I booked Emma’s apartment for a long stay (46 days) in November 2020.
I went to check in to the apartment around 6pm on my check in day, followed all instructions and then found no keys in the lock box. I assumed this was an error.
I contacted the host immediately when I saw the keys were not in the lock box. I was told I would get a call back shortly, once they checked with the cleaners.
I waited with my bags in the lobby for 30 minutes (after having been awake since 3.30am to catch an early flight into Sydney) and ended up having to ring them again myself when it was clear nobody was going to contact me. I was exhausted and just wanted to get inside.
When the host’s team picked up the phone, I spoke to the same person I spoke to initially who said “oh, didn’t anyone ring you?” No, clearly not. He sounded like he didn’t really want to be the one to explain to me what had happened.
He then explained the situation and told me that something had gone wrong with the booking system / calendar and the apartment was double booked with another extended stay. He apologised, but I felt that the apology wasn’t very genuine. I was basically told to contact AirBnb to sort out new accommodation myself and that the host would arrange a refund.
Shortly after, I received a message from the host in response to another message I had sent when I was still waiting for a call back which started along the lines of “Hi Kasia, thanks for your message!” I found this extremely tone deaf.
Overall, I wasted 30 minutes sitting around waiting for an answer when I could have spent that time sorting out new accommodation. I was left to work out what to do next. Thankfully I am very familiar with the area so I knew where the nearest hotels were if I needed to stay there. If I had been a first time visitor to Sydney or someone from overseas, it would have been much worse. The lack of empathy was disappointing.
I was not able to organise a new Airbnb that night so had to pay out of pocket for a hotel room. Airbnb customer service is slow at best so it wasn’t until two days later than new accommodation was organised. I cannot begin to explain how stressful it was to have a long stay cancelled at 6pm on the day of check in due to the host’s inability to keep on top of their calendar.
The most obscene part of this is that the host’s team had been communicating with me ahead of my stay and we had been discussing an early check in, and early check in not being available due to the cleaners coming to clean up after another guest was checking out before I checked in. I don’t understand HOW it is possible that they supposedly organised cleaners and then didn’t realise the apartment was double booked when the cleaners tried to attend the apartment earlier the same day. I don’t really believe the host’s excuse.
This is an honest review of my experience booking this apartment. I can’t comment on the amenities because unfortunately I didn’t get to use them.
I hope in future the host works out how to manage their calendar better so that future guests do not go through what I did.