BEWARE OF ANTS (and other issues)
TLDR Summary:
While the property is adorable and in a great part of Asheville, we did not feel the host properly warned of or responded to the significant ant issue we experienced during our first 12 hours in the property. We also had a few other issues with the property that are noted at the end of the review. We ended up vacating the property in favor of a hotel after that 1st night (rather than staying 3 more nights as initially booked).
Details:
I’ll preface this review by sharing that I’ve stayed in 22 different Airbnbs over the past 7 years (including two other trips to Asheville, one of which was in the same neighborhood as this property during the same time of year) and have always had very positive experiences. Unfortunately on our recent July 2021 trip to Asheville, this was not the case. Upon arrival, we noticed a few concerns (listed at the end of the review) but experienced our major issue when we woke up around 7:30am the next morning after less than 12 hours in the property.

We woke up to find the kitchen infested with ants, including ants all over/in the brand new, unopened package of muffins we’d bought at the grocery store the next before. We messaged the host immediately about the ant issue and she got back to us about 90 minutes later with the following response “Yikes! They will find a way in regardless of the seal of the door. Ants are very common in town this time of year. I’ll get some Terro before heading to work in about an hour. I’m out currently, but it will work by itself just fine. Moving forward I suggest storing items away in the cupboard and not leaving open food on the counters. Those muffin packages are not sealed. If you have not done so, I’d put everything they’ve infected in the trash and on the porch outside, and they will dissipate when there isn’t anything for them to get. Once the Terro is in place their presence will be very minimal.” She then responded back about an hour later as follows “I left ant bait outside your door. You’ll also find some cotton balls. They have essential oil on them and those are to put near your food in the corners on the counter. A safer alternative for food safe areas. You can use all four traps in the box. One on each side on the door inside. I’d also put one in the bathroom, and the other where you see fit. I have to head to work now, but if y’all are planning to be gone all day, I can prep the space for you when I get back around 2.”
As you can see in her response, the host noted that ants are a common issue and that we should be storing the food in particular ways & places, however she never disclosed any of this in either the Airbnb listing or in the check-in instructions (and we’ve never had issues with ants on either of our prior visits to Asheville, which included a stay in the same neighborhood at the same time of year). If this is a common issue, I’d expect the host to (1) disclose this at least prior to check-in so guests can plan accordingly and (2) provide airtight storage options to guests (Tupperware, Ziploc bags, etc.) – but this was not the case. She left the ant traps and loose cotton balls with essential oil on them outside the front door for us to deal with, rather than entering the property to address the ants herself. She also recommended we put an ant trap in the bathroom, which is on the other side of the bedroom from the kitchen, which made us very concerned that ants could now be expected throughout the property and therefore get into our clothing and other belongings. And while the cost of the muffins was minimal, there wasn’t even an offer to reimburse us for them despite the ant issue making them inedible.
Other issues:
1) SAFETY CONCERN – there are two windows in the TV room that cannot be locked at all. We were surprised by this as we’d always thought all Airbnbs had to have working locks on doors and windows.
2) Differences from property listing (amenities, layout, etc.)
a) The fridge was substantially smaller than noted in the listing’s photos (it’s now a mini fridge). The larger fridge was one of the things that factored into our initial decision to stay in the property, so we were disappointed that it was much smaller than advertised.
b) The bed is configured differently from the listing’s photos so, if more than one person is sleeping in the bed, it requires a person to sleep next to the wall/windows and crawl in/out of the end of the bed or crawl over the other person. This bed setup also means there isn’t easy access to either nightstand.
3) The parking pass was broken and could not be hung on the rearview mirror as advised in the check-in instructions. We contacted the host to confirm that we could leave the parking pass on our dashboard.
4) The toilet seat won’t stay up. Just a heads up if male guest(s) are staying in this property.