From the get-go, this was the Airbnb from hell. Unlike other reviewers, I was not given direct access to host Lee, only to his increasingly antagonist manager, Elan. I did not come to NYC and pay $3761 to manage repairmen, shop for missing essentials like soaps and toilet paper, and restore the unit to the description on the Airbnb listing. They should have hired a restoration manager. Instead, I was expected to handle these incidences free which took precious time away from the reason I came to NYC to care for a newborn. There were constant impositions.
First, the heating was broken and it was freezing when I arrived. Other broken items were: dishwasher inoperative, bathtub drain non-functional, TV remote broken, bedroom lamp broken, coffee maker broken, and bathroom sink stopper missing so spiders came up into the bowl. The window latch on the sidewalk level was stuck open initially causing a security issue.
It was left to me to stay home and manage 5 different repairmen-4 plumbers and a heating guy plus 4 no shows. Elan asked me to leave the key so they could come in while I was gone. Airbnb responded absolutely not as it was a safety and privacy concern. Even worse, 4 of the 5 pulled their Covid masks down after entering.
Besides dealing with the window, plumbing and heating issues, I was forced to go shopping for missing essentials including toilet paper, dish towel, kitchen sponge, dish soap, dishwasher soap, and salt on the second day there.
The grossest problem occurred after a rainy day when the kitchen sink regurgitated and belched mud and waste matter daily. It was filthy, smelly, an unacceptable health risk and I couldn’t use the kitchen for 5 days.
I was stressed to the max and received no satisfaction from the host for my time, distress, inconvenience, and huge impositions. Airbnb is now conducting an internal review of the host and will apply penalties. The listing should be removed from the website.