Attempting to stay here nearly ruined our trip. The description is misleading, as this house is not “newly renovated” in any way, other than a few coats of paint. The exterior lights were missing light bulbs, which is a safety hazard as there is a step out front that is easy to trip over. The bathtub had flakes of enamel peeling off the inside that were the size of my hand. There is a dog door falling out of the frame in the back door to the house, making it an easy point-of-entry for unwelcome visitors. Despite booking as a family of four, we only had two bath towels. But none of those things were what caused us to leave after only one night of our three night stay.
The amenities listed heating but there was not a functioning heating system in the house when we arrived; the thermostat didn’t work. I messaged the owner and was told to use the space heaters located in the bedroom closets. Apparently that was the “heating” mentioned in the listing. We plugged in a couple of these, which brought the temperature up a few degrees before blowing a fuse and leaving us without power for half of the house. The owner said they would try to get a handyman out the next day but it was a Saturday evening so we had to spend the night in a cold house with no lights in the living room, bathroom or the one bedroom. Most of the outlets didn’t work in those rooms either. The temperature outside went down to 43 degrees Fahrenheit. Our 2 year old had to sleep in bed with us because it was so cold in the house. We woke up at 3:30am, cold, miserable and in the dark with a cranky toddler. We decided to leave as soon as the sun came up and find somewhere else to stay because there was no way to withstand that level of discomfort for another two days. I messaged the seller that we had vacated the premises and politely requested a partial refund. They apologized and said they would refund the next two nights as well as the night we had stayed. I was pleasantly surprised and assumed that that portion of our ordeal was over.
Unfortunately, the refund that was processed was not the full refund the owner had promised. I contacted Air BnB support and was informed the owner was now refusing a full refund. Luckily, Air BnB customer support was incredibly understanding and they honored the full amount.
Be warned that this host thinks that space heaters are enough to be considered “heating” as they informed me that they had used them last winter with no issue. But they did not mention this in the listing, which feels duplicitous. Space heaters are for supplemental heating and definitely not sufficient to heat an entire house.