Home » TRAVEL » Thinking of Using Airbnb? Think Again.

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. 

Rufflets Country House Hotel St Andrews Scotland
Rufflets Country House Hotel, St Andrews Scotland

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.

terrace suite at Palazzo Belmonte
An immaculately clean suite at Palazzo Belmonte in Southern Italy.

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.

filthy floor in airbnb
Living room floor.

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.

filthy floor in airbnb
Dog fur which was all over the house.

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.

awkwardly standing in the house when we arrived
This was our awkward arrival. A flatscreen TV on the couch was one of the problems.

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.

filthy couch
Dirt, dust, fur and hair was everywhere.

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.

reviews

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?

airbnb reviews

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!

dirt on the floor
Dirt on the floor.

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.)

Message with Airbnb host using Airbnb

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.)

hanging drapes at Airbnb home

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.)

laying sod

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.

dirty floors

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.)

teenage at the door
Teen who arrived while we supposedly had possession of 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.”

dirty floor
An example of the types of things we saw on the floor.

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.

thermostat
Note: clean filter warning is lit. This beeped the entire time we were in the house. It was incredibly annoying as you can only imagine.

Before the host arrived, we had done a quick inspection of the main floor and upstairs. Both floors were disgustingly unclean.

dust upstairs
A dust covered shelf upstairs.
dust on drawer
A dresser drawer upstairs.

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.

stained sheet
Large stain on a sheet. The mattress was also stained.

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.

disgusting floor
The host refused to look at this.

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.

coaster upstairs
A coaster upstairs.
a door upstairs
A door upstairs.
floor next to a bed using airbnb
The lamp and nightstand next to a bed.

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.

fur on a window sill using airbnb
Fur and hair and dust on a window sill in the living room.

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.

no availability message
Although I knew everything had been full for a year, I still did check some places.

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.

using Airbnb message

  • 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.

using airbnb message

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

flooding in the backyard
Flooding in 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

filthy bathroom sink using airbnb
One of the bathroom sinks.

I am not exaggerating when I say the house was FILTHY. Just look. Can you imagine being told this is “immaculate?”

dirty toilet using airbnb
One of the toilets. I had to clean feces and urine off of it.

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?

cob web on the ceiling using airbnb
Cob webs on the ceiling.

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.

filthy window
One of the windows.

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.

one of the couches
One of the couches.

Allow me to Show you the Kitchen when Using Airbnb

mouse poop in frying pan using airbnb
Mouse poop in a frying pan.

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.

pots and pans
Pans in the kitchen drawer.

The back of the drawer. No clue what this is, but it shouldn’t be here. Everything was reprehensible.

kitchen drawer
Who lives like this?

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!

dog fur in the freezer
Freezer door.

Want to see the dishwasher? Probably not, right?

dishwasher door

dishwasher

Looked like these had not been used or cleaned in YEARS.

dirty kitchen in Airbnb

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.

basement floor using airbnb
Filthy basement floor.

This wall is disgraceful. Remember, I DID MY DUE DILIGENCE AND THE REVIEWS WERE STELLAR!!

wall downstairs
No words.

Thank goodness we didn’t do laundry here. I’m adding a video clip below that I took downstairs.

washing machine using airbnb
Part of the washing machine.

My Mother’s 70th Birthday Celebration that Didn’t Happen

My elated mother with her culatello board!
No, unfortunately this isn’t her birthday celebration. Taken in Italy the year before.

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

Graduation at Villanova

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.

mopping the floor with her foot using Airbnb
The host’s mother wiping the floor with her foot after I complained that it was dirty.

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

  1. 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.

Villanova graduates 2019

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!

my dad's chin

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.

the aftermath: sitting on a bench

Let’s just say, it wasn’t the best weekend we’ve ever had. Bottom line: avoid Airbnb and be super vigilant in Philadelphia.

Stay tuned for a lemon granita recipe next time!
I promise it won’t have any horrible photos.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

352 Comments

  1. I have been renting from Airbnb and VRBO for years, all over the world, 15 properties so far and never had an issue. I am sorry for your experience but I need to ask how much due diligence did you undertake? Personally I never rent anything that the owner is not a superhost, any property that doesn’t have numerous reviews as well as any property where the owner will not provide a refund in full 2 weeks prior to arrival. I have had worse experiences in hotels.

