r/AirBnB

We had stayed on night without incident but around 4:45pm the next day I heard loud banging on the door followed by "open up, we know you're in there." I looked out and saw two sheriff's officers and thought they might be at the wrong unit and opened the door. They handed me an eviction notice and said I needed to be out by the 13th and if I had any questions to call the number on the paperwork. My husband was out grabbing dinner for us, so I waited for him to get back before I started really freaking out and looking things up/calling. We went through Airbnb's chat and eventually got through to talk to someone. They said that since the checkout date was before the eviction date it was fine to stay. I did some digging while he was calling and found out it was an unregistered Airbnb and illegal, which is why there was an eviction notice and this process had been ongoing since January. The person listed on the eviction notice was also not the Airbnb host we booked with, but the apartment listed was the one we were in. We provided this information to Airbnb and they offered a two night refund since it was past the 11am checkout time. Am I crazy for feeling like I should be refunded the full 4 nights stay?! Or at least three since I had to book three nights somewhere else? They acted like this was no big deal so I feel like it must happen fairly often. Is it common and should I have just continued technically trespassing as long as onsite management didn't confront me? I really didn't feel comfortable staying there because we were trespassing as non residents and it had an electronic lock and the host could tell when we were there or not. What's to stop them from removing my items with theirs!? And then I realized that's probably why there was bare minimum there including an old couch and rugs with stains. The host and listing are still up and active. And whoever is staying there today is not going to have a good day...

ETA: the Airbnb host was not the same as the person on the eviction notice. The lease was in a different name than the Airbnb host.

The host did not have a dishwasher and told me to wash all dishes and put them away before leaving. I rinsed the dishes but left them fully rinsed with no food left on them in the sink. I told the host I do not feel comfortable washing the dishes for the next guest because I would not want a guest washing my dishes before I came. You think a guest is going to make sure it's actually cleaned well enough to eat off of? Every guest has different standards of cleanliness. I said I did not trust myself to sanitize the dishes for them to be hygienic enough for the next guest and that the cleaning team should take care of it for it to be proper. I feel uncomfortable with the fact that I probably ate off of dishes that a guest rushed to clean to get out of there.

Anyone agree or disagree??

I just booked an Airbnb in the US for my 2 sons and myself. When reading the house rules, I noticed the rule to not disclose ANY information about my booking to neighbors or I could be subject to a $1000 fine. This feels really strange and just off. Is this a violation of Airbnb rules? Is this person operating an illegal Airbnb? I feel a bit nervous to go now as I feel I may be at risk to be interrogated by the neighbors.

An elderly couple booked my place a few months ago. They never showed. A week after, their son msged me on Airbnb saying that his parents thought they had cancelled the stay, however there was no record of any cancellation. He admitted there is no record of the cancellation, and said his parents are elderly and not super familiar/comfortable with technology and may not have properly cancelled or clicked submit. His message was worded kindly and it didn’t come off as entitled. He is requesting a full or even a partial refund.

What would you do?

On one hand I feel bad, but on the other hand I’m losing money if I don’t stick to my policy

I’ve been hosting on Maui for years with 67 reviews and Superhost status. Last week a guest filed a complaint about insects in my unit. Airbnb investigated, reviewed the evidence including the guest’s own photos, and ruled in my favor.

The guest then messaged me: “We are happy to leave our negative experience out of your locally owned business page if you return us at least a portion of the remaining rental fee.” Textbook review extortion, documented in Airbnb’s own message system.

For context — Maui had just experienced significant storms and the entire island was dealing with an unusual gnat surge - did anyone else see the severe flooding in the news??? People died. The gnats likely entered the unit through an open door during check in. I offered immediate cleaning and the guest declined.

She left a 1-star review calling it a “severe infestation” that “failed Airbnb health and safety standards”. Umm...okay? The review also contained completely irrelevant and clearly retaliatory complaints that had nothing to do with her actual stay, posted immediately after her refund was denied.

After hours of phone calls and hold times, Airbnb’s review specialists determined the review was in violation of their Reviews Policy TWICE. She appealed twice and it was reinstated both times.

I have a timestamped video of the unit after her departure showing it clean and habitable. The guests who checked in directly after her reported a wonderful stay with zero insect concerns.

Airbnb has told me there is no further recourse. Hosts beware — they have no support for you. I plan to leave the platform.

AirBnB Host left us a review saying "Everything went well, except that at checkout, we noticed that the dishes hadn't been done, we found quite a few hairs on the bathroom floor, and a sock had been left behind."

