This is the first negative report I ever wrote about an Airbnb. Until this time, I have always had excellent experiences.
I was traveling to Kauai, and needed a place for three nights, while I waited for my long-term residence to open.
I reserved this well ahead of my arrival.
A few days before I arrived, I realized I would be getting to the condo about an hour before check-in time.
Sometimes there is flexibility, so I contacted the owner to ask if I could check in at 3pm rather than the listed 4pm time.
She responded that, with COVID, her cleaners do such a complete job that it often takes them until 4pm to finish. I sent her my cellphone number in case they finished early. I did not get a response or an early call and waited in the parking lot until 4pm.
When I entered the condo, I discovered that no preparations had been made for my arrival. The bedroom was in disarray with unmade dirty sheets and had a bad odor. The bathroom was filthy with wet dirty towels and no evidence of cleaning. The kitchen had dirty dishes in the sink and on the counters, and the refrigerator was filled with half-eaten food. The living room had open food containers around the room and the surfaces were dirty.
I called the owner who seemed shocked by my report. She stated she was going to call her husband, who took care of cleaning, and would call me back immediately.
I did not receive an immediate phone call back, and after a while, called the owner again. Her husband answered the call. I said I wanted a refund and he agreed to a full refund. Then he said something that motivated me to write this report.
He said he hoped I could find another place because the last time it happened the people could not find another place and had to remain in the condo, which made it uncomfortable for everyone.
I could understand a one time communication gaff that resulted in this. I would expect the owner to make sure this never happened again.
That it happen more than once is extremely unacceptable. To also have the owners provide no assistance and poor communication were additional reasons to dissuade others from staying here. The owners did not help in any way.
It was thanks to a wonderful member of the Airbnb staff that I had a place to stay that night. He made sure I found an excellent replacement and continued to check on me after I arrived at my new site.
For fellow travelers,
I would not recommend you book this condo. If it happened more than once, it could easily happen again.
It is a terrible experience to arrive exhausted from traveling and to discover late in the day that your residence is filthy and unsafe. It was also compounded by a lack of support from the owners, who only didn’t want to be made uncomfortable in case I couldn't find an alternative site.