Thinking of Using Airbnb? Think Again.
If you’re thinking of using Airbnb as an alternative to a hotel, bed and breakfast, or other type of accommodation, I urge you to read this first.
Our Airbnb nightmare lasted four days and ruined my daughter’s college graduation weekend, as well as my mother’s 70th birthday celebration. Know the risks you’re taking before you use Airbnb.
I have been wrestling with my thoughts for the past year. Given some factors, including a recent, poignant conversation with a stranger, and some current articles I’ve read about Airbnb, I’ve decided to publish my story. This is bad news:
“When it comes to lodging, Waliszewski said that short-term rentals such as Airbnb and VRBO could outperform hotels in the near-term as travelers attempt to avoid interactions with strangers.” –Travel and Leisure
I try my best to keep my website a positive place, however, it’s simply unbalanced and unjust for experiences like this to be dismissed and ignored for the sake of positivity. Just as I feel strongly when I enjoy a fabulous hotel, or restaurant, and want to share my experience with you, I feel compelled to tell you about this terrible experience in order to help you avoid a similar situation.
My family’s Airbnb encounter last year was hellish: a Hotel California-esque ordeal which no one should ever have to experience. Airbnb not only mistreated us during the time we were there, but afterwards, too. They firmly refused to provide a full refund. This should have been the least they could have offered as a gesture of apology.
Updated March 2025: Frommer’s and others are following my suit in writing about ditching Airbnb, thank goodness.
I realize that this year’s college (and high school) seniors won’t have a graduation weekend at all, however, I want to make sure that if Airbnb stays in business, that as many people as possible are better informed about their ethics and protocol as a multi-billion dollar company.
What my family experienced during my daughter’s university graduation weekend was nothing short of reprehensible. I hope that telling you our story may help increase the probability that it never happens to anyone else in future.
NB: I am sure that many Airbnb hosts are honest, reliable, communicative, have clean rentals and take pride in being welcoming and helpful. However, given my experience last year, clearly there are some hosts that are the antithesis of these hosts. I feel that I need to highlight how disgracefully, and unfairly Airbnb handled our situation, during, and after our stay.
When we can Safely Travel Again~
Think of how clean you want your future accommodations to be: will you trust a company like Airbnb that has no oversight on how clean or safe their rentals are? Or will you stick with hotels that have certain procedures and protocol with which they must comply?
There is literally NO ACCOUNTABILITY with Airbnb. After reading my experience, I think you’ll be opting for hotels, too.
Thinking of Using Airbnb? Think Again.
How a horrible host and Airbnb ruined what should have been a very special weekend for my family.
A weekend we’d looked forward to for four years–my daughter’s graduation from Villanova University last May–was nothing like we’d imagined. Instead of the joyous weekend, family reunion and serendipitous celebration of my mother’s 70th birthday, we found ourselves in a filthy, and disgusting situation with no other place to go.
It appeared that we had arrived at our accommodation unannounced, despite the fact that I’d booked over two months in advance, and had already paid in full.
Background on the Booking.
Exactly one year prior to the date of needing accommodation in the Villanova (Pennsylvania) area, I attempted to book at minimum, two consecutive nights in the same hotel. This was the first available date to do so, and I managed to secure two rooms, however, when I tried to book the second night the next day, the hotels were already full.
If you’ve had a child graduate from university, I probably need not explain anything to you. However, given that there are over 60 universities and colleges in the Philadelphia area, booking hotel rooms during graduation season is a major challenge. I never did manage to secure consecutive rooms in the same hotel, despite consistently checking, and waiting for cancellations.
Enter Airbnb
In early March, someone had mentioned Airbnb to me so I checked the listings and found an entire house for rent not too far from Villanova University. The reviews looked good, one even commenting on the cleanliness of the property.
Edit (June 1, 2020): due to many commenters stating that this must simply be my fault for not checking the reviews, maybe these visuals will help. The 14 reviews includes my 1 star review, so the ratings would have been even higher when I checked them.
These are two of the reviews I read. So for those of you saying I didn’t check the reviews, I guess I should also have known these were fake?
