Don't stay here!
I'll preface this by stating that I am by no means particular or hard to please. In fact, in all of my travel experiences (including over the course of the past 6 weeks while I have been roadtripping on the West Coast), I have never once complained, written a negative review or requested a refund. That said, I feel compelled to share my experience with this accommodation as not only was the unit itself GROSS (so gross that we didnt end up staying), but the customer service provided by the hosts DISPICABLE.
My partner and I arrived at this accommodation in the evening, after 7.5 hours of traveling in the car. We were exhausted and wanted nothing more than to climb into bed and watch a movie, but decided to go out to dinner based on the state of the unit - extremely damp/musky. Everything felt sticky. Given that we were only staying for one night, we decided that we would deal with it; we quickly showered, induldged in the 2 complimentary water bottles/snack bars and left.
When we returned from dinner, we got ready for bed. It was at this time that we noticed all of the spider/cob webs, including a dead insect leg embedded in the headboard of the bed. There were also what appeared to be fleas flying around the base of the mattress AND a live spiderclimbing on top of a peice of our luggage. Clearly this unit has an insect problem, which is not suprising given how musky it is. It is essentially a small room on the bottom floor of a building, with seemingly limited air circulation. Super humid, damp.
After noticing all of the insects/residue, the final straw for us was the visibile MOLD growing on one of the pillows. We were so grossed out that we decided to leave. We booked a hotel room last minute (adding an additional +$150 to our nightly stay), packed our stuff and left. This was about 2.5 hours after we had arrived.
The next morning, I messaged the host to let her know what had happened and to request a refund. Unfortunately, she responded with a nasty message, saying that because the water bottles and snacks had been consumed, the shower used and the top sheet of the bed pulled back, that we had stayed. This was according to her 'cleaning lady'.
I was suprised to hear about said 'cleaning lady' given the fact that the headboard of the bed had spider webs and a dead insect leg embedded in it. I mean come on, clearly no one cares to clean the unit. I was also shocked to hear that our consumption of complementary snacks upon initially arriving was an indication that we had stayed the night. Had we known that we were to later discover so many insects/residue, we would not have opened the $1 worth of snacks.
And yes, the top sheet had been pulled back, but that was so that we could further inspect for the DISGUST that was the bed in this accommodation. Who wants to climb into sheets after noticing what we had noticed?
I submitted photos of the moldy pillow, the spider, spiderwebs/dead insect leg, and the host still refused to refund me. In fact, they went out of their way to write a negative review on my profile (and before I even thought to submit this!)
SUCH a horrible customer experience. It should not matter if a guest texts you at 1030pm or first thing in the morning to let you know their concerns/that they did not end up staying. Nor should the use of the shower or consumption of free snacks. What SHOULD matter is that as a host - you did not provide a clean and comfortable experience to a paying guest. Why not just be reasonable? If you don't want to provide a refund, the LEAST you can do is provide an apology, not send a nasty message/review. Do better!!