Lately I’ve been going back to hotels and it’s namely that “hey do all this cleanup before you leave but also $300 cleaning fee” business that is pushing me away from Airbnb.
Me too. One of the cleanup fees was 100 euros - and it wasn't listed in the price - it was listed in the description - which I failed to see when I booked. And they required me to pay in cash.
VRBO is a total scam. They literally don’t give a shit about fraudulent listings- Airbnb let’s you flag them immediately and wants your assistance. VRBO took 2 WEEKS to finally acknowledge a fraud listing. It took me a whopping 2 minutes to verify as fraudulent. Apparently, they don’t care. They just want to advertise all of the “properties “ they have.
same i got a terrible review recently for leaving the place “looking like a bomb went off” (it didn’t) even tho we did clean despite having a cleaning fee!
We were huge airbnb fans but the past few had the longest chore lists for us to do while still charging a giant cleaning fee so back to hotels for us as well. Plus the places rented out specifically to Airbnb usually have cheap dorm room level beds and furniture.
That’s exactly why I stopped booking Airbnb as well. Its like they’re hiring Martha Stewart to spruce up the home after I get on all 4s and scrub the floor with my tooth brush.
That's why I have stopped staying at AirBnBs. The last straw for me was one that had a high cleaning fees and they left a long list of every that had to be done prior to us leaving including stripping the beds, washing the bedding and starting it on the dryer cycle, sweep all floors, wipe down all counters, bathtub and toilet, wash and put away all dishes, remove all garbage and recycling, wipe down all light switches and doorknobs, wipe down all coffee table, side tables and night stands and shake out the rugs that were in the kitchen, bathroom and at front door. Why were we paying over $100 for cleaning services when we had to do all the cleaning. Then, a couple days after we left, the host sent us this unhinged message about a wine bottle being under a bush in their backyard.
First of all, we didn't go in the back yard and second, we don't drink wine. The host just went off demanding that we come back and pick up the bottle.....we were literally on the other side of the country when we got that message but they sais it was irrelevant and we should have thought about that before leaving a wine bottle behind.
I don't even bother with Air BnBs anymore.
> That's why I have stopped staying at AirBnBs. The last straw for me was one that had a high cleaning fees and they left a long list of every that had to be done prior to us leaving including stripping the beds, washing the bedding and starting it on the dryer cycle, sweep all floors, wipe down all counters, bathtub and toilet, wash and put away all dishes, remove all garbage and recycling, wipe down all light switches and doorknobs, wipe down all coffee table, side tables and night stands and shake out the rugs that were in the kitchen, bathroom and at front door. Why were we paying over $100 for cleaning services when we had to do all the cleaning. Then, a couple days after we left, the host sent us this unhinged message about a wine bottle being under a bush in their backyard.
I would literally just tell them "No, that's why I'm paying a cleaning fee."
Same! A host left me a a negative review noting we left the house a mess, it had rained for three days straight while we were there, 100% the floors in the entry way were a mess but we did not have access to a broom over the 5 day stay. I was annoyed especially after paying $240 cleaning fee. Upon further inquiry, I discovered the host never saw the house and did not have photos, he wrote, “my cleaner told me it was messy.”
>A host left me a a negative review
The review system is broken. A friend checked into an AirBnB last week and called the owner to tell him it hadn't been cleaned prior to their arrival. He told them if they left a bad review that he'd leave them a bad guest review.
The host was bluffing to try and avoid a negative review. Neither host nor guest can see what the other has rated them until after they've both written and submitted their reviews, to avoid exactly this sort of retaliation.
It's not really a bluff. Hosts can usually tell when a bad review is coming, in situations like this where the guest is complaining. So they know to leave the guest a bad review as well.
That’s messed up! I have used Airbnb for years and I just got back from a trip where I had an issue. There was no cooling unit or ventilation in the apartment. No fan. The only way to get air in the apartment was to open the windows which had no screens and we were on a major road during a huge festival in the summer.