Are we in the wrong for forgetting a sock and not fully sweeping "all our hair" on the floor? For context we are 4 females all with long hair so it seemed inevitable.. and for the dishes part I do understand although she didn't specify in the checkout rules - all this is to say is a public review like this really necessary and could I submit an appeal?? Thanks

I’m posting this after a very frustrating experience in Florida. I dealt with a lot of issues from these hosts, so I did end up getting a small refund from Airbnb thankfully. This is a forewarning to both hosts and guests. The listing did not include hot water in the amenities. I read several posts where hosts forget to include it, since it is legally required in most states and is usually a given.

I reached out to make sure there was hot water before booking. They told me yes. The hot water heater for the unit was broken when I moved in despite them telling me that hot water is provided. I reached out to let them know, and it took three weeks for me to be given hot water. They installed a 60 amp heater on a 30 amp breaker, so it would short out and be ice cold within seconds. It took them three weeks of me asking them to come, them saying “next week”, and no one came for 19 days.

I sought a partial refund because again, I checked with the host before booking. I was told it was provided. It’s a pretty basic need. It also shouldnt take three entire weeks to fix it. Airbnb never offered a way for me to leave and I couldn’t afford after dropping $10k on that place to immediately move elsewhere. Airbnb informed me that because it was not advertised in the listing, it was not considered an added amenity, and they didn’t need to provide it regardless of them stating they did. I can’t get a partial refund from over ten thousand dollars with no hot water because it just wasn’t listed in the listing. Apparently, if you ever run into this, tell the host to add hot water on the listing before you book. Otherwise they can just not provide what you’re asking and you won’t be protected.

EDIT:

Minutes after posting here Host answered that he honours my booking. I think he simply tried to charge a higher rate, as all dates around mine were still free in the calendar.

I'm going to. German City for a work thing (one day event) and all I could find within budget was a new listing with a verified host.

I booked it, got accepted. In my request I informed host that I'm there for a work event.

Now host contacts me and claims refurbishment, he wants me to move my dates. I say impossible, work event. He apologises, offers me a discount if I move my date. I decline again as I'm unfortunately not flexible. He apologises again and asks me to cancel. I decline.

Haven't heard from him since.

Now I'm unsure what to do - should I cancel? I need this place and a very late check-in as I will be arriving very late and that's one of the few places that offer that.

On the other hand Airbnb is very clear to never cancel yourself when the host asks you to.

Why would host do that? What is the play here?

9:30pm I arrived at the air bnb house that I had already been staying at for 2 weeks. This was my last night there and I planned to pack for a few hours getting in. The host is a large rental company and their office hours are 9:00am-9:00pm. I went to go put in the same code as usual and the code was no longer working. I tried a few times and immediately tried to call the host. The voicemail said to contact during regular office hours but listed a number for the emergency lock out team. I immediately called the emergency lock out team and there was absolutely nothing they could do. They said that unless the host responds they have no way to help me. I asked for a permission to get a lock smith and they said they could not grant me that. I called Air Bnb support and they said there was nothing they could do until the host responds. SUPPORT IS USELESS UNLESS THE HOST RESPONDS!!!! I asked for permission to get a lock smith and Air Bnb also said they cannot grant me this. By 2:00am I finally started calling lock smiths because I just wanted to get my stuff at this point. The ones that answered said I was out of range since the home was so deep in the mountains. At this point I started doing everything I could to try to break into the home. I also have medication I have to to take due to the fact that I just had a surgery so this was stressful on so many levels. At 3:00am air bnb called me back saying since the host was not responding to get a hotel. I physically cannot see at night and driving in the mountains is very hard for me but no taxi service was willing to come pick me up where I was in the mountains. So I waited all night on the porch. I called the host about 200 times until she answered at the regular business hour 9:00am. I finally got inside at 9:40 ish and she told me I had to get my stuff out by 11:00. I had two weeks worth of packing to do and I needed to take a shower. I told her no that I would be done by 1:00. She said other guests are coming, I said I do not care they will have to be inconvenienced like I was!

I only got refunded for the night I was locked out, zero other compensation.

Turns out the WHOLE TIME there was a lock box with a spare key hidden on the stairs to the home!!!! The lock out team did not have this information. All they had was the code I already had and nothing more. The host said "the lock out team should have given you lock box code". Well they didn't have it!!

