We use Airbnb pretty often with no issues and assume that neighborhoods meet the minimum standards. Well, not this time! We are a family of 2 parents and 2 kids , we’d booked 5 nights for around 1000$ but ended up leaving from the first night and staying instead in a hotel. We felt that the place was neither safe nor appropriate.
It’s a small building of 4 units in a bad neighborhood sharing a main entrance. In the appartement, the walls are poorly insulated and we kept hearing
people next door being loud as if present in the same room, kids outside playing incessantly with firecrackers, neighbors right across fighting loudly on the front porch with derogatory comments and profanity. We also kept smelling weed inside the appartement itself and when we decided to get out, we were surprised to see five grown men smoking weed right at the entrance!
We tried to call the host to express our concerns directly however no answer. We messaged her through Airbnb expressing our wishes to leave but the host responded refusing to pay a refund since marijuana is legal in DC and that we can leave if we chose to. Although we were willing to pay a penalty since the unit itself in all fairness was tidy and clean. We didn’t want to argue and ruin our vacation so we ended up leaving respectfully.
We didn’t know that we can actually still cancel the reservation and get a decent amount of money back had we done it early, and of course the host never mentioned it.
So, if you come to DC with a group of friends in order to party, this place - although overpriced - may still serve this purpose. However, if you are coming on a family vacation to relax and visit DC, for the same amount of money, you can book a 4-star hotel closer to the attractions. (as we unfortunately or rather fortunately ended up doing!)
Bottom line : Stay Away!