WARNING: THERE IS NOTHING SUPER ABOUT THIS HOST AND THE COMPLEX SURROUNDING THIS APARTMENT CAN BE DESCRIBED AS “SKETCHY” AT BEST. My original intent was to enjoy a first visit to Austin with my wife in a clean and safe Airbnb within walking distance from restaurants and a short drive downtown. We realized minutes after arriving I made a HUGE mistake. The host’s description of a gated community within a “diverse, blue collar neighborhood” was more likened to sleeping in a remodeled gas station in a run down neighborhood where the attendant operates from behind bullet proof glass and hands you your change through a metal slot. I could write an dissertation about the shortcomings inside the apartment to include the fact that the sofa could benefit from a thorough steam cleaning; the shower curtain needs to be burned and replaced; the towels and bed linens are NOT white (most are so dark you couldn’t tell if they were clean without a blacklight); the ONLY television in the house needs a set of instructions; or that the air condition never cools the living room so a cheap plastic fan was put in as a backup. However, these complaints seem petty and insignificant in comparison to the complete and utter disregard for professionalism demonstrated by this so called SUPERHOST. After attempting to make contact via the message board and text, the host replied 24 HOURS later and informed me he INTENTIONALLY disregarded my “lame complaints” for “abandoning” his apartment. I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP! It was obvious that instead of trying to rectify this situation in a sensible manner (I requested only a partial refund), he used his energy to fire off counter arguments and make childish side comments like a keyboard warrior trying to win a Twitter beef.
Needless to say, my wife and I packed and got out of this twilight zone as quickly as we could-a decision I do NOT regret. What I do regret is that I trusted the host to be professional in his communication and ethical in his description of the apartment. I SHOULD have read through several reviews dating back to 2017 from guests whose experiences were as bad or much worse than ours (see Cryssie, May 2018). It’s obvious that the host has spent a lot of time and money putting lipstick on this pig of a property. However, that does NOT give him the right to be unresponsive and then blatantly disrespectful to patrons who just want a decent place to stay and to feel safe walking to their cars UNARMED. I’m sure he will reply to this review with a flurry of immature comments about how many people love his place and how this was ALL my fault because I’m some unrealistic elitist pansy. However this could not be further from the truth because I have worked in law enforcement for over 10 years and have traveled all over the world (including other Airbnbs), and have NEVER once written a negative review against anyone. What will be true is that it was my fault for taking his pictures of the apartment at face value and trusting his description of the surrounding area. PLEASE heed my advice and do NOT book with this host. He does NOT deserve to carry the title Superhost or Uncle because that’s reserved for people who are far more competent and caring.
Fortunately this tragic story ends well… The professional staff at Airbnb fully refunded my money and apologized on behalf of the host who obviously doesn’t have the common sense to do so himself.