I booked the house on March 10th, and cancelled the two separate hotel reservations. I felt so relieved that we wouldn’t have to change locations due to not renting a car, and I also extended our stay for two more days. This way we could have a mini family reunion/vacation. I was excited!
Communication with the host didn’t start out on too well. As per Airbnb’s suggested protocol, I messaged her immediately after I had booked, just to say hello, who was coming to her rental, that I was looking forward to the stay, and asked details about our arrival.
I texted again 12 days later, to no avail. She responded another 12 days later, which was over three weeks after my first message. However, she still never answered my question about how to check in. Her response also goes against Airbnb recommendations to always message through Airbnb (which I had done.)
Check In
May 16th arrived and I messaged the host in the morning, but didn’t hear back, so I called later. I finally spoke to her and she said her parents would be at the home to let us in.
Her parents were there, all right. Her mother was hanging drapes (and we wondered why the last minute drape-hanging was happening.)
And her father was laying sod in the backyard. We felt like we were intruding, arriving while they were working in and out of the home. We didn’t say anything, hoping they would leave since most of us had arrived (my daughter had come with us, but she wasn’t staying there.)
Upon our arrival, we immediately noticed how dirty the floors were and smelled a very strong pet odor. All of us noticed; it wasn’t just my mother who is usually the first to see anything that isn’t immaculately clean, or smell something bad.
It was also hard to miss a huge flat screen TV on the couch (see photo above.) I felt a knot in the pit of my stomach, and it kept tightening in response to everything that I was seeing. In the back of my mind, I knew if this wasn’t going to work out, we had no other place to go. I spoke to the host’s mother about the dirty floor and the TV and she said that we could help put the TV back up. I just looked at my family in disbelief: was this really happening?
At this point, another person was in the house. A young teenager appeared, seemingly coming home from school. He didn’t acknowledge us, but walked through the house as if everything was normal (he seemed not to notice strangers were in the house.)
At this point, my whole body was starting to react to this bizarre situation as we started seeing more and more dirt, fur, hair and dust everywhere we looked. The windows looked as though they hadn’t been cleaned in years, and it became clear that we could not stay in these filthy conditions, especially since we had wanted to cook here.
I called the host since I couldn’t communicate with the host’s mother. Several times, she said things that made absolutely no sense. For example, “the food on the floor is from the comforter” and she brought a TV remote in from another room, and called it “the internet.”
I told the host over the phone that the house had not been cleaned, the floors were filthy, there was a TV on the couch, and many other issues. She sounded shocked, and said she was on her way.
At one point, the doorbell rang and my father opened it as we were all standing by the front door (we didn’t even want to sit anywhere.) I have no idea who it was, but he asked for the the host, and then said, “Oh never mind, I’ll come back another time”, and left. If you’ve ever seen The Twilight Zone, this could easily have been an episode.
Before the host arrived, we had done a quick inspection of the main floor and upstairs. Both floors were disgustingly unclean.
Even some sheets and mattresses were stained. There are simply too many photos and videos to upload all of them. Every room smelled, too, it wasn’t just the downstairs.
The Host Arrives
Without making assumptions about why the host wasn’t there to begin with, and why she said and did all the things she did, let me just say, she was not based in reality. She was absolutely taken aback about the fact that I said her house was filthy. She said she’d had a cleaning crew come in and clean it top to bottom! Clearly, the evidence all over the house showed that it couldn’t have been in the last six months or more! It was obvious that we weren’t going to get anywhere when I tried to show her how dirty the floor was, but she refused to look (I’m serious.)
She started to tell me a sob story about how Airbnb hadn’t reimbursed her for damage to her house from some past guests, and how she works hard and didn’t like how I was speaking to her. I told her that she just didn’t like what I was telling her, and tried to speak to her rationally.
I attempted to make her understand that these things had nothing to do with me; the point was that her entire house was filthy, and not in any condition to be occupied. She was in denial, and seemed as though she honestly didn’t understand anything that I had said (no, there was no language barrier). It was as though she was not present, mentally.
Calling/Texting Airbnb
There was no other choice but to get Airbnb involved. My mind was blown by this woman who was telling me to my face that her house was clean. In fact, she went so far as to say the “upstairs is immaculate.” You’ve seen a few of the photos from upstairs, but here are a few more.
