I stayed at Sofia's place because I was in town for an industry conference.
The check in process was very nice but when I got to the room, I knew I was in trouble - there was no AC on and it was 85 degrees!
I texted Sofia and she turned the AC on right away to 68 degrees. The room took about an hour to cool.
I did not understand why Sofia had kept the room so hot - she knew in advance what time I would be coming and it was only when I texted her that she turned it on.
She had the thermostat in a lock box, so you couldn't adjust the temperature or tell what temperature it was on.
Once the room cooled down, I went to sleep expecting to get a good night's sleep. Imagine my disappointment when I awoke at 3:30 in the morning dripping in sweat because the AC had been turned off and the temp in the room was now 80 degrees. The AC never turned back on after this.
The next night the same situation happened again. The room was 85 degrees when I arrived and Sofia only turned the AC on when I texted her telling the room was hot. It was clear at this point that she kept the AC off to save money. Again, I awoke at 3:30 in the morning dripping in sweat because the AC had been turned off and the temp in the room was now 80 degrees. Again, the AC never turned back on after this.
Since this had happened two nights in a row - it was clear that Sofia must have had the AC running on a scheduler. This explains why the AC turned off every night at the same time.
Had Sofia mentioned this in advance that she was trying to save money on heating costs I would never had booked the unit. Seriously, it wasn't worth the stress/hassle.
I texted Sofia to let her know that the AC was off and it was very hot in the room. An hour later I texted her again to let her know that I had been unable to go back to sleep due to temperature in the room.
Sofia's response was ridiculous - rather than simply acknowledging the issue and trying to work with me to resolve it, she denied the issue even existed and proceeded to gaslight me/blame me for the situation!
Due to her response, I submitted a refund request. When I got back to the unit, the same thing happened - the room was 85 degrees. I sent Sofia and Airbnb letting them know that I had to open the door to my room since the room was so hot. After a long back and forth with Airbnb, they refunded 70 dollars of my money and told Sofia to turn the AC on. She sent me a picture showing that she had set it to 65. That night was my last night there, but it was the only night that I was able to get a decent sleep since the AC magically never turned off. Indeed, I woke up at 6 am on my own and the AC was still pumping! Imagine that!
To Sofia: don't list your place on Airbnb if you are not willing to make your listing habitable. Don't gaslight your guests when they bring an issue with your unit to your attention. Had you mentioned in advance that you were trying to save money on heating costs I would never had booked the unit. Seriously, it wasn't worth the stress/hassle.