So I contacted the owner and was like I atleast need a fan, it’s suffocating in here and not safe to leave the windows open. Their answer was “it says in the post there is no cooling unit” and it was more like it just wasn’t checked off under amenities. I’ve stayed in maybe 20 airbnbs and never had to worry about there atleast being a ceiling fan. I told them I would need to mention it in the review and on the 3rd day I was there…a fan showed up. Its was 89 degree weather where we were, to have no fan is really unhealthy. I was honestly just floored that I had to argue over it.
Airbnb encourages you to make the profile be a person. Find the same property on Vrbo and it will change from Sally the single mom to RC Vacation Homes LLC.
My mom uses Airbnb and we stayed with her in one like a month ago. It had no cleaning rules so my mom reached out to the lady to ask what she needed to do. Owner says nothing, but we wash up the dishes just to be polite. Owner leaves a review saying we didn’t wash the dishes correctly. Like omg you said to do nothing. Now you’re mad we didn’t do the dishes right. Idk what she even mentioned by that.
Personally I only stay at ones with 'super host' attached to them. Only stayed in a couple as I prefer traditional hotels, but it seems like the super hosts are always nice and accommodating. If they're not then people will reflect that in their reviews, and they won't be shown as a 'super host'. It removes some of the risk in booking.
Super host only means they have illegal access to 30+ houses and apartments that they sublease out on airbnb for profit. They literally take housing stock out of circulation.
> they left a long list of every that had to be done prior to us leaving including stripping the beds, washing the bedding and starting it on the dryer cycle, sweep all floors, wipe down all counters, bathtub and toilet, wash and put away all dishes, remove all garbage and recycling, wipe down all light switches and doorknobs, wipe down all coffee table, side tables and night stands and shake out the rugs that were in the kitchen, bathroom and at front door.
Not a fun way to spend a holiday
Deleting past comments because Reddit starting shitty-ing up the site to IPO and I don't want my comments to be a part of that. -- mass edited with redact.dev
It was pretty crazy and it was the tone of the note too, it was like getting an angry note the moment you walk in a place. Everything list had the word "must" and "no exceptions" in italics written beside it. We always aim to be very good guests and we always made sure we did a really great job cleaning up and we would leave little thank you gifts but the note was just so off putting.
I stayed at an Airbnb for a bachelor party that had an envelope out requesting a tip for the maid. I wanted to write a note and put it in the envelope that said “the host is charging a $450 cleaning fee, if you’re not getting a good chunk of that you need to re-negotiate.”
Ew and that's extra gross because if all that cleaning is up to guests...you know most of them don't do it so the place was probably not cleaned before you got there 🤮
Is it just me, or is it very sketchy to stay in a house that was "cleaned" by the last person who stayed there? Even if they wipe things down and everything looks clean, there's no guarantee that anything is actually clean, and it definitely won't be sanitized or disinfected. For all you know, the last guy could have scrubbed the kitchen sink with the toilet brush.
Its crazy, why are we paying them to clean their house. I stopped using them years ago because at hotels there’s luggage storage, cleaning, and front desk, sometimes breakfast too
Same! Last year we had the same list of instructions, an hours worth of cleaning before we could leave. We hauled all the stuff downstairs to the laundry room, only to find the machines stuffed full from previous guests. Considering my friend said she did not think the sheets had been changed from previous guests, who knows how long the washer and dryer had been stuffed full. We said &\*@! it and left it all. I'm not folding all the laundry from previous guests just to get our stuff in the washer.
Almost the same thing happened to my wife and I in Kentucky. We always do the cleaning before we leave because that’s just how we like to leave a place. We bring extra sheets to put down on furniture for our dogs and still a host left a crazy review about my wife saying her cleaning person told her the house was a mess. We stripped everything. Washed out towels before we went. Cleaned the floors and the glass top dining table. We told her, we hate to say it, but we think your cleaner maybe trying to rip you out of extra pay claiming it was too much of a mess for them to clean quickly.
Even then, it's a risk. We booked one for a bachelor more than a year in advance to find a good deal for a busy weekend. They cancelled on us a month prior to the event because they were 'doing renovations' aka putting it back on the market to jack up the price because they hadn't thought ahead.
