When I arrived, there was a terribly strong sweet odor that didn't seem right and made me nervous. I also noticed mold growth on the ceiling in the primary bedroom. After putting all of my belongings in the primary bedroom, I decided to move everything out of there when I discovered the mold on the ceiling and just shut the door to try to prevent any issues. After a few hours of the strong smell, I became nervous about my safety. With the ancient out-of-order wall AC unit in the dining room and rustic-looking window AC units in the upstairs, I wondered if it was a freon leak causing the smell. I'm not in the home safety business so I didn't really know what the heck it was but that was my best guess with the old ass AC units.
I shut all of the units off, and the smell seemed to dissipate. I messaged the property contact to let them know I felt unsafe and thought it was freon. This property doesn't appear to be managed by an owner but rather by a company. I was told they would take out the AC units from the window -- not really a solution if the home had been filling up with freon for hours. Because I felt unsafe, I had to book a hotel room last minute after 9 p.m. The property contact refused to consider even a portion of a refund for that night or the next. Further googling indicates that the mold could've been causing that smell. It was a bad experience, and rather than acknowledge that and compensate me, I just lost the approximately $350 with zero recourse for action. I feel like basic safety concerns should be covered with zero fault on the part of the renter. But here I am.