I booked Rob’s Air BnB Plus for my partner’s birthday weekend, but Rob’s property is an Air BnB Plus in the same way that your Tinder date’s height rounds up from 5’6” to 6’0”.

The “entire house” that’s a “downstairs unit” is the basement of his house.

It’s walking distance to downtown the same way that a 5k is walking distance to the finish line.

Beware that the listing is intentionally misleading and when my partner who’s disabled and 7 months pregnant contacted him at the time of check-in by phone through her Air BnB app (since she was on the reservation as well), he ignored her call. He didn’t return her call, either, despite his listing stating that he usually responds within 1 hour.

Curious as to why he would respond to everyone else within 1 hour and eager to resolve the misunderstanding, I reached out to him the next morning.

Rob said he only responded to me because I’m the one who’s card paid for the reservation, which to be honest came across as a bit sexist.

My partner had left him a very non-adversarial, but concise voicemail explaining that we couldn’t stay there because we did not realize the property was going to be essentially unusable for someone with a disability. She said that the entry way to the unit was unclear from the listing and inaccessible for her upon arrival. She complimented the view and the styling of his basement, but asked for a refund of any amount he offer.

When I reached out the next day, I simply said that I’d like to resolve this before leaving a bad review. Rob’s replies to previous bad reviews stated he wished people would reach out to him first. His listing also states that if you have a problem to please reach out to him, first.

Rob’s response was to twist my partner’s words into something that aligned with his own narrative. He also said he would have refunded us the cleaning fee only had I not “threatened” a bad review.

Rob’s listing states that his property undergoes a 5-step cleaning process for each guest, but his basement had noticeable, low-hanging, thick cobwebs all over the ceiling.

My partner has CIRS from water-damaged buildings and also noticed right away that there were patches all over the ceiling from water damage/leaks or termite damage (also indicative of water intrusion) that had been patched over, but not yet painted.

The smell of air freshener was thick, but not thick enough to cover up the musk of a basement.

I had hoped that Air BnB’s customer service would help us out, but instead they gave us a partial refund (as did Rob, eventually).

We ended up cutting our trip (and her birthday celebration) a day short due to this whole thing. Myself, my partner, and my 5-year old were all exhausted from what was supposed to be a relaxing, premium experience.

The night of our check-in we ended up booking last minute at the AC Marriott, which is actually walking distance to everything in downtown. It was a fraction of the cost and truly a premium experience, unlike Rob’s Basement Plus with a View.

Now that Air BnB is publicly traded, they no longer cater to their guests, but to their hosts even when the host is deceitful and discriminatory.

If you have trouble with Rob’s listing, I can’t recommend contacting him or Air BnB. However, I can recommend contacting the FTC. They will take your complaints seriously.

All in all, Rob is a great guy in the same way the try-hard from your undergrad Econ class was a great guy until you trigger his inadequacy complex.

Save yourself some money and dignity by booking somewhere else.