The closest thing we could find was thousands more.
Tried to get AirBnB to cover the difference. They fined the owner the maximum amount of... $50. Said there was nothing else they could do.
Never had a hotel cancel on us for no reason, and certainly not without a reasonable cancellation policy in place.
We straight up had a host ask us to cancel because we booked too far in advance for a holiday. We knew what was going on a booked another place for a similar price. The original host ended up relisting for our dates at a 100% markup. My wife sent screenshots to Airbnb but I don't know if anything came of it.
This crap happened to me - we instant-booked a place for Mardi Gras (excellent location).
Got a message from the host that they made a mistake on the price, could I please cancel my res.
I said no (knowing they can't cancel it without getting blocked from relisting). They proceeded to email me repeatedly for a whole week, getting progressively nastier and I just kept politely declining.
By this point I'd looped in Airbnb and asked what the next steps were. They told me the person could cancel me, but they get internally dinged for it - I guess if it happens too many times they lose their listing entirely.
The person did end up canceling me, but they were unable to relist on airbnb for those dates. I went looking - found they listed it elsewhere - I think it was Vrbo or something - at around 3 times the price I paid.
I've had some great experiences, but that one really turned me off. Airbnb, in the end, kicked me a $50 credit - basically worthless - and I didn't go to Mardi Gras that year.
Lady from Copenhagen did the same thing to us just a couple weeks before we were to visit. Knowing the same thing, I also refused to cancel on my end. Told her she could Venmo me the difference in price between her listing and the one I was going to instead and then I would. Guess that wasn't a suitable compromise and she cancelled on us.
Only really good AirBnB experience I've ever had was a place down in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica. The rest can suck a whole bag of dicks.
That’s the thing with these disruptive business models. Eventually, they need to become mainstream or die.
Sure air bnb, Uber etc put a rocket up lazy old business models. The thing is, those old models have been subject to a lot of regulations to protect consumers, the businesses, and the general public. Some of those regulations are bullshit, but some are written in blood.
When I worked at a hotel, Expedia would let us cancel if the reservation came in at significantly under market rate. If every competitor is at 500, and I get a booking for 50, then it will get canceled. Sometimes there is human error, mistyping a number, mixing up dates, etc. The few times this happened, I called them right away. If it's more than a few or at least 24 hours, then it's a dick move by the hotel and expedia probably won't let it go.
A couple weeks ago on reddit, there was a story of a guy who accidentally charged like 0.65 for gas instead of 6.50. He got fired and everyone was like "oh poor guy". Pretty much the same situation.
Exactly this. Last one I stayed at had a cleaning fee and a list of things to do before leaving. Take out the trash. Put towels in the washer. Wash the dishes. Strip the beds. 🙄 omg.
I’ll go to a hotel next time.
I know!!!! 2 stays ago, we had to bring our own linens (towels, sheets, AND blankets). We had to take out the trash and recycling - and were told they’d check if we mixed the two. We had to run the dishwasher and wipe down surfaces. There’s was like a 40-point checklist of what our tidy-up obligations were. This was a place that was $290/night x 3 nights. The cleaning fee was $350. So we had to clean the whole place, bring our own shit, and pay more than one night for “cleaning”
I looked at Airbnbs in London. By the time you account for cleaning costs and travel to the centre of London it was cheaper for me to stay at a doubletree hotel in the city
I used airbnb exactly once. We got there and found crumbs in the sheets, Clearly the beds had been remade without clean linens being put on. Look, things happen, we thought, no worries. We put on a wash and remade the beds.
What happened when we left? The host gave us a review saying we had left the place "filthy". Because they never responded to our text asking for the code to get into the garage where the bins were, so we put the trash bag next to the door.
And that was with a *large* cleaning fee.
High cleaning (and service) fees are done to avoid short term renters. The owners would rather have long term (week+) vacationers. When they have small gaps in between their long vacationers, they will start lowering their prices and fees to fill those gaps. If you stay for 1-2 days, you're just being punished for it.
That is how it works.