  2. Mine is one from the host perspective. I have been a host for five years, few problems >100 guests, esp when host is on sight.
    Last guest was an insurance displacement placed by a firm out of Chicago. She was in my house for 90 days. Had nasty cats, urine, feces throughout the house, even on kitchen counter. She was filthy dirty – refused to leave voluntarily.
    $2,000 in cleaning, restoration costs.
    Attempted to claim under established security deposit clause, specifically “including, but not limited to pet damage. Abnb initially denied claim because claim was not completed before next guest arrived. After dozens of calls, threats, Abnb finally paid $1,000. Placement agency refused to take any responsibility.
    Is apparent, this guest, in response to my calling her out, made copy of the house key. Went in subsequently and stole more than $2,000 of my personal effects.
    Abnb was/is a complete fail. They are no longer the firm they once were. Adversarial, no responsive. I am out $3,000 in costs and stolen things.

    Am so done with them. Be careful both as traveler and host

    1. I am so very sorry to read this Bryan, and I completely agree with you: Airbnb is a complete FAIL. Thank you for adding your account here. I think that when more people read these stories from real people, they may start to realize that Airbnb is a horrific company with only their own interests and $$$ in mind.

  3. I am a superhost in a major metropolitan area on the west coast. I’ve been a host since 2014. My home is valued at approximately $1.9MM and accommodates up 20 16 adults. I had a learning curve with my housekeeping and more than a dozen guests in 6 years who wrecked havoc (to the tune of over $1200)in a short period of time (2 days). Hosts take a risk that their clients will be respectful. Travelers take a risk that their host will provide them exactly what is described in the description of the home. Air BNB is not a hotel. Air BNB is an opportunity to have an amazing experience with the city or area that you are staying and have all of the comforts of home. No hotel will ever be able to compete with that. I have had unfortunate guests Who wrecked havoc in my home. Most of the time, but not all of the time, I have been compensated fairly. I rely on people’s descriptions of what they are going to do while they are in my property and sometimes they don’t live up to what they describe. That is the risk that I take. The risk that you take is that you may not have an honest host. For that, I am truly sorry. But I can tell you I go above and beyond to make sure that everyone that comes to my beautiful home in Seattle has an amazing experience with their friends, their family, or their coworkers. I have had movies shot in my home. I have had traveling musicians and actors that are performing in music events and plays. These people are reliable and honest hands down the best guests ever. But my very favorite our families. I have a huge home that is beautiful and overlooks the water but you don’t have to worry about breaking something because everything is made to create a comfortable environment. I strongly suggest that you never say never to air BNB. And if you want to come to Seattle just look for Jan. There aren’t many named and have a big beautiful home minutes away from the city. I welcome you any time and hope that you will give air BNB another chance.

    1. I’m sorry you’ve had terrible guests, Jan. One is too many. However, I think you are missing my point in saying that the company, Airbnb itself is the biggest problem. They don’t back up hosts or guests as you can see from many other comments here (and stories online.) I’m quite sure you are an awesome host, with a beautiful and clean home, but Airbnb is off my list forever. I will not give them another penny in any way, shape or form. If one has no principles, what do we have?

  4. I’ve stayed at various Airbnbs and have very ever had an issue with anyone. Select Super Host and read reviews from real people who have stayed there. It’s not rocket science.

    1. Your logic is rather childish: I have not have had an issue, therefore no issues exist.

      Maybe the key is what you wrote afterwards, “…read reviews from real people…” Did you see them in my post? I read them, but maybe they weren’t from real people.

      Thanks for your empathy.

  5. Although I empathize, it was highly inappropriate to take a picture of someone’s child and post it online.

  6. Wow Christina, how awful! My husband and i are Superhosts in Canada. We take pride on our place being immaculate and being available to our guests whenever possible. We’ve had model guests and some not so much. However our comments reflect our experiences. I have never heard of such horrors and truly believed that other hosts would try their best to make their guests’ stays wonderful and memorable. I’m sorry for your experience! We have a lovely view of the lake, walking distance to the beach and our guests get to sit in a hot tub looking at the stars. Not all Airbnb and Vrbo places are a nightmare experience. They can be magical too.

