This was my second visit to Heath’s place after visiting four days prior during the Pandemic (when nobody was booking anything). I gave Heath Five Stars in the first review in hopes he would fix all of the issues i found on the first visit. Out of courtesy i didn’t mention any of the issues in the public review on the first visit. I was hoping he would acknowledge my suggestions and fix the issues i pointed out in the private feedback (if i decided to come back a second time) Unfortunately, he failed miserably!
My second visit was for a week (four days after my first visit). One of the positive things is the location of this Airbnb. It is a fifteen minute walk (0.8 miles) to the Market Center Station train (DART)that takes you to and from DFW. It is also a five minute walk to the Route 29 bus to downtown if you want to check out the JFK stuff. It’s also about a ten minute walk to Kroger’s to buy any groceries. Also this Airbnb is located in the “gayborhood”, which is prime for any LGBT visitors.
The smart lock to enter the Airbnb is very finicky and does not open when you put the code in and press the lock button. Imagine arriving at midnight (like me) and not being able to get the door to open. A somewhat panicked feeling right? I had to jiggle it and turn the door handle while it was attempting to unlock to finally get it to open. I mentioned this to Heath in his private feedback on my first stay hoping he would get this fixed. Of course he didn’t. He also used the same entry code on my second visit as my first visit (four days apart). This made me nervous for future guests perhaps making me think he doesn’t change the code for future guests and uses the same code over and over. This is a potential security issue for guests.
Cleanliness was also an issue as it was just “rushed over clean”. I had moved the couch closer to the outlet in the living room so i could charge my phone while watching television and the floor where the couch was moved was filled with dust and other items. White paint specks on the floors throughout the unit made me feel like there was toilet paper specks everywhere. It was just white paint specks. Floors were wavy and not done very professionally. A couple of times after watching tv for a long time i found a ant crawling my leg and one on my neck. I didn’t see ants but they found me!
I found a greased out pan in the oven that i had no choice but to use. It was obviously forgotten in the oven. I attempted to clean it after i used it but his sponges were not enough. He.needs a stronger industrial strength scrubbing brush or brillo pad to get the level of grease it had on the pan which i could not find.
Cooking was a challenge as he didn’t have the correct pans to cook eggs and bacon in. He needs the non stick type of pans instead of the metal types. He needs vegetable oil or butter to provide guests so cooking food won’t get stuck to the pans when attempting to cook. Again i mentioned these issues on my first visit and got no acknowledgement of my suggestions or anything provided on the second visit. I had also mentioned a pizza pan and pizza cutter (after the first visit) would be nice as most guests will eat something like that. Again no acknowledgement.
The air conditioning and ceiling fan in the bedroom were pretty nice in keeping the apartment nice and cool as the temperatures fluctuated from 55 to 93 during my week visit.
Communication was pretty slow and robotic. Check in instructions established no rapport with me and they were obviously standard repetitive instructions sent to every new guest. It’s obvious the sole purpose of this Airbnb is to communicate as minimally as possible with the guests as i didn’t feel welcome or nothing was said by Heath to make me feel excited for my trip to Dallas.
After my first visit, i mentioned to Heath it would not break the bank to provide a couple of bottled waters and snacks to make the guest feel welcome after traveling all day. Of course i received no acknowledgment to my suggestions and nothing was provided on my second visit. It made me feel unimportant.
It was obvious this Airbnb was furnished by a male as it had no female touches which is sorely needed. Also the host may be somewhat new to the Airbnb platform as it had the feel of a rookie host or someone unconcerned with the guests but more so about making money. As info, i tried to negotiate a lower rate on my second visit due to the pandemic (i requested $59 a night instead of $70 per night). Heath declined my request, but i had to send a second message two days later (after my request)to get him to respond to my request which again made me feel unimportant and forgotten.
The IKEA bed was comfortable and sleeping was fine. Although an occasional overhead plane can be heard (although this was during the pandemic when no one was flying so can only assume noise is worse during normal times). Also a dog barking in the distance could be occasionally heard and weird sounding birds or creatures could be heard at times. No instructions on where to take out the trash was provided as i was there for seven days on my second visit and could have taken out my trash. I didn’t see any trash bags anywhere so maybe it was better i didn’t take out the trash.
The door from the bedroom to the living room does not close and does