NB: I commend you if you’ve made it this far without getting physically ill from these photos, but I’m going to warn you, the worst is yet to come. So don’t go any further if you’ve just eaten a meal. I love sharing beautiful pictures, but seeing and uploading all these are making me feel sick all over again. This is so not me, it’s difficult to share these. Just THINK: Airbnb saw all of these photos and deemed that nothing was wrong: now that’s SCARY. In the end, after I fought and fought with them, they still made us pay 50%!
I barely had any battery left on my phone when I contacted Airbnb, so I asked them to call me back on another number, which they failed to do. Luckily, my phone had not yet died, and I started to explain my situation. I went outside the front door for privacy as I didn’t want the host to hear me tell the rep that her house stunk of dog in addition to the filth inside.
As soon as I divulged this to the Airbnb rep, the door flew open and the host reprimanded me, saying loudly, “My house does not smell of dog!” I told her that it was not okay to eavesdrop on my conversation, but clearly things were heading south.
Yes, I had tried to see if any hotel rooms were available, but it was a joke: everything had been booked for a year in advance. Note the time: we arrived at 3 pm.
I cannot write every single thing that transpired because it was incredibly drawn out. In a nutshell:
- I continued my communication with Airbnb over text as the call kept dropping. They said there was nothing else available and I needed to work with the host and allow her to have cleaners come in.
- I said there was no way they could clean the house in a few hours, due to how much needed to be done, but I finally agreed, given there were no other options.
- The host said her cleaner was in the driveway, but she was sending him away because she didn’t want him in the house with me since I wasn’t nice (!!!)
- Her father pulled out of the driveway right after this (her father was “her cleaner.”)
- She had someone else come over, saying he was her attorney. He stayed in the kitchen with her while she mopped one floor for over 30 minutes. At this rate it would take her over a year to clean the house.
- The rep at Airbnb said it was time for his break and left. I honestly couldn’t believe he just left.
- My entire family: mother, father, husband, and son left in my son’s car to go for a tour of Villanova University with my daughter while I stayed behind and tried to deal with Airbnb and the host from hell. I felt even more sick knowing I was missing out on this special time with my family that I would never be able to get back.
No Choice but to Stay
- I finally couldn’t take being in the house with them any longer as they were talking about the situation and how the house was clean, they had done nothing wrong, and talking about me, etc. The agent came back after more than an hour break.
At this point, I asked the host and her “attorney” to leave. All she had cleaned was one floor, which was probably the cleanest floor in the house. Now it was up to me to clean what we had to use, such as the bathrooms, kitchen sink, beds, etc. However, no matter what I cleaned, it wasn’t going to help the dog odor!
No one in my family was happy about the situation, but we all knew we had no other alternative. I felt the worst for my mother who is so meticulously clean, more than any of us. I felt like a failure, although I’d done nothing wrong.
The Backyard
I had to call the host as the backyard had a sprinkler going and was flooding a small area. The host’s father came back and turned it off. However, as my son was sitting out back reading on another day, he returned, just showed up in the backyard without any notification whatsoever.
Who knows how many times he came over as we tried to stay out as long, and as much as we possibly could. I was not happy that he felt he could just wander in whenever he wanted while we were there.
DiscoveringThe Degree of Filth in the House Using Airbnb
I am not exaggerating when I say the house was FILTHY. Just look. Can you imagine being told this is “immaculate?”
Cleaning the toilet literally made me gag. The only reason I did it was because I had to for my family. My mother would never have been able to manage the feat, and I was the only one left at the house at this point. I truly wanted to run away from this disgusting hell-hole and the entire situation, but where could we go with every hotel booked for miles around?
Absolutely nowhere. My daughter’s graduation ceremonies were being held the next two days and my husband and parents’ flights weren’t until Monday (and this was Thursday!) We were stuck here.
I would have considered sleeping in a car over this house, but we didn’t rent a car and my son just had a Honda Civic. Then where would we shower and dress? It was an impossibility.
