I was in town on business and was supposed to stay here for 2 weeks. The location was very convenient to areas I worked in, the room was private and the host had great reviews so I was very happy when she accepted the booking. She warned me there would be clutter as I would be renting her own bedroom in a 2 bedroom apartment, which she generally did not rent out but during my stay, she would be out of town. She requested a few days to organize her things, which I happily agreed to.
A few days turned into a full week. As this apartment has no living room, there was absolutely no where for me to go while she organized the room I was renting. I had consecutive days off at this point and tried to be accommodating.
However, in the last week I was supposed to be there, she texted me frantically that her landlord had found out she had Airbnb guests in her apartment, which he had explicitly told her was not allowed. I had no idea before this happened that her landlord forbid Airbnb guests. She told me he was now evicting her for breaking the terms of her lease and I saw him often during that time which was beyond awkward.
However, the breaking point came when the building key stopped working. I knew it was illegal for her landlord to lock her out but had no idea what my legal rights were should he decide to lock me out. The other guest in the other bedroom had similar issues with the building key not working. I was now working long days and was constantly stressed about having my things there and being locked out so I moved to another location at my own expense and asked for the last 3 days I had not spent there refunded.
While her communication up until I asked for a refund was so frequent it bordered on intrusive, she never responded to the request for a refund of the last three days. I have waited two weeks to hear back from the host and as there has been no answer, I will just chalk this up to a learning experience wherein I will have to confirm with hosts that they are indeed owners or are permitted to host on Airbnb.
All in all, not a pleasant experience. As I had been so understanding of issues (the week long organization in the 'private' room she was renting, the lack of television/cable as her ad had stated, etc.) I was taken aback at her lack of response to what was clearly a large issue that warranted a refund of the last nights I could not stay because of the issues brought on by her defiance of her landlord's rules. I feel she will no longer be on Airbnb and thus, does not care about the review. It shows someone's character for sure.