Unfortunately, I can't say that I enjoyed my stay. I have stayed at quite a few Airbnb listings all around the world. And this is the first bad experience I have had.
I had what I could have passed off as just being a minor mistake. But I felt the host (John) dealt with the issue in a highly unprofessional manner.
TLDR: Bedding smelled sour. Instead of helping to resolve the issue, the host (John) was petty and made inappropriate comments. The room is also loud.
My girlfriend and I booked this place pretty last minute. We were in volcano late and wanted to avoid driving back to our rental in Honoka'a.
For some context, this place is not so much like an Airbnb where you stay in someone's spare bedroom. It's more like a small motel.
We checked in around 6:00 pm. We dropped off our bags, took a shower, then went out for dinner with some friends. We returned to the Airbnb at around 9:30 that night. We brushed our teeth and climbed under the covers.
Now, this is the part where the issue started. The top layer comforter smelled awful. It was like that sour smell you get when you leave laundry in the wash for too long. And that smell had infiltrated pretty much all other layers of the bedding.
At first, we tried to sleep with the odor. But it was just too much for us to handle. We looked through the closet for clean bedding to no avail. So I sent the host a message at 9:41 pm, explaining the situation and requesting some fresh bedding. John did not respond to this request. So we decided to check out of the room at 10:15 pm.
The following day, I messaged John again to reiterate the situation and inquire about options for resolution.
I believe a professional host would take the guests' concerns and issues into consideration, even if said host disagreed with the guest. That is not what happened here; John totally dismissed my complaint. He stated that the blanket and mattress pad were washed. And the bedspread and sheets were brand new "just opened today". He also accused me of eating his muffins. I found this comment very bizarre, as there were no muffins in our room.
I then proposed that John issue a refund for $126. I explained my reasoning behind this, which I believe is fair. I paid $153 total for one night in this room. We did not stay the night in the room because of the odor issue. But we did take a shower and use the washroom. So I was comfortable paying John's $16.80 cleaning fee. Also, I did drink a water bottle and used some of the soaps in the washroom. So I figured $10 was more than fair for the water bottle and two pumps of soap. So $153 minus $16.80 minus $10 equals $126.
Now, this is where things started getting weird with John. This was his response to my proposal: "Negative , You came and used the room for 4.5 hours. The only furniture is a bed. Which you and your friend used showered and left."
After failing to resolve the issue directly with the host, I opened a claim on Airbnb. If the host declines or does not respond within 72 hours, then Airbnb will mediate the claim. I requested $126 and listed the same reasons in my formal request. To this, John replied: "I believe they came to have sex and now he wants money back. Sorry we don't have a 4.5 hour rate.".
This comment from John upset me. I find this comment to be so inappropriate, unprofessional, and offensive. Instead of just stating that he disagrees and arguing from that perspective, he has resorted to ad-hominem attacks on his guests. Can you imagine hearing this type of response coming from a hotel manager at any mainstream hotel chain?
Also, as an unrelated side complaint, our room was not well sound insulated. We could hear the TVs in the other rooms and people chatting in the hot tub outside, between 9:15 pm-10 pm, on a weekday.