    1. I totally believe you, Francoise! I hope you saw that I was only referring to this particular host, and the company itself. I would also bet that some fabulous hosts have had to deal with nightmare guests. If only we could connect the nightmare guests with the nightmare hosts; that would be karma at her finest. Thank you for your comment and kindness. CC

  7. Oh my Goodness… I don’t usually comment, but I’m hoping writing here will help reduce how sick I feel after reading your infuriating story & seeing those nauseating pictures. As you noted, nothing anyone does can give that lost experience back to you & your family. Still, Airbnb should’ve done better.

    I’ve actually stayed at numerous Airbnbs in 7 different states & 4 other countries. I’ve mostly had very good experiences. One host in Thailand picked me up from the airport since my flight arrived after public transport closed. A host in Mexico gifted my spouse & me wine & chocolates when he learned we were there for our honeymoon. Another host in California & I actually became good friends. Most of the hosts were just generally very welcoming, greeting us virtually on the website & sometimes also in person upon arrival. Many had taken the time to create booklets or even websites with information about their cities/towns so we could find nice cafes, restaurants, bars, galleries, hiking trails, etc. I absolutely love staying at hotels, but a good Airbnb experience is something more personal.

    Whether staying at a hotel or an Airbnb, I not only check ratings but also actually read recent reviews, checking for updates between booking and traveling to make sure all seems good and nothing has changed. With Airbnb, I also make sure to filter for superhosts, checking the listing I’m booking as well as any other listings owned/managed by the host.

    1. Hi JMR, thanks for taking the time to write your thoughts. I completely understand and am quite sure you have encountered these wonderful people, unfortunately, I was unlucky.

      I just updated my post this evening to include the star rating for this host as well as two reviews which were left before my stay. I DID read the recent reviews, and this was the only option available when I booked, given the graduation season. I assumed someone must have cancelled and I just go lucky with the timing. There wasn’t the luxury of filtering for superhosts. However, someone wrote on my FB page that they had a bad experience with a superhost, too. So what we have to realize is that we simply cannot predict the outcome of our stay. Period.

      Most of these comments are from people who have come to my site for the very first time, however, my loyal readers know that I am a frequent traveler. I spent 4 months of last year traveling, so I honestly don’t need advice on how to book accommodations. This woman didn’t clean her home and thought she could get away with it. Airbnb failed me during and afterwards, and that’s what I’m writing about. I fail to see how so many people are trying to put the blame on me. I did my due diligence.

  8. First, I feel so bad that you had such a horrible experience on such an important occasion….I have been using Airbnb as a guest for over 5 years with about 25 stays. I have had one similar experience and chose to just role up my sleeves and clean for 3 hours. I knew I would never return and had so many Amazing Airbnb experiences that it wasnt going to let this one ruin my weekend. I am now very careful to read reviews and leave private comments when I see small things that get missed because sometimes they hire cleaners who need feedback. I am also a Superhost and believe my guests should be welcomed to an immaculate home with all their needs being met and privacy respected. I have stayed at hotels for over 30 years and honestly unless I’m paying for a 1 bedroom luxury suite, they dont compare in price or Value. I would definitely stay at an Airbnb over a hotel as they usually provide a home away from home with many amenities. However, as I learned, It’s important to read the reviews because like anything, there are always some inexperienced poor hosts who need a review that reflects they need to improve the experience for their guest. I personally learn alot from my guests and genuinely want them to have an Amazing experience! I hope you will be able to have 5 star experience in the future and that a host will have the opportunity to treat your family like Royalty…

    1. Thanks Cyndi, but as you can see from the photos, it is not reasonable to suggest that I could have cleaned this smelly, filthy house. I’m tired of reading everyone’s comments saying I should have read the reviews. What makes you think I didn’t when I specifically stated that I did? Please go back and re-read my post as I have just added two screenshots of the ratings and two reviews to give more cold hard facts that I did my due diligence. It was rotten for this woman to try to rent this place in this condition and it should have been Airbnb’s place to say, “You should NEVER had had to deal with this horrible experience.” and at minimum refund our stay. They failed miserably, and that’s why I wrote this post.