r/AirBnB

Hi everyone,

For context, I moved to a different state for a summer internship and I had booked an airbnb well in advance (~ 4 months before my move in) for a stay of 2.5 months and put in my deposit and I'm paying $2,500/month in the Alanta area with the money coming from a scholarship I have from my home country.

I chose the place due to its proximity to a bus stop which connects to my office and if it matters, I'm an international student and this is my first time using an AirBnB.

I moved in June and all was good for the first month, but as soon as I made my second payment, the owner (who also lives in the property) started making mountains out of molehills and falsely accusing me of things such as:

1. Food smelling in the kitchen: Told me I am no longer allowed to dump my washed disposable plates in the kitchen trashcan and should rather put it in my room's provided trashcan and then take it to dispose whenever possible as allegedly I'm causing her kitchen to smell. For context, I just eat microwave food and clean my container before discarding whereas I have seen her just leave her lunchboxes with leftover food just laying in the kitchen. Also my room is right in front of the kitchen so when she makes her food, the fumes go into my room but I have never complained about it.
2. Told me to clean up the stove as there was "leftovers" there: I have NEVER used any kitchen appliance besides the microwave as that is all I need.
3. Tells me to keep my laundry in check: I do my laundry (1 load) usually once a week and sometimes twice a week. Was informed that the waterbills have gone up since last month (when I moved in) - if I'm paying $2,500/month, minor utility costs are the least of my worries.
4. The host constantly tells "This is my home" - sure it is, I never said it wasn't. But it's also a property listed on AirBnB.
5. There was stains in the kitchen sink and I took a picture of it. Host later asked me why I didnt clean it properly after using it. I told her I took a picture beforehand that it was there before me. There's lint in the dryer too and she made a fuss one time when I had forgotten to remove it, but last two times it has been full. Also told her I had a picture of it. Then proceeds to text me saying "Don't go taking pics in my home, that is invasion of privacy" - like what can I even do to protect myself from these accusations?
6. The biggest red flag - the owner had me specifically sign a rental agreement which says I wont talk about the property being listed on AirBnB to the leasing company which makes me feel what she's doing is illegal. Also did I tell you, she has me order anything off Amazon in her name as otherwise I dont get the package?

I already paid my second chunk of payment and I doubt AirBnB would refund anything now, also the fact that I would have to find a new place quickly when I've already moved in with a bunch of stuff in the start of the previous month when all was good.

I also know the rent for the entire place is less than what I pay, so it's infuriating to know that she's complaining about the tiniest of things and falsely accusing me of stuff and I'm not sure if it's due to some amount of inherent racism.

The owner had generally positive reviews from their other properties (is a superhost) so I assumed they'd be a decent person to stay with for a bit but I was so wrong.

I'm not sure if it matters, but I overheard her saying her kid will move into my room once I'm gone so I'm not sure if she's intentionally starting stuff.

Most of the communication she's doing is via text and not the AirBnB messaging or F2F. I have screenshots of all our conversations, especially her hostile attitude.

I'm looking to reserve an Airbnb for a week in January in Bangkok. I found a perfect place with excellent reviews in a great location and was ready to pull the trigger when I read these reviews mentioning the condo has “No Airbnb” signs posted. The place has over 300 reviews and a 4.88 rating.

Should I reconsider booking this place?
What issues could I have if I decide to go ahead? Why does Airbnb allow this listing if the building does not allow Airbnbs?

1. officially AirBnB not allowed (need to keep it secret).

2. No problems with the "Airbnb ban". We were never addressed and never had the feeling of being observed or conspicuous.

3. No Airbnb signs—Condo has a strict no Airbnb policy so you have to blend in.

Hi there! I’d love some advice on an upcoming Airbnb stay. I’m flying for work and have a 4-night rental, but I’ll only be there full-time for 2 days and then in and out at odd hours for the other 2. I have a long history of being a respectful guest, and I always leave places clean and well cared for. 35 stays and all excellent reviews.

My question is: should I let the host know in advance that my schedule will be unusual? The rental is next to the owner’s home, and I don’t want to seem shady or cause any concern, since I’ll mostly just be there to sleep and recharge. For the event days, it would be cat naps, a change of clothes, grab a bite, and run back out. The only listed rule is quiet outside after 10:30pm. (There aren't any hotels in the area, or I would have gone that route due to the odd hours)

Since this is my first time with a lot of coming and going, I’d really appreciate any thoughts on whether I should mention it ahead of time. Thank you so much!

