on my phone. (We are on the lowest level of a parking garage at this point) After walking around in an attempt to get service I finally reach host. She explains to me that I would need service in order to access the elevator for the first time. I tell her that I don’t get service there and she tells me to go stand by the elevator and continually push the button until it opens. (It seemed like she had someone there on one of the floors pushing the button also? Not really sure) But we stood there and pushed the button until finally the elevator opened for us. When we arrived on our floor the whole floor smelt like marijuana. The apartment was clear of the marijuana smell. We dropped our bags and left. Later that evening we returned. After seeing that there was no parking available in the area of our apartment I contacted the host to ask if we could park in a different area. She told us yes we could as long as we didn’t park in a “reserved” spot, so we made sure not to. While the apartment is listed as sleeping 6, realistically it can sleep 4. There is a queen bed, a twin with a twin sized pull out and a small sectional couch. This couch is not functional. It feels as though someone simply put fabric over the framing. Incredibly uncomfortable and I would not recommend planning on having anyone sleep on it. Fast forward to the next morning and our car had been towed. We have a baby and his car seat AND stroller we’re both in our car. Once we got in touch with the host she was extremely apologetic and agreed to refund us the price of the tow ($289). She initially stated she would Zelle it and later stated her grandson would refund us through AirBNB. She then tells us to park in a reserved spot in area 6. We find the spot she is referencing and there is a big sign that essentially says we’ll get towed if we park here without a parking pass. She says it will be fine and states she will have someone drop off a parking pass. We never received a parking pass throughout the duration of our stay. I spoke with her a few times regarding the refund (because we had yet to receive it) and each time she was rude and condescending, implying she had “begged me” not to park where she said we could park and stating “if you parked where I asked you to park you wouldn’t have never got towed.” Even though this wasn’t at all the case and we have screen shots of messages to prove it. I could see the direction that this was heading and blatantly asked her if we were going to receive the refund she had already agreed to. At this time she tells me that she has thought about it and has decided that she is going to refund me half the cost of the tow but only after reviews have been submitted. It felt to me that she was basically trying to blackmail me into giving her a good review in order to get half of our money back. After I stated the facts and again asked for a refund of the entire cost of the tow she ended the conversation with “So I’m done with this”. I’ve since involved AirBNB and am unsure if we will get a refund or not. We would never stay here again.