This Airbnb was interesting to say the least. I usually don't leave such a thorough review or complain about things, as I understand that sometimes things simply go awry. Unfortunately, this rental was a whole different story. I will start with the positives...
Positives:
- Location was absolutely amazing and is arguably the best thing about this rental. The National Mall, great restaurants, and public transportation are all within walking distance so no car is required.
- Everything one could ever need to cook your own meals is provided.
- Plenty of extra paper towels and toilet paper were supplied. I find this is often not the case.
- More towels and blankets than could ever be needed were provided.
- Tons of tea and coffee provided.
- Bottle of rose was on the table upon arrival.
Negatives:
- The pictures are accurate but are lacking in showing the amount of stains EVERYWHERE. I was genuinely grossed out and hesitant to stay for the full duration booked. There was what appeared to be a red wine stain on the couch, an old blood stain on the side of the bed, and many yellow/brown stains on the bedroom carpet. The rental description mentioned that "finishes are old" but this is beyond the meaning of "old" and, quite frankly, are unacceptable.
- Shower curtains were moldy and had not appeared to have been washed any time recently. It is possible they were just old and in need of replacing.
- Bed and couch were very uncomfortable. Many sleepless nights were had.
- Every other morning from approximately 4:45 am to 5:30 am water from the outside spigot cut on and gushed very loudly preventing me and my husband from sleeping.
- This one was the big kicker... When I booked this rental, I was promised a parking pass and is the only reason I selected this place. Upon arrival my husband and I searched for this mysterious parking pass that was mentioned in the rental description, a message from the host, and a welcome binder on the table, but it was nowhere to be found. We arrived at approximately 7 pm and street parking was free from 8:30 pm to 7 am with a 2 hour limit outside of those hours, so it wasn't a huge deal immediately upon arrival. The issue needed to be sorted out that night so I wouldn't have to relocate my car at 7 am the following morning or pay for parking. As a result, I immediately reached out to the host. The host responded stating they reached out to the owner making them aware of the problem at hand, however, the issue was not resolved that night and no update was provided the following morning. My husband and I checked the rental listing thinking we may have overlooked something upon initially booking the rental. At that time the host changed the parking information to reflect a new parking policy in DC without notifying us. This seemed pretty dirty to me? The change in policy was never brought to our attention and the host was not straight forward about it upon arrival and when we raised questions about the parking pass issue. The following morning we had to wake up early to move my car to a parking deck, which ended up costing over $100. This is a 10% increase in the rental cost and is unacceptable since Airbnb’s policy states that if the rental does not meet what was agreed upon that a resolution would be considered. The following morning I corresponded with Airbnb in an attempt to receive a refund of sorts to account for the unexpected increase in cost but I was told there was nothing that could be done. We were EXTREMELY frustrated to say the least and I cannot recommend that anyone book with this host. There appears to be a great deal of negligence here!!! Beware!!
- Check out message was sent from host at 11:30 pm the night before. Doesn’t seem like much of a heads up when checkout is at 10 am. This may be nit picky and a reflection of my frustrations being high after the parking shenanigans.
- As others mentioned, there is a lockbox on the gated door. The door code was displayed on the lockbox upon arrival. This is very, very unsafe! Additionally, there was no key in the lock box so that the back yard door could be locked from the exterior. This is only required in the event one needs to exit through the rear door.