Hi everyone,

My wife and I recently stayed in an Airbnb apartment in France. I’d rather not share the exact location for privacy reasons. We were the guests.

The apartment itself had a lot of potential, and we really don’t want to come across as overly picky or difficult. However, there were several issues during our stay, and I’m unsure what the fairest next step would be: message the host privately, leave a moderately negative review, or file an official complaint with Airbnb.

The biggest issue was plumbing/water-related. We had problems in three different areas:

- The shower drain was extremely slow. If we didn’t pay close attention, the shower would overflow. This happened twice.
- The drain under the bathroom sink was leaking. We ended up fixing this ourselves, but not before having to mop up the bathroom floor.
- We also found water on the kitchen floor and inside the kitchen cabinets around the kitchen tap/sink area. We cleaned this up ourselves as well.

Because of the kitchen water issue, we no longer really trusted using the kitchen sink, so we ended up washing dishes by hand in the bathroom sink instead.

To be fair to the host: after the first issue, they did offer to come and take a look. At that moment, we thought it wasn’t necessarily urgent, partly because we were out on a day trip and didn’t feel completely comfortable with someone we didn’t know entering the apartment while all our belongings were there. Also, at that point we had no reason to expect that there would be water-related problems in multiple different places.

On top of that, there were several smaller issues that would maybe be minor on their own, but together added up:
- There were only three forks.
- There was a table, but no indoor chairs, so we had to bring outdoor chairs inside.
- The front door stuck and scraped against the floor.
- The driveway was extremely steep and not suitable for larger cars.
- There was dirty laundry left behind from previous guests.
- Some kitchen utensils were not properly clean.
- The remote control for the ceiling fan was missing.

We have photos and videos of all the water issues and have already shared those with the host.

We’re not trying to get a free stay or be unreasonable, but the water problems especially felt like more than normal “small imperfections.” At the same time, the apartment wasn’t completely terrible and did have potential.

What would you do in this situation?

Would you:
- Send the host a direct message and ask for a partial refund/compensation?
- Mention everything honestly in the review but keep it balanced?
- File a formal complaint with Airbnb?
- Do some combination of the above?

Any advice from hosts or experienced guests would be appreciated.

Hello.

I wrote a review based on the cleanliness of a place I recently stayed in. It wasn't a bad review, I complimented their speedy comnunication and the similarity between the pictures and the reality. I gave 4 stars for some things and less for others. Issues were:

• No keyhole cover on the door so any random wanderer could see straight through directly at the guest (me) in bed. The bed faced the door. Had to block with tissue.
• Large gap under the door so huge spiders crawled under. A mouse could crawl under it. If the outside light was on it shone through. Also had to block the gaps​ with tissue.
• No clear instructions about how to remove the key from key lock after turning the dials.
• There were 2 doors but the key only worked for 1. There was another apartment and both shared the outside door. The door had a lock and a chain. The person in the other apartment didn't lock it for the duration of my stay in the end but I was still very uncertain about it and worried about coming back late just in case.
• The toilet wasn't clean (or the inside of the toilet roll which I was horrified to discover)
• The shower floor wasn't clean and had hair.
• No toilet brush.

Once I published my review their review of me was published and very kind. The host instantly messaged me to say they were disappointed in the stars I gave and disagreed about the toilet situation and added one of these -> :( .I felt bad. I said if it upset them so much I'd increase the stars. They said very sorry about the toilet, they didn't know and could I please give more stars.

Turns out I can't. I can either delete my review for good or write it again with more stars.

What should I do? It's the first/only review for their place. I'd rather delete completely than lie.

Thanks.

About a month ago a group of friends stayed at an Airbnb for 5 days. TWO weeks AFTER we left I got hit with a message from the host claiming we damaged a stove top. I rejected the claim and it has was escalated to Airbnb. At first it seemed like Airbnb was on my side. I pointed out that it was weird that the host waited two weeks to report the issue. Maybe I’m being bias but from the photo the host sent, It looks like an old crack. In the claim the host says the stove is a year old. (Looks older to me) Not to mention the similar replacement that they’re comparing the value of the stove to is an upgraded model. It just seems like a money grab from the hosts. I finally heard back from Airbnb today and they’re taking the host side. I don’t know what to do. I’m so pissed off. Have you been in a similar situation and if so what was the outcome?

