I had a bad experience at this particular airbnb. Before I arrived, I realized I had a dentist appointment and I asked the host if I could shorten my stay but due to minimum night required that wasn’t possible. I take ownership of the poor planning on my end. I was so excited to come back and visit New Orleans that I didn’t review my schedule and booked as soon as I could get some time off work. As this was a last minute book I had very limited options.
When I arrived, there was a palmetto bug just outside the bedroom door. I had taken a photo and let the host know but throughout the course of my first night at the airbnb I became more uneasy due to my phobia of cockroaches. Due to the size and proximity, the cockroach was triggering for me and made me increasingly uncomfortable. I do my best not to complain unnecessarily but this was the first time I experienced a roach indoors in New Orleans and in an airbnb. I am
Not experienced enough to know the difference between a cockroach and palmetto bug but visually they appear similar and based on a google search this bug is a large cockroach species.
Additionally, my allergies were triggered as well and my eyes became increasingly itchy and swollen throughout the night. My allergic reaction became increasingly worse the longer I stayed. Compounded with my phobia. I did not have a good night. I did not recall reading anything about a cat but to be fair I booked everything on my mobile airbnb app and the formatting could have made it more difficult to read everything. If I had been aware of a cat,
I would have not booked this airbnb as I’m highly allergic and due to the shared space it was unavoidable for me.
The shower drained very slow as well and at the time, had gray hair blocking the drain.
All of these elements made me uncomfortable and I had to chose my safety and comfort. I decided to leave after one night and this was the first time in my airbnb experience I had to leave because I was too comfortable to stay. The messages escalated between myself and the host, it got to a point where I did not feel comfortable returning without someone to accompany me. I had to ask friends of friends until someone was able to accompany me so I did not have to be alone in the airbnb.
The host has a cancellation policy that did not allow me to receive to refund and although I tried to be as communicative and reasonable as possible, given the situation, I don’t think the host handled this fairly. This truly felt purely transactional and unfair for me as I was the solo traveller and more vulnerable in this situation. I’m sure the host may have other opinions or be suspect of me.
Airbnb, after evaluating this situation, did give me partial credit but I received the resolution after I had made the decision to leave the airbnb. I had to book another airbnb for the next evening before knowing if this situation would be resolved.
What I’ve learned that as a single woman I prefer not to be in a shared situation. I felt uncomfortable and as communication escalated, I felt unsafe. I did my best to be communicative and honest. I’ve used airbnb in several countries and this was a bad experience for me.
For someone who does not have a phobia of roaches and cat allergies - you may have a different experience. As they say in travel, your miles may vary. I recognize that my situation was different for a few reasons.
Based on my experience, I would not recommend this airbnb.