My husband and I thoughtfully chose this listing for our pandemic-friendly minimoon over other private, luxury listings because of its location and tout of privacy + gorgeous images of the backyard that lead the listing and appeared to be private. We dreamt of private moments to decompress in the backyard that marketed this location. The price was over $750 for 2 nights - a premium. We reached out to Brent to let him know it would be for our honeymoon in advance and never were told if its lack of privacy. We found out the day-of via message that this was actually a back house and that we might see their dog... we then got there for check in to find we had to walk through his car port filled with personal cars by his family’s side door (which we would have to pass through to enter and exit)... that the beautifully photographed backyard was half the size pictured and actually the family’s personal backyard, which the “private” balcony faced. Brent greeted us unmasked in front of this home. When we expressed our discomfort to be on top of his family without privacy in the middle of a honeymoon and pandemic, he said that his family then wouldn’t use the backyard during our stay — but their glass doors facing the backyard would allow their family to see us the whole time. None of this was on the listing — none. When we said within 5 minutes of walking onto the property that we wanted to cancel, he said he’d never gotten this feedback before and refused to give us our money back and Airbnb won’t help us get a credit unless we take pictures, which we are not legally allowed to go back and do because Brent does not want us to. I’m sure he’s normally a great host but in a pandemic, proximity takes on a new meaning and there needs to be transparency in these listings and understanding when guests express discomfort. We are now out $750 and a minimoon during the height of COVID in Texas and will be staying with family until we get a credit, which we are still awaiting to resolve.
I have a 5 star rating and have never complained about a listing. We quarantined for 2 weeks at an Airbnb weeks prior to this and a HomeAway for my wedding weekend with no issue. Our hosts have been universally careful.
All to say, beware of the beautiful images taken on Airbnb Plus. Beware of hosts who don’t care about guest’s needs in a pandemic. Beware of Airbnb’s affinity to the host and not the guest. I have never been so disappointed and at such a meaningful moment in our lives.