Hi all,

My girlfriend and I booked a Yurt Airbnb for the weekend. The host had advertised it as having AC, but when we showed up it was a mobile unit that didn’t actually cool the Yurt at all. Our area is affected by the US heat wave right now so we went and found a hotel instead. Airbnb support wasn’t very helpful because we didn’t have photographic evidence of the internal temperature of the Yurt. Do you think we’ll be fine getting a full refund by disputing it through my credit card? Does anyone have any additional advice for us?

I have 2 accounts right now logged in. And my sister is getting $50 less on the same booking. What determines such a huge difference? And this seems to be consistent across several days in a week I've tried.

We were unable to get into our AirBNB last night when we arrived and had to book a hotel. Since we still have three days left in the city, I asked our host if she could refund us for one night, then we’ll stay for the remaining nights.

She mentioned that she had refunded us for one night and the cleaning fee, totaling around $160, but I haven’t seen any official notification from AirBNB about this. Will I get a message/email confirming this refund? Or will it just hit my account in a few days?

My family is staying in a beach house for the holiday weekend. The home has four bedrooms. One of the bedrooms includes a queen bed, a bunk bed, and a TV. My husband and I chose that room so our daughter could have her own bed and a TV to keep her entertained while the adults watched things that weren’t appropriate for her in the living room.

Unfortunately, the TV is broken, with black lines running across the screen. While it’s technically still watchable, our neurodivergent daughter refuses to watch it because the lines are too distracting. Honestly, I don’t blame her. When we first sat on the queen bed, it felt unusually soft and seemed to sink quite a bit, but we didn’t think much of it. Once my husband laid down, the mattress sank head first to the floor. We lifted it up and discovered that the bed frame supports are broken, leaving nothing to properly support the mattress.

There have been several other issues as well. The listing stated in two different places that charcoal for the grill would be provided, but there isn’t any. It also advertised board games, and none are in the house. The patio lights don’t work, so we weren’t able to enjoy dinner outside as planned because it became too dark to see.

Overall, the home is noticeably more run-down in person than it appears in the listing photos. It honestly feels like a bait and switch. Are we overreacting for feeling like we were taken advantage of? We paid just over $2,000 for our family to stay here for two nights, and the experience hasn’t matched what was advertised at all.

Update: After comparing the listing photos to the actual property, we realized the photos appear to be several years old and no longer accurately represent the home. Our bedroom is completely different from what was advertised. The bed has been replaced with a different one, and the ceiling fan shown in the listing are no longer there. The backyard has also changed significantly. What was pictured as an open field with a basketball court now includes an additional large building, and the basketball court has been relocated farther away. We also noticed that the grill has been moved underneath a covered wooden patio. This raised some concerns for us, as it appears to be very close to the wooden structure and adjacent seating area. Beyond the amount of heat and smoke it produces, we’re concerned this setup could pose a potential fire hazard. My husband and I decided to sleep on the bottom bunk and had a huge roach crawl all over our legs (the mattress is directly on the ground - we should have known better.) We’re disgusted at this point at the amount of money that’s been spent here. 😭

Hi! I’m writing this fast so please forgive any mistakes. I’ve rented cabins before, mostly in very rural Maine. just me and me dog. I (29 female) rented a cabin in Vermont to get away from Fourth of July noise. I knew it was barebones. that there was no ac and there was a compost toilet.

well, I showed up and there’s rusty, sharp screws on the ground in front of the entrance. plywood laying around. McDonald’s trash near the firepit. I go inside and the toilet is missing. I drove four hours, no stops, and really had to go. oh and there’s mouse droppings around. I messaged the host, she came right away and told me her daughter was supposed to help get it ready. she was very kind, got every set up, was very apologetc. I figured that’s it. I get what I paid for and honestly? after that it was pretty nice. quiet and with some okay hiking on the property.

figured there was nice, so I kept all my food stuff in the fridge or zipped up good in my backpack. dog food sealed. my luggage closed.

and then I’m laying there, watching Joy ride 2001 on my laptop, and I see a mouse scurry by. just doing zoomies around like he pays bills.

im not afraid of mice… but like come on. I don’t want droppings where I eat, where my dog might eat it. I don’t want my dog (100lps Pitt husky mix) to eat the dang critter and get parasites. only thing out is an empty pizza box. my pizza is in the fridge. I didn't want to leave it in my car because there are a lot of bears in the area.