We are a little over a week away to our stay in Miami. I have messaged the host several times with a few questions. The messages get read, but she never responds. I sent my first message about three weeks ago, followed up a week later. Asked the questions again a couple days after and just messaged again yesterday morning. Still no response to my three questions. I am hesitant to reach out to Aibnb for fear she may cancel. She is a super host. Very frustrating that this is her business and she ignores clients. Any suggestions?

I've used Airbnb many times and have had pretty great experiences across the board. My husband just recently had his first bad one and showed up to the place to find it INFESTED with roaches. Like, I truly cant stress enough this wasnt a "oops! one bug in the kitchen" sort of thing. This was aggregious and turns my stomach to think about.

What blows my mind is that the listing had a 4.5 star rating. How does that happen?? Any thoughts? I want a better idea of what to look out for in the future to avoid a similar situation, especially when booking a budget friendly option. What are your biggest red flags on well rated postings? What are your biggest green flags?

Thank you for your thoughts!

Edit: And this is how I learn 4.5 IS in fact a bad rating on Airbnb 😂. Thank you all!

The aircover insurance says it covers up to $1,500 for me and 9 other guests. So if we have 16 ppl staying, will this nullify any claims?

I have always left either a 5-star or no review because faults can be subjective.

But I really did not have a good time in a property that I recently stayed in:

• Check-in instruction from the host message says check-in time is 5-10pm and the host will hand in the key face-to-face. But at 7pm the host says they drop off the key at a nearby location. The location turns out to be a 15 mins walk uphill.
• Many photos suggest a clean flat in a private owned block. But turns out it was in a block that is worse maintained which I suspect is mainly used for tenants who rent through some affordable housing program.
• The cushions on the couch smells strongly of oily hair (but I do have a sensitive nose).
• Host left a damp towel in the kitchen that starts stinky up after a day.
• Two brown crumbs on the living room floor behind the door that looks really like rodent droppings. ChatGPT and I don't think it is, but it looks similar enough that Gemini and Claude think it is.
• The flat is next to an air vent in the corridor so at lunch and dinner times it started to smell like a fish and chip shop.
• (Good things that I did mention in the review) Bathroom is very clean, so are the beddings and the bed is comfortable.
• The price is fair? Similar or slightly higher than a 3-star hotel in nearby areas.
• Communication from host is standard, nothing to write home about.

To make matter even worse, the host insulted and blocked me after reading my 3-star review! Before they read it they say they "really appreciate that I left the flat in a nice and clean condition". After they read it they said "Unbelievably disappointed in you, hope you get what you deserved, what you say are all lies".

Ignoring the host's insult. Is it fair that I left a 3-star review? The listing had one 5-star and one 3-star both with minimal elaboration. Was I too subjective? Did I effectively kill the listing?

Hi - I stayed at an AirBnB, and unfortunately I had moved into a weird position in my sleep which caused me to bleed on the mattress despite wearing double pads.

Got a message that they "tried to clean it off" just some hours after we left and that it didn't work so I have to pay approx $240 for a brand new one.

I left a note apologizing for it, of course.

However, it feels a bit too much paying for a brand new mattress from a very natural mistake and something I quite frankly would have a hard time controlling in my sleep. Are bloodstains really impossible to clean out?

And no, there was no protection sheet on the mattress or something like that.

Edit: Apparently I finally sent enough screenshots of their own policies and Airbnb backed down. I'm getting a full refund and dodging a scammy bullet. Thanks for listening y'all and be careful out there!

A few months ago I booked a condo within a hotel, and the property manager just reached out last week to say the unit I booked won't be available due to a water issue. They tried to send an alteration request, but every time I clicked to accept it said "those dates aren't available." So at the outset it looks like they're trying to move me into something that isn't actually available.

After a few failed attempts to accept the alteration, they're now saying they won't fix the reservation within the app, I just need to "rest assured" that my reservation is confirmed on their end, even when my app still shows I'm only confirmed for the unavailable unit. Despite Airbnb policy showing they have to either update IN THE APP or refund, they're refusing to do either. Support refuses to help because they aren't "authorized" to refund unless the host approves the refund (which they obviously will not).

As an added bonus, the property management's account was "hacked" and "they" messaged today asking for payment off the app. Despite tons of good reviews, this is looking scammier by the second and I have zero confidence that I will actually have a place to stay when I show up next month.

Any experiences with this? What's my recourse?

