This was beyond a doubt the worst travel experience I have ever had.
It was booked only a day in advance as my previously booked accomodation cancelled, but this was accepted and confirmed. I provided my flight information to the hosts as I always do, especially as my flight was a late evening arrival.
My flight was delayed an hour, so we arrived at the Airbnb at midnight. My partner and I were exhausted after a days long travel and were desperately ready to sleep. However after following the hosts detailed instructions we opened the key safe to find it empty...
We then knocked on the door, as this was to be a room in a condo with a resident... no answer. We called the host’s number, and after no answer left a voicemail.
We were able to use the Airbnb’s wifi to look for hotels, but those we were able to contact had no availability. When then drove around for over and hour checking all those that we could, but it is high tourist season in Hawaii so we had no options. We went back to the Airbnb to try one last time, to knock as loudly as we could without disturbing the neighbors, again no answer.
We finally ended the night around 4pm by parking at a public beach to sleep in the car. It was horrible and potentially unsafe as we didn’t know the area, or even if it was legal for us to do so...
The next morning the host did contact us, but not particularly apologetic and somewhat insinuating that we were at the wrong condo. Granted they do look alike and surely others could have had that issue, but we had an empty key safe and used the wifi... we were at the right place.
I don’t like leaving bad reviews and the host has processed a refund ( and offered us a shower the next day, but we had already left the area) but it cannot refund my sleep, my stress, and the following day of vacation which should have been spent touring, but instead we were able to check in early to next booking (thank goodness for them!) and slept the day away.
My lesson and reason for posting this is: if you have a late arrival, check and double check with the host to make sure all is ready. I wouldn’t wish my experience on anyone. For the first time since using Airbnb, I see the potential superiority of hotels, as this never would have happened there.