As a member of AirBnB since 2013, I’ve never had to write anything other than glowing reviews for the homes I’ve stayed in. Unfortunately this review breaks that streak.
On the exterior this listing appears to be wonderful with its attractive photos, good location, and 4.96 star rating. It’s why we selected this “shabby chic” listing in the first place! After all, we would be staying here for a total of 8 days over the Thanksgiving holiday with 7 guests in our party, including my 68 year old mother and my 2.5 month old daughter. Choosing a comfortable, clean, and functional home with a history of positive feedback was priority number one for us. I’m disappointed to say this listing did not meet our expectations.
Aside from being more shabby than chic, the first thing I noticed was that our master bedroom comforter had brown stains in multiple places. The host Samantha assured me (AKA gaslit me) that it was “clean” and used her high star rating to invalidate my concerns. I could have looked the other way if that was the only unpleasant but forgivable hiccup. It wasn’t.
In addition to our comforter, each bathmat for the two bathrooms were stained brown from the revolving door of previous guests. And when I took my first shower, I was surprised to be standing in a small pond of stagnant water as a result of a gunky, clogged drain. After some back and forth with Samantha, my plea for new bedding, bathmats and Drano or a discount on the listing was passed on to her co-host Debbie.
My experience with Debbie was a different story. Debbie was lovely, apologetic, and solution-oriented. She agreed that the stained items were in need of replacement and sent what I requested overnight via Amazon Prime. She also reimbursed us for one night. Thank you Debbie!
Sometimes even good hosts with the best intentions may lose touch with what’s required to keep guests happy and a home functioning properly after a busy season. From the scantly rationed bath towels (there was only one towel per person) and minimal space on the drying racks to hang them, to the sagging mattress in the master bedroom and make-up stained spare sheets for the sofa bed, to the chipped and missing kitchenware, to the waning supply of washing pods + dishwasher detergent, to the bedroom and restroom doors never fully closing shut and creaking loudly at night, it’s clear this house has seen heavy use and better days.
Some guests in our household even chose to relocate midweek due to the aforementioned grievances.
I would encourage both Samantha and Debbie to stay in their own property for a week with the max capacity of guests allowed to fully understand what it’s like to be in the shoes of their occupants.
I would also encourage the first response from Samantha to not be one of defensive language — citing positive reviews— but of empathy toward their paying customers.