NEGATIVE REVIEW - 1 Star
My husband and I stayed here for approximately 2 weeks.
Upon checking in, I noticed a welcome binder that the host had prepared. In it she asks for people to leave nothing less than a five star review. I was not impressed. In my opinion, if you have to ask, that's so unprofessional. I soon noticed that the apartment hadn't been cleaned properly. There were dead worms, hair, and dust under the bed. The ceiling fan above the bed was covered with thick dust. The window sills beside the bed had a lot of dirt and debris. There were cobwebs across corners of furniture and the wall. The air vent was clogged with thick dust. As a courtesy to the host, I emailed her with these issues because I wanted her to be aware. I was in no way upset; I simply wanted her to know before her next guests arrived. I could have contacted Airbnb and gotten a refund but that was not my intention. She responded and said that she would send someone the following day to clean. I explained to her that I did NOT want anyone to clean and that the only reason I brought it to her attention was so she was aware for the next guests. She offered to refund me the cleaning fee (appr. $65) instead. The next day when my husband and I came back, I went into the bedroom and I noticed there was a big clump of dust on the bed. I looked up to the ceiling fan and it had been cleaned! I went to look under the bed and it had also been cleaned. I literally felt sick. I went to check my purse (that had been in plain view) to see if anything was missing because I had no idea who had been in our bedroom. The host had allowed someone to enter even though I had told her NO.
I immediately emailed her and asked her why. It is a violation of Airbnb policy to enter without the explicit permission of the guest. To this day, I have never received an explanation or an apology from the host. She never did refund me for the cleaning fee as she said she would. The next issue was a few days later. My husband and I were awakened by noise beside our bedroom wall. (If you read other reviews you'll see other complaints about noise) It was about 10:00 p.m. We soon realized that the noise was cleaning ladies that were in the apartment right beside our bedroom. (The host owns the house and it's split in 2 apts) The wall is so thin that we could hear them talking as if they were in the room with us. We could hear the vacuum running and water running as they were cleaning the bathroom. Then we started to smell the cleaning products through the air vent. At this point it was about 10:30 p.m. and I was very upset so I contacted the host via email and I didn't get a response so I called and left her a voicemail. The cleaning ladies left around 11:00 p.m. Since my husband and the host both speak Spanish, I sent her an email in Spanish so I would have no doubt that she understood.
(I noticed alot of spelling mistakes in her binder so in my opinion, she didn't understand English very well) I asked her how she could justify sending cleaning staff at such a late hour. She never did respond to any of my messages or my phone call. The next morning I emailed her again telling her how disappointed I was in not receiving an explanation or an apology from her regarding the noise the night before. She responded back in Spanish with these exact words, "if you are so unhappy, look for another place" all in capital letters! In my opinion, that was a terrible thing to say to someone paying $157/night in a dirty place. Later that day the host's husband was on the property so I asked him why would they send cleaners at such a late hour and why did his wife not get back to me when I contacted her. He was very defensive and argumentative with me. He didn't even apologize for the inconvenience. Instead, he said the same thing that his wife had said; "if you are not happy you are free to leave." Then my husband came out and started speaking Spanish with him and tried to reason with him that it was not the right time for the apartment to be cleaned; that it had kept us awake and it was inconvenient. He told my husband the same thing. "If you're not happy you're free to leave." After being treated so rudely, we left; cutting our trip 5 days short. I immediately reached out to AIRBNB for support and THEY WERE WONDERFUL! Even though the host tried to decline my refund Airbnb made sure I received it. Something I think is important to mention is the host sent me a private message a few days later. I quote: "it was a pleasure hosting you in Hollywood. We genuinely hope you enjoyed your stay at our property. If you're ever in our area again please let us know and allow us to host you again!" After all the ABUSE my husband and I took from this host and her husband, we would NEVER stay in any of their properties even if it was free! My only mistake was not CONTACTING AIRBNB IMMEDIATELY when I saw the place was dirty and especially when she allowed someone to enter WITHOUT my consent. My reason for this detailed review is because I wouldn't want anyone to go through what I did. I still don't know if anyone stole my identity. My passports were in my purse. Only time will tell.