BUYER BEWARE!!! As a disclosure, I do not blame the host for what happened during my stay but instead, how she responded.
For background- I'm a medical school student who spent 14-16 hour days at the hospital with little time at home. The time I spent at home was extremely valuable as I showered, ate, and went to bed immediately at the end of everyday. I was doing a sub-internship at the hospital and needed to stay close by for approximately 1 month. Although the price for this apartment was outrageous, the listing was advertised as a clean, safe full apartment.
WEEK 1
When I first arrived to the airbnb, the location felt a bit sketchy with a lot of guys on the street doing nothing and watching people. However, walking into the airbnb felt like a breath of fresh air- the decorations were perfect, the bed was soft and superb, and the kitchen afforded me a space to work outside of the hospital. I was surprised though that for the steep price, there was no microwave anywhere in the apartment.
Approximately 4 days into my stay, I found a huge cockroach in my bathroom. I immediately notified the host and she informed me that since I couldn't be home to let the exterminator in (i was away at the hospital from morning until night), she'd have a friend stop by in a few days. Unfortunately the friend couldn't find the cockroach. Fast forward to 6-7 days later and I began finding cockroaches all over the apartment- anytime I opened a cabinet there would be 2-3 jutting away. I would say there was at least >20 cockroaches at this point.
WEEK 2
I was at a point where I barricaded myself into the bedroom because I was afraid to go into the bathroom and the kitchen. There were cockroaches everywhere in the apartment anytime I woke up and came home. I was begging the host to bring in the exterminator or I would leave the apartment. The host was responsive and sympathetic with my situation. However, the host couldn't get the exterminator into the apartment until the weekend of week 2 (Primarily because people she was counting never showed up- not her fault).
WEEK 3
Despite the exterminator coming, I continued to find cockroaches on my ceiling, under my hair brush, next to the toilet, in my cabinets, on the walls, and eventually in my bedroom. I felt like I've finally had enough- I was barely in the apartment and the times that I were, I was scared. It was at this time that I asked the host if I could leave a week early due to the inhabitable conditions to which point SHE REFUSED ANY REFUND!!! Once again, I understand it's the summer and cockroaches may come and go, but as a host, she responded inappropriately and refused to refund the last week of my stay despite a cockroach infestation. In order to FINALLY get a refund, I put in a personal request to the host twice (to which she refused) and report these conditions to 2 separate airbnb support members. The first airbnb support member worked with the host and she agreed to refund me a whopping $200 (22% of what a full week cost). I found this completely insulting and sought a second airbnb support member of which he was able to refund me the full amount of my final week stay.
IN SUMMARY
The host refused to refund me for my last week airbnb stay despite having a full cockroach infestation. Her actions were completely inappropriate and demonstrates that she would rather keep the money than make sure her airbnb was livable. DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT GO HERE!