For the record, we’ve stayed in quite a few Airbnbs and have never before written a bad review. My family and I are very easygoing, and not too particular. When things are less than ideal, we just laugh it off. So I brushed off the negative reviews and rented this place, thinking we wouldn’t be bothered by some of the things others had complained about. We've had nothing but great reviews given to us from hosts, so it's not like we're troublemakers or anything.
That said, this was the worst Airbnb experience we’ve ever had. We were in Austin for only two full days, but in that short time:
1. The unit smelled strongly of cigarette smoke, which was the first thing we noticed when we walked in. If you are at all sensitive to smoke, or even just don’t care to stay in a place that reeks of it, I suggest you choose another rental. I mentioned it to the host, but they were unapologetic, acted surprised and disbelieving (even though multiple reviewers had mentioned it) and asked if it seemed to be coming from the upstairs unit. I imagine there’s not much they can do if there’s a heavy smoker living nearby and it comes into the other units, but guests should be forewarned. It’s ironic that the listing states that there is a big fine for smoking in the unit. How would they know? It was also a red flag that, in the reviews where others said the rental smelled of smoke, the host disagreed with them. Why would so many people say that if it wasn't true? It's always a warning sign when a host tries to discredit reviewers (which I'm sure they will do to me, once this review is posted.)
2. The unit had not been cleaned when we arrived, even though we had communicated multiple times about our expected arrival time, which was one hour after the stated check in time. While we were walking around the unit, noticing the slept-in beds and used towels on the floor, the cleaning person came in, all flustered because she had been told that no one was checking in that day. She only had time to do a quick job while we waited, not a thorough cleaning. To be clear, this was not her fault, at all. This was an issue with the property management. We were like, “No worries, things happen.” because we felt bad for her and we don’t like to make a fuss.
But things went downhill from there.
3. The second day we were there, we were locked out of the unit for 5 hours with all of our belongings inside. At first, we thought that they had changed the code on the keypad. After messaging the host several times, they finally got back to me, telling us to try holding the door while we punched in the code. That didn’t work, and, after several hours of being locked out, they sent someone to check, who discovered that the keypad needed its battery changed. A few hours after that, we were able to get back into the unit. Thank goodness we didn’t have a wedding or something to get ready for or essential medication in the locked unit.
4. The toilet base is not secure, so that it rocks, making you feel like you’re going to fall off every time you use it and makes a loud noise as it hits the wall when you get up. After we asked them to fix it while they were trying to fix the issue with the keypad, it was tightened, but went right back to being off-balance, the first time it was used. In general, the unit is poorly maintained, from the sloppy paint job to the garbage in the parking lot and around the building.
Considering the numerous issues we dealt with while here, most importantly, the unit still having the previous guests’ dirty linens and towels around at check in time and us not having access to the unit, or our personal belongings, for 5 full hours, we asked for some sort of compensation, since the company did not hold up their end of the rental agreement. Apparently, they don’t think having a clean, well-maintained unit that doesn’t stink, as well as access to the unit, and your personal belongings, the entire length of the time you paid for it, is necessary to being a good host, as they were barely apologetic, and wouldn’t even consider refunding a penny of the $516 fee they charged us. After I submitted a formal complaint with Airbnb, the company refunded me $28.13, which is kind of funny. But the point of the complaint was not really about the money, but the fact that the host took little responsibility for the many issues that came up and tried to shift blame, instead of acting professional and taking care of their guests' very legitimate complaints.
The kicker was that throughout the entire stay, we’d periodically get automated emails saying “We hope you’re settled in ok. Let us know if you need anything,” including while we were locked out! I will definitely think twice about renting an Airbnb that’s managed by a property management company again. It was obvious that there was no personal touch and they weren’t particularly concerned with the fact that we were LOCKED OUT (did I mention that we were locked out?) and were just going about business, as usual.