Giving this airbnb a 2 star rating for providing the bare minimum.
What was provided:
- Enough beds and couches to accommodate our group of 18 people staying for 7 nights.
- 1 roll of paper towels
- 1 roll of toilet paper per bathroom
- Hand soap, body wash, shampoo in every bathroom
- Enough shower towels to accommodate our group
Critiques for the airbnb:
- Predatory pricing. We originally booked the airbnb for a total of $6680 including taxes and fees for 7 nights. After letting Eric know that our group was visiting San Diego with plans to attend a convention happening the weekend we were staying, he bumped the price up by $1000 with an offer to provide a full refund. I assume he did a quick scan to see that a majority of places have already been booked or were charging a lot more per night than he was for his property.
- Trying to check in early. Our group arrived into San Diego around 12PM with a 5PM check in time. I let Eric know about this and to let me know when we are able to check into the house as we had cars full of luggage. A portion of our group waited outside of the airbnb starting from 4PM until our check in time of 5PM. No one came out of the house so we could've checked in early, but didn't as Eric never sent a message saying we were able to check in early. A missed opportunity for good communication.
- AC. AC for this property is extra with our group being charged $30 a day for its usage. The listing states: "(Ac is only on top level of house and extra charge if you choose to use AC) Majority of the year San Diego's so temperate that it's not needed so I don't build it into the nightly rate because most times it's not needed but if you do want it it's available!!"
- What's not mentioned is that the AC is controlled by Eric via an app so paying for the AC does not give you control over its temperature setting. The AC was set to an economy saver mode that did very little in cooling the house at the top level and seemed to only be on at night. I'm very doubtful that the AC being on at night was using $30 worth of electricity per night.
- At the bottom level of the house are 3 rooms with one of the rooms being the bunk bed room at the very back of the house so none of the cooled airflow will be able to travel into this room. Our group had to purchase a fan for the bunk bed room on the bottom floor to make it bearable but even then the space itself is not breathable for 4 adults. For context the high temperature for our stay was 75 degrees Fahrenheit and our group is used to 90 degree weather for New York summers.
- The outside area and game room. The game room itself was unusable and gross. The ping pong, pool, and foosball table were covered in dust and the couches were very worn out and should be thrown away. Not noted in the airbnb listing is that the outside area and game room are closed after 9PM.
- Noise levels and misleading listing. The airbnb listing states "If there is any sent of smoke you will be fined 1500". What Eric told me once we arrived is that if the neighbors complain we will be evicted from the airbnb with no refund AND a $1500 fine. How loud is "loud" when the space can accommodate up to 20 people is up in the air and our group was very careful to not break this rule, but it added to what felt like a very restrictive experience as if we were being watched during our entire stay.
- Not the cleanest house despite "professional" cleaning. We found spiders and roaches in the showers/ rooms of the airbnb. There were also some stains on a few of the walls, ceilings and shower curtains.
- Bedroom 5. Bedroom 5 listed in the airbnb is not a "normal" room. It seemed to be originally part of the living area but uses a movable "wall" to create a new room. This room can be opened from the outside even when locked from the inside which is a little weird.