Agree w others: superhosts only

Sorry to hear that you are dealing with this. We had a terrible AirBnB experience in 2022 when a “superhost” violated our privacy with unidentified cameras and blamed us for preexisting damage despite our meticulous documentation (photos/videos with timestamps). We were bounced between multiple customer service reps during the arbitration process, and we felt completely powerless. The system is set up to protect hosts and the company. Never again.

Was it cheaper than others? Wondering if cost/price was a factor. Not that being cheaper is an excuse for such issues.

We had one awful experience that wasn't really the host's fault, but was still uninhabitable (huge sudden ceiling leak from the upstairs neighbor in a condo). The host was apologetic and tried to get things fixed, but it was AirBnb corporate who were dragging their feet on actually cancelling the reservation. We're talking 2+ inches of water in every space and in the lowest room water 3 inches below the electrical socket. We left for a hotel.

Anonymous wrote:Yes I am very cautious with Airbnb. I will only book with someone if I see 0 red flags. First criteria is a rating above 4.8 with more than 10 reviews.

I will only stay at places that are Superhosts with 5.0s. I might take a 4.9 in the right circumstances, but always with a 5.0 for cleanliness. I have found that the 5.0 in cleanliness generally means the rest is good too. It seems to be the hardest rating to achieve.

You should have left and taken pictures and videos.

Anonymous wrote:I had the same issue as an AirBNB owner. We'd send out emergency trades to get something fixed and the person would still try to get out of paying or staying. Super frustrating.

You should not force them to sty of there is an issue. And, if they do you should comp the night.

Yes I am very cautious with Airbnb. I will only book with someone if I see 0 red flags. First criteria is a rating above 4.8 with more than 10 reviews.

We've only ever stayed with super-hosts with excellent reviews and have never had a problem

Anonymous wrote:I had the same issue as an AirBNB owner. We'd send out emergency trades to get something fixed and the person would still try to get out of paying or staying. Super frustrating.

Sounds like you actually cared about providing a positive experience for your guests, which is much different from what we just experienced.

I had the same issue as an AirBNB owner. We'd send out emergency trades to get something fixed and the person would still try to get out of paying or staying. Super frustrating.

I had a really bad experience also and so now we stick with hotels.

OP and PP, were the reviews good when you booked? We've never had catastrophic stays or dishonest hosts, but our 2 less-than-perfect stays happened to have less-than-perfect reviews. One was the first AirBnB I ever chose (rodent droppings near the coffee maker), and the other was the choice of my frugal husband who didn't want to pay more (generally dusty, and the shower water was cold). Now I make sure to only pick the stays with perfect scores and as many reviews as possible.

We had a similar issue and it ended up in arbitration. I’d look into that. Sorry your stay was awful. I was very disappointed to find out the highly reviewed property we rented was smoke filled with broken appliances that also were not repaired at all during our stay ( handwashing and drying clothes for family of 4 for weeks). Don’t get me started on the mold. Worst rental experience ever.

I’ve just had an Airbnb from hell. The dishwasher didn’t work at all, the expressed no urgency in getting in fixed - did not apologize or offer to make it right, so I spent the week handwashing dishes. On top of that, there was water continually leaking from under the kitchen sink so I spent time sopping up this disgusting water and washing towels everyday, on top of our regular laundry (family of five). Lastly, my husband got an electrical shock from the hot tub the day before we left. It was a horrible experience.

I just got feedback from Airbnb stating that the host said we left the property in uninhabitable condition. This is just untrue and I’m sure they’re saying that to drag this out/not give us our money back. Whether I get my money back or not, this is making me consider giving up on Airbnb entirely. Has anyone else done the same?