Allow me to Show you the Kitchen when Using Airbnb
For those of you who don’t know, this is mouse poop. And it happens to be in a frying pan. How does that strike you? Can you believe that all these photos and documentation meant nothing to Airbnb? Let me show you more and we’ll get to that in a bit.
The back of the drawer. No clue what this is, but it shouldn’t be here. Everything was reprehensible.
See the photo below? That’s the inside of the freezer door. See the dog fur/hair? Yep, that’s in the freezer; not kidding. Remember, I can only show you some of the kitchen, and the house. There was so much more!
Want to see the dishwasher? Probably not, right?
Looked like these had not been used or cleaned in YEARS.
The microwave was revolting. Who am I kidding, everything was revolting.
Downstairs/Basement Using Airbnb
And finally, let’s take a walk downstairs to the basement. This is just a little part of the disgustingly dirty floor.
This wall is disgraceful. Remember, I DID MY DUE DILIGENCE AND THE REVIEWS WERE STELLAR!!
Thank goodness we didn’t do laundry here. I’m adding a video clip below that I took downstairs.
My Mother’s 70th Birthday Celebration that Didn’t Happen
I already had a huge bottle of bubbly and planned on making Mum a nice dinner, buying a cake, and celebrating her 70th birthday with our family since her birthday was a week later. My family lives all over the US, so this was the perfect time to celebrate my mother’s special birthday.
Alas, there was no special dinner being made in that kitchen. No cake was going in that fridge. Proper restaurants were slammed with existing reservations due to the graduations, so we just popped the bubbly at my daughter’s house where everyone didn’t even have a seat, and that was it. The most pathetic 70th “birthday party”, ever.
Airbnb’s Lack of Successful Resolution and Pathetic Customer Service
I called Airbnb upon my return to Los Angeles, but even though they had all the documentation and photos (more than I’ve shared here), they refused to take into account the fact that we COULD NOT LEAVE. They stated that if we complained about the condition of the house, we should have left in order to receive a full refund! It was a vicious circle of me telling them there was no place to go, and Airbnb saying, if it was so bad, you should have left.
After weeks of spending valuable time on the phone and waiting for them to make a decision, they refunded 50% of my payment and offered a $100 towards a future stay! What a joke–after this experience? At minimum, a full refund should have been given, and that still isn’t even close to making up for our ruined weekend! No amount of money can fix lost and ruined time with family.
Also, I discovered that although the listing says the home sleeps 8 (with 4 beds), there are only 3 beds and one is a twin, so it only sleeps 5. It still has not been corrected. How does Airbnb monitor these listings? There is simply no accountability.
Here’s why Airbnb Failed Miserably~
- The fact that Airbnb absolutely refused to look at the facts and realize that there was literally nowhere for my family to go during those four days says a lot about the company. They are focused on making and keeping money, not doing the right thing, or providing good customer service.
- Airbnb didn’t take into account that we left the premises CLEANER than when we arrived. When has that ever happened? They also didn’t take into account our wasted time, and the time we spent cleaning (and the vomit factor of cleaning strangers’ urine, disgusting toilets and sleeping in filthy premises.)
- Airbnb also blamed the victim by saying that I should have allowed the host to have someone come to clean WHILE WE WERE THERE. When this woman had over two months to prepare for our arrival, it’s okay to have hours and hours of our time taken away when we should have come to a clean house in the first place? Why is the responsibility never laid on the correct shoulders anymore?
Graduation
Given that this year (2020) no one will be able to graduate in the manner shown in the photo above, I’m grateful that my daughter was able to participate in her ceremony. However, our weekend hardly went as planned, all due to some bizarre lack of planning on our host’s part. Had she hired a cleaning crew to do a major (and I mean, MAJOR) cleaning inside her house before our arrival, things would have turned out much differently.
Is my story not enough to dissuade you from using Airbnb?
Then maybe the thousands of other submissions on this site will be.Airbnb Hell
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. Please share the word about my experience. Have you had a nightmare experience with Airbnb? Would you have done anything differently than me if you would have been in this situation? Let me know.
