Expectations are born from past experiences, right? If my spouse and I lived in a cave, the Blue House would have been wonderful. We planned to rent it for 10 days and shelled out $2,400+
Our biggest expectation — and need — was for cleanliness. This wasn’t met at all. The entry was not swept = our first clue. The carpeting and throw rugs throughout the house were dirty and old. There was toothpaste on the bathroom faucet, a used towel hanging on the rack. Hair in a bathroom drawer. Hair dryers with broken settings. There were dirty (as in food residue) glasses hanging in the kitchen cupboard. The dishwasher had a strong unpleasant odor. There were food stains on the kitchen drawers. Kitchen handles had food crusted on them. The lids of the two kitchen garbage cans were filthy. One of the gas burners on the stovetop would not ignite, spewing gas into the air.
We complained to Ron the host that the crank for the window in the bedroom was broken. “Oh yeah, I been meaning to get that fixed.” He admitted, after the house had last been cleaned, his friend had stayed in the house “but that he had changed the sheets.” WTF?
No measuring cup in the kitchen. One tablespoon. We bought lots of food and cooking would have been difficult. FWIW, one small screen TV, perhaps 30”, to the side of the bed = bad viewing angle. WiFi worked fine. Bed was comfortable.
He offered to have the cleaning service come to the house in two days and refund us $200. Then we discovered the crank for the only other window in the bedroom was similarly broken. Our patience for “old and cool” evaporated and we advised Ron we were vacating. We took pictures of everything and so advised Airbnb.
We had few choices for the remaining eight days of our vacation but found a superhost for four days and another great location for the remaining time. Each rated 4.9+
If your needs for cleanliness and functionality are less than ours and if you value an old home (circa 1930s? 20s?) in Madison Valley, this may be fine for you.
Our prime error was not noticing that no one reported that it was clean. This was a mistake by us. Henceforth, reviews must say something like “sparkling clean.”
We asked Airbnb for $1,800 back. Ron the Host objected, offering -0- even though he promptly re-rented it for the entire time of our stay according to his listing. Although we didn’t get $1800, Airbnb took care of us nonetheless.