I booked&paid approximately 2700 AUD for this apartment for our vacation from December 12th to 31th, also stating on 2 occasions to the host that this was a swim/sun bade holiday for myself and my 15 year old daughter. The arrangements was done in September this year. Little did I know that this apartment was located dead center in a hostel complex/building, we had 8-10 backpackers living below, 6-8 on top and many more next door to our apartment. I think nothing wrong or bad about backpackers, they are mostly young nice people who wants to party a lot and having a good time, nothing wrong about that...but to advertise this as suitable for parents with children/kids are absolutely wrong and misleading information. We spent 3 consecutive sleepless nights to at least give it a try, but the level of noise/screams at night and constant sweet smell/odor of "not only tobacco smoke" made it very uncomfortable and at times scary for my daughter. Luckily I was able to pay for the remaining time at a hotel, then after 2 days with decent/normal sleep our vacation finally begun. I contacted Mike the host(who was abroad) when we left his hostel complex, I also informed the backpackers who was living in the building at the time that I don’t blame them at all. Mike the host tells me that I am a storyteller and should write children’s books, asked me to take pictures of the residents that made noise in the hostel “the open apartment complex, even LOL`ed me during our messages, called me harasser and abusive in the middle of the night???, since when is knocking on a door around 22:00 and asking for a cable qualified for what you insinuates above??? , luckily for me you have cctv surveillance of the building as you have stated, I rest my case at this point….but I do wonder what is next? It has become obvious to me that Mike the host is abusing and taking advantage of Airbnb to maximize his profit from guests, and for some people “the open apartment” will definitely serve its purpose. I will not recommend this place to the average traveler who value a good bed and predictable sleep at night, but if you and some friends want to party for a few days and staying up late in the night/morning it will do fine. I do believe that Mike the host had a very profitable December so far, given that he still is abroad and was able to get new guests so soon after we left. Mike has offered me 10% refund, due to the troubling of getting new guests. Thanks for nothing and being such a “lovely understanding host”, Mike….seriously I don’t think you are able to understand nor comprehend our disappointment and frustration in this…I will leave that to Airbnb.
This was my first time using Airbnb. We believe people are kind and honest…at least until proven otherwise.
Robert&Emilie
Norway