I booked an AirBnB in Austin, TX for 14 days. About an hour into the stay I notice an inordinate number of gnats and bugs in the apartment - everywhere: living room, bedroom, bathroom, even in the fridge. I realize I have a dozen bug bites on me after about 90 minutes of being inside. I reach out out the host about whether this is known. They say it is, and say they even disclose this in the rental description:

> Please be aware that Texas is known for having all sorts of bugs and creatures, especially during the summer, that wander around and can sometimes get into the home. Bugs and creatures such as silverfish, earwigs, cockroaches/waterbugs, scorpions, spiders, wasps, mosquitoes, flies, snails, moths, ants, etc. are all very common in Texas and the South in general, and might show up in the home from time-to-time. The presence of a few of these critters does not indicate any sort of infestation in the home, as usually, it's just the critters trying to escape the blistering heat or the freezing cold like everyone else.

They mention that there is bug spray to be worn in the apartment. I've stayed in three AirBnBs in Austin this year and never once had an issue with bugs. I respectfully ask to cancel the reservation and get a refund - I hadn't used the bathroom/kitchen/bed so the cleaning would be minimal. Denied. Reach out to the AirBnB, with pictures of bugs, and they say the refund is at the sole discretion of the host. This goes further up their chain of command and the answer remains the same.

I left the unit after about two hours and got a hotel. A 14 day reservation is pretty hefty, but I'm fine eating this cost - they technically did disclose this in advance, even if I missed it. But it seems really strange that AirBnB would let hosts knowingly market a listing with a bug infestation. Am I being unreasonable here?

Hi everyone! Now that I’m leaving this absolutely terrible place I decided to share my story. This isn’t necessarily for advice, but just to share and hopefully help someone out in the future if they run into this.

We moved in December, and booked this place until May. We booked it last second, and knew it was a bit odd, but had no idea how bad it was until the first day. We saw not one, but three cockroaches. We took photos and let the host know, and they told us to buy our own pest solution until they could come out. We had no money left, were exhausted from moving everything, so we just made sure to document everything and did what they asked. They did come by and spray but it was not an exterminator and was the Airbnb host himself that sprayed.

We have seen cockroaches on and off since then. We have a spray now, so we just spray them and they go away for a while. We were told this is normal since it’s Florida and it’s the gigantic ugly ones, apparently they come in regardless. In addition to the cockroaches at move in we had no hot water. We let the host know and they kept pushing this back as well, we never got hot water until three WEEKS later. We were showering at my partners house just to get hot water. We also made sure to document that.

People want to know why we stayed so far I’m willing to bet, so I want to tell you how predatory this place was. It was an entirely unfurnished unit despite the pictures depicting furniture. We spent thousands on things like bedding and tables and pots and pans. We were afraid if we left, we couldn’t move everything out in time, and the refund also wouldn’t hit fast enough between the months to get a new place. I’m willing to bet the hosts knew what they were doing there, and just didn’t care.

This is Florida, it has been around 85 degrees since I’ve even been in the state. Our air conditioning quit on us Monday, four days ago. Someone just came out yesterday. The heat caused me to get sick and start throwing up. It was 90 degrees in our house. We also have two dogs and we were extremely concerned the entire time and finally decided to get out. It should not take THREE DAYS to fix a deadly issue, let alone the three weeks it took them to fix our hot water at move in. I gave them the benefit of the doubt for much longer than I should have and figured maybe this was their first Airbnb and they just made mistakes, but it’s clearer to me now that isn’t the case.

They just reached out to me letting me know the ac still isn’t really fixed, and that they need to replace the entire unit. They just tried to blame it on dog hair in the filter. The technician had to fill the Freon back up as well as replace something outside, not sure what. He did clean the vents for us as well. I took it as them somehow trying to blame us as guests for not buying a screwdriver and unscrewing the filter ourselves to clear the filter during this time.

Is it really our responsibility to unscrew someone else’s air filter that we’re paying thousands of dollars to stay in, when they never gave us the means to do so? I very highly doubt this was our fault as dodgy as they’ve been with everything else. We’re getting a refund on the days without ac since we reported it to Airbnb directly this time instead of waiting on the hosts. We likely won’t get a refund on everything else. Take my advice and leave as soon as you see a cockroach. I can guarantee that won’t be your only issue on your stay, and maybe Airbnb can cover a hotel until your refund will arrive.