I’ve never even given a bad review before. not even when the last place I stayed at had had an oven that didn’t close all the way.

what do I do? what would you guys do? I really don’t want to go home tomorrow because my parents are both sick and there’s a heatwave in CT right now. I swear I hear the mouse going to town in the cupboards as I’m writing this on my phone like I’m in a hostage situation.

When we arrived at our AirBnB yesterday, the home was set on 75°. It was extremely hot and muggy, so we checked the thermostat to turn on the air. We were having trouble lowering the temp past 72°/73° as it just wouldn’t go lower than that. I finally got it to go down to 70° but it seemed like a temporary setting. I reviewed the home instructions and they ask that the temp stays between 68°-76°, no problem, I was aiming for 68° since that’s what we set our house on.

We left and went to dinner, came back and it’s at 72°, so I message the host and let her know something isn’t right. She agreed it should and could go down to 68°, asked for a pic, and said she’d send someone out in the morning.

This afternoon she sends a message saying the handyman checked it out and concluded the owners have it locked, she’s contacted the owners to find out the code to unlock it, so the temp can be turned down.

It’s now past 8pm, we’ve not heard anything else. Two out of the 3 bedrooms are so warm and the fans are mediocre. I have my daughter in the coolest room of course.

I’ve never had this situation and not sure what to do. We check out Sunday and like a lot of places, it’s so hot right now.

I'm wondering what is the best thing to do in this situation. I'm renting a basement suit and one of the bedrooms has no window. Now that I look back at the pictures, I realize that I should have figured it out. But there is only one picture of that bedroom and it's from inside pointing towards the bed. There could have been a window on the wall not shown.

I can't decide whether or not to say anything to the host privately (in the private message to the host after the review). Or should I mention in the review? I am not looking to cause a fuss or compensation. I just think because it is actually illegal to have bedrooms without windows, and some people maybe be uncomfortable with it (I'm writing this at 5:30 am because it was starting to feel claustrophobic), it should, at the very least be clearly mentioned in the listing.

Or do I just ignore it completely? It is a new listing with only one review so far.

Also, I had a very quick look and I'm very surprised at how many listings there are that clearly mention that a bedroom has no window!

Trip is from Aug 7- Aug 12. I have free cancelation until July 8. Today I got this message:

(My name), I have a problem. Some how I had reservations crisscross on the 7th of August. Can you come in on the afternoon of the 8th? If it is any problem I can reimburse some of the money.

Cabin has 4 years of 5* reviews with just a couple 4s and one 2 from an unhinged person who saw an insect in the woods. It is also 25 minutes from my MIL in an area I am very familiar with and it's not that big a deal to delay my trip a day.

I have no airbnb reviews, according to the host sub I am a risk and no one should rent to us despite being a couple in our 50s who have rented cabins via an agency and vrbo in another area. We selected this one bc it had instant book, hopefully he'll give us a review so we can get one of the really nice houses next year with hot tubs which are all "request to book." I even reserved for 6 ppl, even though only the two of us are sleeping there, so nobody freaks out when my 80yo MIL and a couple cousins in their 60s come over for an afternoon meal.

I really want this to work out..should I be concerned? I should change dates in the app so I don't end up paying for the night I am delaying, right?

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for advice regarding an Airbnb booking in Germany. I booked an apartment for 1 month for around €2,000, but I was never able to access or use the accommodation.

Before the check-in day, the host told me that because the check-in is done personally, she needed a specific arrival time by the day before check-in. Her exact message was:

“Es wird ein persönlicher Check-In stattfinden, daher ist es wichtig, dass ich spätestens am Vortag eine konkrete Ankunftszeit von dir weiß. Ohne Rückmeldung bis dahin kann leider kein Check-In organisiert werden.”

Translation: “There will be a personal check-in, so it is important that I know a specific arrival time from you by the day before at the latest. Without feedback by then, unfortunately no check-in can be organized.”

I provided an arrival time before the check-in day, so I believed I had fulfilled that requirement. The host also wrote something like “Dann finden wir sicher eine Lösung,” meaning “Then we will surely find a solution,” so I understood that communication and some flexibility would be possible.

The agreed check-in time was 17:00. On the check-in day, before 17:00, I informed the host that I would be delayed by about 1–2 hours. I first suggested around 19:00, and later updated that I could arrive around 18:00 instead.

I understand this may have caused inconvenience because the host probably had to travel or arrange the key handover personally. However, I still wanted to check in and use the apartment. I also offered to collect the key from her afterwards, even if I had to travel further.