✧
Two Final Notes
- I never took one photo of my daughter alone in her cap and gown that weekend. I honestly think that the chaos, anxiety, and stress from staying in that horrible filth was the reason I just wasn’t thinking clearly. I’ve been a professional wedding photographer, and I shoot photos as part of my job. This is just not like me, and it breaks my heart that I didn’t get just one of her alone. This is a shot (taken by a friend) the week before with her friends; Denisa is in the center. Thank goodness she and her friends arranged this shoot.
2. On Monday, after leaving “Hotel California” (I cannot tell you just how wonderful it felt leaving that place), Denisa and I took my parents into Philadelphia. After having Philly cheesesteaks for lunch at Reading Terminal Market, I witnessed a pedestrian being hit in a crosswalk by an SUV. I got the license plate and gave it to the victim (luckily he wasn’t seriously hurt.)
Within 5 minutes, I had my new iPhone (with graduation photos) stolen right out of my hand as we were walking down the street! My 83 year old father started chasing the thief, and fell on the sidewalk, injuring his chin and chest. Later his legs would become completely bruised!
I yelled, “Stop him, he stole my phone!” and someone actually did! I got my phone back, but not after the man who had been hit by the SUV tried to subdue the thief and also fell, injuring his hand quite badly.
He had been waiting for the police to arrive. Meanwhile, my daughter took my dad inside a Dunkin’ Donuts as he thought he was going to pass out. I also got two photos of the thief right after getting my phone back! Sounds like a movie, no? This photo says it all: the aftermath.
Let’s just say, it wasn’t the best weekend we’ve ever had. Bottom line: avoid Airbnb and be super vigilant in Philadelphia.
Christina, Thank you for posting this! I appreciate not only your post, but the comments of people who successfully use rental places like this. I’m truly sorry that you went through that! The pictures were horrifying. You may have saved many readers/families out there from going through the same experience by posting this. Thanks again! I always look forward to your recipes, but this was really useful. ~HUGS!~
I rent with airbnb all the time. I am a medical traveler and they are good for a short term rental. I have been doing this since 2012. There are many things people don’t know about the business and the homes that are rented out on airbnb. When I tell people I am renting a place through them I always put a word of caution to their request for information. First I would always be very careful when renting. It’s not really set up for a vacation even though it is advertised that way. If we go on vacation we use hotels and resorts. Never rent from an individual that doesn’t respond with in a reasonable time. Read all the reviews on that place/person. Send a message first. Ask for a price negotiation, ask to only put down a small deposit to hold it with the caveat that they will only receive the rest of the money once the place is seen and acceptable. By posing those requests I only get responses from people who are running a good rental business. Airbnb is a tool and unfortunately in your situation you were not aware of the pitfalls of this business. Sorry your weekend was so miserable. Good luck with future travels!
wow — that is good to know!! thank you
I get that, but as someone renting a suite in my home, I would see these demands and not accept the booking. I would probably be willing to do a video call or send you a fresh video of the room (though this probably is not recommended by AirBNB) if you had great reviews as a guest. The fact is it’s the guests who want to haggle that end up trashing your property. Not fair to you but there it is.
I suspect that many of these NASTY condition properties probably are with hosts that are either not taking this seriously or are getting in over their heads managing properties and can’t quality control their cleaning crew and can’t or won’t be there in case the crew doesn’t show up to turn around the unit, because they are getting rich hosting AirBNB’s, sometimes in properties they don’t even own. If they’re doing volume, what do they care if they ruin someone’s trip — if they are low on empathy.
My unit is only about 55o SF and it takes me around 3 hours to turn it around. If I don’t have back to back guests I prefer it because I can go in there with fresh eyes for shorter bursts. I aim to get it 100% so ANYONE would be comfortable and never wonder if someone cleaned. I live in fear that a hair from the dryer will transfer to a blanket, or I’ll miss something … it’s very stressful if you take it seriously.
I have been to many arbnb all over over the world both with owners and alone , not one of them were a problem. That’s too bad about your experience. I have a arbnb in Florida and myself or my cleaning women prepare for next guest either myself, family or guests.
What a terrible experience! I probably would’ve hired a company to come and thoroughly clean the house while I went with the family. A lot easier than dealing with a crazy lady and a terrible Airbnb rep.