EDITING TO ADD: I forgot this because it was back in December, but here’s how it went when I contacted about the roaches: I reached out with photos of two roaches in our kitchen the day of move in. They let us know they contacted an exterminator and the exterminator would be by the following day. The following day, they said they needed my phone number for the pest control to contact me. I figured that they needed to call and make sure I was home, but then an exterminator never called. The Airbnb host did without my permission, asking me over the phone to purchase pest spray and they’d reimburse me. This threw me off but again this was after we had spent a couple thousand furnishing the unit, so we gave them the benefit of the doubt and trusted them. We never received any reimbursement and the host came by and used our spray around the house. I feel they tricked us into giving our number out so they could contact off the platform and have it less documented. They did the same thing with the ac, they continuously told me they contacted someone and they’d be by that day for three days until eventually they showed up two hours late the final day. I met and spoke to the technician and he had asked how long I had been without air conditioning, and when I told him he was shocked. They never contacted him until that day because I kept pushing it.

This is my first time using Airbnb, my friends and I were going to a concert 5 hours away from our hometown. We found this Airbnb that worked perfectly for the overnight stay we needed. We were only going to be there to get ready before and have a place to sleep that night. We booked it months in advance.
Flash forward to the day of the concert and we start our drive. I look on Airbnb and it says check in after 4pm. I never heard from the host but I wasn’t sure what to expect, as I said this was my first time ever using Airbnb so I was unfamiliar with what the norm was for conversations.
We get to the Airbnb around 530pm and I reach out to the host to figure out how to get in so we can start getting ready. He doesn’t answer immediately but when he does, he then tells me we “missed checkout” and can no longer stay there. We try to explain our situation and he says there’s nothing he can do about it because he “didn’t hear from us”.
I look at my reservation and there is nothing stating we had to be there AT 4pm or we would be denied. He never communicated that to me or else I would’ve been there at or before 4pm. He claims he is not able to refund me for the trip but maybe 50%.
Is it reasonable for me to be upset and request a full refund due to his lack of clarity with the check-in instructions?

Edit: I suck at Reddit lol

We're staying at a beautiful house on the ocean in Orange County CA. We arrived on Sunday (it was quiet). Today is Wednesday and we have had to listen to construction noise (that was not disclosed to us at all when we booked).

The houses here have a walking alley width between them. The house next door (where the construction is going on) is about 6 feet away.

The living room windows have no covering because its the ocean. This afternoon, a worker was standing on our patio to jackhammer the dividing wall. he is currently watching me.

We paid 4k for 5 nights here. We bought my parents. Mom has dementia and dad has alzheimers and recently was diagnosed with cancer. They are in their mid 90s, so obviously there is no treatment. This is literally their last hurrah.

My husband called to complain. We were told they were unaware of construction now (he thought it started and finished about a month ago). We were offered a discount for a future stay.

We're at a loss as we simply wanted a lovely, extravagant few days at the beach, my dad's favorite place to be.

I am in tears.

eta because of apparent confusion. the owners SAID they were unaware, however its a gated community with an hoa. homeowners must inform neighbors in writing of any construction and the approx time frame.

tl dr, very noisy, owners knew, did not inform us and actually lied about knowing.

On day 4 of a 7 day stay we discovered three unknown pills (two whole, one crushed) in the bathroom of our rental, they were small and blended into the tile very well so they had gone unnoticed until then unfortunately. The problem I'm having is that we are traveling with our dogs, this is advertised as a pet friendly rental. On day 1-2 of our stay one of the dogs was having stomach trouble, luckily she improved with a bland diet over a few days but I want to make it clear that two days before the discovery of the pills she was sick, concerningly enough so that I was frantically googling local emergency vets at 2 a.m. and if she had thrown up just one more time we would have been at the vet spending whatever it took to make her well again. After the discovery of the pills and identifying them, extreme stomach upset is a common symptom of exposure in dogs. But when my dog was sick we'd had no idea about this possible exposure and side effect and we would have been flying blind even if we had gone to the vet.

After the discovery the host offered to come by and vacuum the bathroom where the pills were discovered. While I appreciate that, I'm having trouble with the stress this whole situation has caused, and the interrupted plans to make the rental accessible to the host to even accomplish vacuuming the single room. Even after, I'm left stressing about closing doors, watching my dogs like a hawk, wondering what else could be here that I need to worry about? If I didn't have to stay in town for an event this weekend we would have left that morning... Ultimately I feel that if the rental was cleaned properly this never would have happened. And while my pup is okay, with exposure to an unknown medication she just as easily could have been injured or killed because the rental was not cleaned properly.

This has turned my trip into somewhat of a nightmare. AirBnB Support is saying "they vacuumed the bathroom, you're fine, right?"... I don't feel fine, I feel angry.

Just looking for opinions on what a fair resolution would be here from hosts and from more experiencd guests (this is only our second booking with AirBnB). Appreciate all opinions.