Despite this, the host refused to provide the key/access. I could not use the apartment at all, although the booking was active and paid. I contacted Airbnb support before opening a PayPal case, but Airbnb told me they could not do anything and did not offer a rebooking, refund, or any other solution.

I paid via PayPal and opened a case for “service not received.”

My main questions are:

Has anyone experienced something similar with Airbnb?

Did Airbnb escalation or PayPal help?

Is it normal that a host can deny access for the whole stay because of a delayed arrival?

Midway through my stay in a London Airbnb the actual landlord popped over - turns out that the host is illegally renting it out in without her knowledge.

Was a bit stressful as obviously my mind ran immediately to she'll kick me out etc, however she said that as I didn't know about it I can finish out my stay and she will take it from there (presume she has informed host, but haven't heard from her).

Is there scope to get any sort of partial refund on this? I realise that I will have completed my booked stay, however I have had to spend part of it dealing with an angry landlord due to the host's illegal activity which was not part of the deal.

I booked an Airbnb near Paris where my husband, my 8 month-old son, and me were supposed to stay from last night until Saturday morning.

So… we arrived last night after a long international flight, but the apartment didn’t match the listing.
It was not clean (bed sheets, sofa, bathroom), and some agreed items like a baby cot were missing. There was also no elevator, which wasn’t mentioned.

Our baby was extremely tired and crying, so I contacted Airbnb support immediately out of panic and exhaustion. They advised me to take photos, message the host, and said I could leave if the place wasn’t suitable, prioritizing the baby’s wellbeing.
We followed their advice: took photos, contacted the host, left quickly, and booked a hotel nearby.

Since then, I’ve been in contact with both Airbnb and the host.

The host says I should have messaged first so they could have done something, but their reaction before I even left was telling me the apartment was clean even with the photos.
They have sent a video to airbnb that was supposedly recorded before our arrival showing the apartment clean. I haven’t seen the video myself, but Airbnb told me that because the host provided that video and I have only photos, they can’t determine the actual condition of the apartment when we arrived. It seems like videos are taking over from photos, even though it’s hard to notice the details quite as well but oh well. Anyway, as a result, they say there’s little they can do.

The host has refused to refund me. Instead, they offered a discount for a future stay… which honestly isn’t useful because I obviously don’t intend to stay there again.

Do you think it’s worth continuing to fight for a refund, or should I just give up?

If anyone has advice or has been through something similar, I’d really appreciate hearing it.
Thank you.

EDIT: the baby cot was listed among the amenities, and I initially contacted Airbnb to get advice on what to do.

EDIT 2: Regarding the elevator, I double-checked just to be sure, and the floor wasn’t even mentioned anywhere in the listing. I only found out which floor the apartment was on in the last-minute check-in instructions before our arrival, which is why I had assumed it was on the ground floor.

Also, fans were mentioned in the amenities but I didn’t see any.

Hello Everyone,

I am in the middle of long stay 90+ days and may not be able to make the second payment in time, I may be 48-72 hours late, what will happen if I'm a couple days late on the second installment and can anything potentially be done to stop the reservation from automatically getting cancelled? Thanks in advance, cheers.

Myself and a few coworkers rented a place in the Atlanta area while there for work. The day we got there everything went fine, check in was a little annoying but the house was clean and well maintained. I used a bathroom upstairs and it immediately clogged. I proceeded to spend about 30 min trying to plunge and unclog it to no avail. At that point it was later in the evening and I planned on telling the host about it the next day. The following morning I get up for work and there is a small leak coming from the ceiling in the dining room. I messaged the host, told them about the toilet and the leak. They told me they would get a plumber out there as soon as possible. They proceeded to beat around the bush with the plumber until the fourth or fifth day we were there at which point the leak was so bad that the ceiling was starting to fall apart. The plumber finally came while I was still at work and placed 5 gallon buckets around the dining room to catch the drips and nothing else. The host messaged me and said the plumber would be back once he came up with a plan to deal with the leak and toilet. By that time our stay was almost up so I didnt even worry about it. Earlier today however I received a message from air bnb saying that the host wants me to reimburse them 16k for damages. They said the leak started due to a clogged pipe because excess toilet paper was flushed. I am the only person that used that toilet and I used a very normal amount of tp when I got done doing my business. I am going to contact a law office tomorrow but I just wanted to get any and all advice on the situation.