Joyce’s listing was falsely advertised. It states you comfortably sleep 6 guests and got mad at us when we had 4. She stated that we did not inform her of the extra individual but we weren’t hiding it as she saw us walk in, nor did we think it was a problem since we were still in good standing of the listing. We offered to pay extra but she didn’t accept it, knowing she was going to ask us for a much larger fine later - $1050.00. I respectfully asked if she wanted to kick us out but she would have to cancel it and refund us as we merely put our bags down the moment she came to harass us. Keep in mind, you have the option to charge per individual in the AIRBNB listing when people first reserve but she simply does not have that setting. With that being said, we were not in any way shape or form in bad standing of the rules and regulations.
She continued to spy on us the entire stay with the cameras she has set up at every angle around the property while she stayed right below us. Staying below us wasn’t an issue but coming around to a specific area of the property when we would go there simply means she was watching our every move. If we stayed at a hotel, the hotel manager would not hover around the room, come in and out as they pleased, and watch us from cameras. If we knew that’s what this was going to be like, we would’ve stayed at a hotel instead, however, with the current health circumstances in mind, we felt that AIRBNB would be a safer and smarter move. We chose “Entire Place” as a setting when searching on AIRBNB and she listed her property as “Entire Place” but considering her behavior that was the complete opposite of what was advertised, we paid for an entire place but really got a shared space.
She said we were smoking in the house when we weren’t. Her listing says no cigarettes, vapes, or marijuana smoking but messaged me saying “ cigarettes only in the backyard.” We followed directions and went to this designated smoking area in the back. Although we did not smoke cigarettes, my boyfriend does take CBD under a doctor’s order in which he has the proper documentation for. How can you allow people to smoke something they don’t need but don’t allow people to smoke something they actually need for legitimate health purposes?
She claims the home wreaked of smoke when in actuality what she smells is Palo Santo - holy wood that is burned to clear bad energy.
She continued to threaten to kick us out for the entirety of the stay during a national pandemic when it’s not easy to find another place to stay. Again, I gave her the opportunity to cancel our reservation when we first arrived and she already came harassing us but didn’t want to refund us, instead she maliciously let us stay, kept us paranoid that we could be out on the street at any point of the trip, and still asked for $1,000 fine after the entirety of our reservation.
She implements certain rules when she wants to and takes them away when she pleases. At that point, they are no longer rules if they are only in effect at your convenience. Her AIRBNB listing and the communication between us the whole stay were two separate things. I recently saw another review on this property discussing the same issues we endured, and her response to him was I am only allowing 2 people to stay during corona. If that’s the case, why did she even approve the reservation knowing we were at least 3 people? Nor was the listing updated to reflect that. On top of that, nearing the end of our reservation on the last day, she kept insisting that her housekeeper couldn’t find the keys in the lockbox adjacent to the front door when we were literally looking at the lockbox while we loaded our cars to depart and no one was even there like she claimed. The key had been in there for 10 minutes and not once did someone come near the property looking for anything. She lied about many things, had an inaccurate and falsely advertised listing, made us feel paranoid we’d be kicked out at any moment, spied on us, accused us of smoking in the home, and made this entire trip regretful. We came for 3 days to visit my cousin and welcome our new baby niece to the family but she genuinely made us regret visiting SF and made us feel differently about trusting AIRBNB over hotels.
Don’t stay here if you can help it, I promise there are better places elsewhere.