Air Bnb
Will NEVER stay in an Air Bnb again.
The ad reports that there are surveillance devices “on” the property. It does not indicate that they are IN the property. Also, there are no instructions provided on how to lock the door. If you read through the messages with Fa, she says to press in the code to open the door and the “Schlage” button to lock the door. When inside, the “Schlage” button DOES NOT lock the door. The door has to be manually locked from inside. The door was left open all night, completely accessible and unprotected from the outside
The both shelves inside the shower are rusted. The garbage is left IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FLOOR in the kitchen. If you want to eat, it is within 5 feet of an UNCOVERED garbage bag. Garbage is not even inside of a pail or container, it is in cardboard boxes and bags. I have photos of both. There were two lamps in the room. One did not have a light bulb. I took pictures to prove all of the above.
It was not clear to me that I would be sharing this space with anyone other than the host. I understood the space was shared. I thought it was shared with the host. The person who was verified, reviewed, and vetted. It was terrified to find a person in the kitchen one day that was not the host. I thought someone had broken in to the unit.
The guests I shared the space with did not follow the house rules. Past midnight, one of the guests was rustling around in the kitchen. They made so much noise, it sounded like a family of raccoons were rummaging through a dumpster. I didn’t complain, because I thought it was the host making that noise. As a guest in her house, I forgave it. (See paragraph above. I was still not aware I was sharing the space with strangers.)
On the second night, I listened to a couple downstairs argue. It kept me awake. I thought about writing Fa a note. I was going to tell her that her neighbors are very loud.
The following morning, I ran into a stranger I was sharing the unit with. The stranger told me that it was Fa who lived downstairs, and not noisy neighbors.
The stranger also explained that there was a closet with slippers available to me. (Fa did not want shoes worn in the house, which I respected at all times by leaving my shoes by the door).
My sleep on BOTH nights was disturbed.
Fa’s messages are not grammatically correct English. I will not make any assumptions and will only state the facts- the messages were not grammatically correct English.
This made communication very difficulty and also caused a security threat...
Fa said that to enter the unit, I enter the code in to open the door and the “Schlage” button to lock the door. I went inside. I pushed the “Schlage” button to lock the door behind me. When inside, the “Schlage” button DOES NOT lock the door. The door has to be manually locked from inside. The door was left open all night, completely accessible and unprotected from the outside!
Also, another example of poor English, is using the abbreviation “P/S” to stand for password. I have never heard of this abbreviation before. She kept writing P/S followed by a phone number. What she meant to say, is that the password for the WiFi is the 10 digits shown.
She also wrote something about post-it notes in the kitchen; however, I still can not decipher what she was trying to say.
The location listing was described accurately. There are probably restaurants “within a short distance” as the ad describes, but it was not within walking distance. The only places in walking distance were run-down gas stations, a CVS, and a liquor store.
Many homes on I had warnings posted that the area is subject to thievery. It says that all cars are vulnerable to being broken into during the day and not to leave valuables inside, as per the police department. This did not make me feel very safe.
The ad says “free 24 hour parking”. Although I did not have any issues finding parking, parking is not 24 hours. You cannot park on the 2nd or 4th Monday due to street cleaning. Across the street is a school, and there is no parking while school is in session.
I will NEVER stay in an Air Bnb again.