Anonymous
Post 06/10/2025 14:20     Subject: Horrible experience with AirBNB.

You can see if the place is on Google Maps and review it there.
Anonymous
Post 06/10/2025 14:17     Subject: Horrible experience with AirBNB.

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I'm pretty sure you have to give names at a hotel as well. Seems reasonable to me to at least take down names.


Nope


Of course you do. Do you only ever stay No-Tell Motels?

I’ve stayed at almost every chain hotel from HoJo to Hilton, boutique hotels in NYC, LA, Chicago, and more, and never had to give any name but mine when booking one room for three people or two rooms for five people. What hotels are you staying at?


The rest of the world. What is a HoJo?


DP. Howard Johnson.


The person that wrote this is very old.
Anonymous
Post 06/10/2025 12:24     Subject: Horrible experience with AirBNB.

Earlier responder with an inadequate water supply issue with an AirBnB.
For the ID situation, I'm wondering if the host had some bad stuff happen before. I can imagine people booking an AirBnB for illicit deals, underage teens looking to party, or even college teens looking to party. One can imagine some of these scenarios going southwards.
Hotels have concierge service whereas AirBnB's have no watchman.
So the host wants the income but has difficulty going about vetting the guest.
Anonymous
Post 06/10/2025 12:15     Subject: Horrible experience with AirBNB.

Anonymous wrote:I’ve stayed in many Airbnbs and have had almost 100% satisfaction, but you have to spend a lot of time reading reviews and all the listing details. You can usually spot a sketchy situation.

The main advantage to me is getting to stay in whole houses with room to spread out in unique locations. I would never book an apartment in a high rise building. That’s where a hotel would have been better.


+1. You must read all the reviews. If it doesn’t have a few dozen reviews, then be wary. If the owner/manager frequently responds to reviews, that’s also a good sign. (Not in a crazy or defensive way but in a “thanks for pointing out that issue!” way.) It shows they want to maintain a good rating and therefore the property is more likely to be in good shape.

Also you cannot cheap out. Airbnb is no longer a safe “cheap” alternative. It works well for people who want more space, bedrooms, amenities than a hotel and who are willing to pay for it. If a place seems too good to be true, it is.

Also please write thorough reviews if you are on Airbnb! Hate the people who just write “great” and give 4 stars. Tell us why you knocked off a star! Help a traveler out. Don’t be “too polite” to point out issues.
Anonymous
Post 06/10/2025 12:05     Subject: Horrible experience with AirBNB.

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I'm pretty sure you have to give names at a hotel as well. Seems reasonable to me to at least take down names.


Nope


Of course you do. Do you only ever stay No-Tell Motels?

I’ve stayed at almost every chain hotel from HoJo to Hilton, boutique hotels in NYC, LA, Chicago, and more, and never had to give any name but mine when booking one room for three people or two rooms for five people. What hotels are you staying at?


The rest of the world. What is a HoJo?


DP. Howard Johnson.
Anonymous
Post 06/10/2025 12:04     Subject: Horrible experience with AirBNB.

I’ve stayed in many Airbnbs and have had almost 100% satisfaction, but you have to spend a lot of time reading reviews and all the listing details. You can usually spot a sketchy situation.

The main advantage to me is getting to stay in whole houses with room to spread out in unique locations. I would never book an apartment in a high rise building. That’s where a hotel would have been better.
Anonymous
Post 06/10/2025 11:49     Subject: Horrible experience with AirBNB.

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I'm pretty sure you have to give names at a hotel as well. Seems reasonable to me to at least take down names.


Nope


Of course you do. Do you only ever stay No-Tell Motels?

I’ve stayed at almost every chain hotel from HoJo to Hilton, boutique hotels in NYC, LA, Chicago, and more, and never had to give any name but mine when booking one room for three people or two rooms for five people. What hotels are you staying at?


The rest of the world. What is a HoJo?
Anonymous
Post 06/10/2025 08:53     Subject: Horrible experience with AirBNB.

Some Airbnb hosts are anxious and paranoid about ID and info but it never caused any problems other than annoyance. If your 21 year old doesn't have driving license then send a copy of her passport. They are only trying to avoid troublesome people.
Anonymous
Post 06/10/2025 08:44     Subject: Horrible experience with AirBNB.

I just got a full refund for an AirBnb that didn't have working heat (it was cold at night) and hot water. 5 day stay and after we had to spend 2 nights in a hotel the owner finally agreed to cancel (which prompted a full refund, plus AirBnB is paying for our hotel. I was careful to communicate everything through the app. That said, it was clear that it was on us to make alternative arrangements.

We stayed in the Airbnb because we are on a 3 week trip, and doing remote work so need space for 2 people to be able to work/do zoom calls. Also want a kitchen.

This is my first bad experience.
Anonymous
Post 06/09/2025 22:19     Subject: Horrible experience with AirBNB.

Anonymous wrote:NP. I once succeeded in getting a partial refund when our heat wasn’t working and Airbnb host wasn’t responding. As I remember, there was a button on the site that made it very easy to request $ back, specifying amount and reason.


This is no longer the case. I stayed at an Airbnb that clearly hadn’t been cleaned, linens on the floor and bed was stripped, etc. Airbnb said they’d contact the host and after several follow ups, they said the host was unresponsive!
Anonymous
Post 06/09/2025 22:17     Subject: Horrible experience with AirBNB.

And I've stayed at 5-10 AirBnBs per year and never once had a problem.
Anonymous
Post 06/09/2025 08:14     Subject: Horrible experience with AirBNB.

Anonymous wrote:I booked an AirBnB for this weekend. They immediately started harassing me for everyone in my family to submit a photo ID and fill out a PdF form. This form also asks very intrusive questions like who is my employer.

Also none of this was in the listing, it was just after the fact.

I filled out one form for the entire family and submitted IDs. Now they are saying everyone needs to fill out the PdF and they will not accept my 21yo step daughter’s ID because it is a temporary ID (she lost hers and we are waiting on the new one).

We are traveling all day and I’m terrified we’ll arrive and be told we can’t stay and they’ll refuse a refund.

Anyone been through this?


Yuck, no one I know has stayed in an ABNB since like 2013. This is just one of the reasons why.
Anonymous
Post 06/09/2025 06:43     Subject: Horrible experience with AirBNB.

Watch out for cameras there in different rooms.
Anonymous
Post 06/09/2025 06:38     Subject: Horrible experience with AirBNB.

Anonymous wrote:Lol. Airbnb doesn't protect the host either. Most hosts now just rent regular because its not worth the hassle of short term renting. Why would you leave a review without staying? Utterly insane.

Because the host had unreasonable documentation requirements before you could stay in order to warn other people…
Anonymous
Post 06/09/2025 06:37     Subject: Horrible experience with AirBNB.

Anonymous wrote:Lol. Airbnb doesn't protect the host either. Most hosts now just rent regular because it’s not worth the hassle of short term renting. Why would you leave a review without staying? Utterly insane.

That poster indicated she would get a refund cancelling. Doubtful.