I will say tough I have been using Airbnb for years. Here in the US and Europe, South America etc. I love Airbnb….that’s not to say I haven’t had an issue with them (mostly a host) a time or two. First only rent from someone that has a high number of legimate great reviews. That means read through them as I have discovered that some will repeat a review from the same guest (if they are that) multiple times making it appear they have a higher number a favorable reviews. Don’t use them! A super host is an excellent place to start but not necessary. If you are unsure about anything email the host for an answer. If you don’t get a response quickly or definitely if you’ve already decided to rent the property and you haven’t received a confirmation and information within 24 hours I would cancel immediately! I usually receive confirmation within minutes. These are the host that are taking this seriously and if by any chance there is an issue they will attend to it quickly and appropriately. I have found also that on the rare occasion I have had a problem Airbnb has been helpful and appropriately addressed the issue. It’s a shame you were burdened with a rep that didn’t know how to do his job nor cared to. I probably would’ve demanded to speak with someone else. In addition I would report the original representative to management. He and host like the one you had give Airbnb a bad name. So pay attention to and read reviews, ask questions and if the host response seems shady cancel!
I hate that you had such a horrific first introduction to Airbnb but I would highly recommend to try them again. Maybe a weekend and follow the advice I’ve posted. I’m pretty certain you will change your mind. I love getting immersed in the true feeling of the area I’m in, being in maybe an authentic Parisian home, an apartment on Notting Hill in London or a different highrise/condo here in the States. it’s great to have privacy, space and a place to prepare or store any meal you please. Most of all I appreciate the money I save to then spend on activities I can indulge in.
All in all nothing is 100%, I’ve read the same scenario about stays at hotels. Basically it comes down to your preference 🙂
It is advisable to use a superhost when you book airbnb. They have proven themselves over time. I do agree that the place was not properly prepared for you. Quite a pity!
We have had good and then other experiences with Airbnb. Will use them again!
If you have a bad experience, you cannot say you weren’t forewarned, Hansie. Airbnb only cares about their own bottom line. Good luck.
What a horrible experience you had, but I think you do AirBnB a terrible injustice by generalizing. We own a vacation home (Carma Akko, Israel) and advertise on AirBnB. We pride ourselves on providing excellent-quality accommodations and service.
Horrible doesn’t begin to scratch the surface of this nightmare! As you say, what choice did you have at that point?
Anything that could go wrong did including your father and others physically injured. The emotional toll is worse: where has common decency gone? imho, you should have been issued a full refund on the spot.
I have chosen not to use AirBnB to avoid pecisely this scenario. We have been to several VRBO properties with excellent accomodations,
Personal tirade: CUSTOMER SERVICE has all but vanished with our only recourse text/online chat/call centers staffed by personnel not authorized to resolve disputes. This trend is sad.
Correct, Eileen. I agree with you in the case of Airbnb, but some companies truly are wonderful in rectifying situations with proper customer service. The person I dealt with did not take into consideration the extenuating circumstances and the degree of filth in the home. So my photos meant nothing to him, and when I asked to speak to his supervisor, the answer was, “no.” Wow.
I love Airbnb and have stayed in them 2-5 times per year for the last 10 yrs. Questions…
1. Is their listing still active? If so, please post a link.
2. I rely a lot on reviews and photos. What did the reviews say? Were there fake photos?
I can access the listing on the Airbnb app, but a friend couldn’t see it, so I’m not sure if it’s still active.
As I have stated in my post, and here in the comments: I am a travel writer and have traveled my whole life. I am well-versed on how to book accommodations by reading reviews and checking the rating and viewing photos. I have never had an experience like this ever before. I have even included screen shots of the ratings and 2 of the reviews I read in my post (did you see them?) The photos were of the actual house, but the house wasn’t the issue, it was the lack of cleanliness of the house. You saw my photos; do you really think they’d upload shots of dirty toilets onto the listing? I did my due diligence, but the host wasn’t based in reality and that was a huge issue. The worst is that Airbnb simply looked at all those photos and said, “But you stayed the whole time.” even though I explained THERE WAS NO WHERE ELSE TO GO.