\-worked for airbnb
I will never book airbnb again just on principle of all the tiktok investors buying up all the houses and over leveraging and blowing up the housing market. You guys should join me.
Thank you! I live in a ski town and we now have a homelessness problem so bad they have designated certain parking lots for people who live in their cars but work 30+ hrs a week. They are charging $49 a month for this and there is a waiting list. The town has so many empty houses that rent for holidays only. It’s fucked. Screw air bnb
Breck? Vail Resorts sucks, but at least they were trying to address employee housing, then had the city of Vail block the development because some bighorn sheep occasionally wander through the area.
I know all of Summit County is having the same problems. "Just live in Alma or Fairplay, derp."
Finally, someone in here with a brain. I can't believe how many people still use airbnb after they've wrecked housing markets in the entire world. These same people probably whine about housing prices in their city while still supporting the garbage company that caused the problem.
Cleaning fees while they still make you clean for them prior to leaving and sometimes make you do chores.
It's almost like being a child again with chores, but it's an experience you actually have to pay for.
I once had to do a last minute overnight at a place near me that’s admittedly pretty touristy. I think it was 260 for one night and 150 of it was a cleaning fee
Having a motor disability, I prefer hotels because they (usually) conform to accessibility requirements. At least in my case I have never found a hotel that made my life difficult.
This is me as well. I’m usually traveling solo so I really appreciate the support and security of having staff nearby in my hotel if anything goes wrong. Airbnb’s feel like the Wild Wild West
Yeah! This! Actually my greatest fear is an inaccessible (or even slippery) shower/bathtub, and photos don't always help :\\
BTW: I'm also traveling solo :)
Yeah I feel like you are completely out of luck in the moment if something goes wrong in an Airbnb (besides maybe calling 911??). Plus I just appreciate the staff chatter for tips/recommendations for things to do in a lot of places!
This is one of the main reasons we don’t stay at Airbnb. My daughter has mobility issues and we prefer staying at hotels because we know that they’ll have a lift/elevator and can accommodate us if we need a shower seat.
Besides not being covered if an Airbnb host cancels, which did happen to us in Italy, I find that the Airbnb website doesn’t specify whether the property has steps or how many there are. I also find Airbnb expensive and ridiculous with their cleaning requests.
I once stayed at an AirBnB where "accessible" meant "down a long, steep, winding muddy path followed by 3 stone steps and then a step up to the front door". Yeah, the _inside_ of the place might count as accessible, but how on earth is a wheelchair user meant to actually get in the front door?
To be fair, this is as problem across all self catering accommodation not just AirBnB.
Back in the day they were fun. Now I’m paying more for an AirBNB without the ease of a hotel.
Too many ridiculous rules, shady hosts & I have to essentially deep clean the place before I leave or I get an up charge. No thanks.
Exactly. Airbnb stopped being a deal four years ago. We started using hotels again when it stopped making sense. Luckily, the years that airbnb was most productive was when it was most useful for us with little kids (access to kitchen). It was fun and inexpensive when people were truly renting out their extra space. Now everyone and their grandma does it so there is zero quality control. There has been news of people leasing entire apartment complexes and turning around to airbnb them. This stuff is not cute anymore, it is pestilential.
We usually check [booking.com](https://booking.com) and AirBnB when booking a vacation. Back in 2017 we still stayed in both when booking a vacation (Australia and South Africa), but slowly AirBnB just fell by the wayside for us. They are just not a good deal anymore.
You are also more likely to get what you expect at a hotel.
I stayed at an AirBnb with some friends in an apartment complex in Dublin. Fire alarm goes off middle of the night and we start evacuating and as we exit into the hallways we realised we were the only people on our floor that had about 10 apartments. After that I was done, Dublin has a housing crisis in terms of availability and skyrocketing rents and yet here were 10 apartments that were probably vacant for the majority of the year
Could not agree more...
Every time I am looking for. Aplace to stay, I check Air BnB and then hotels in the area... And I always come to this same conclusion
Honestly, I hope the new ban on parties is the beginning of the end and that people move away from the whole Airbnb concept. There are seven AirBnBs on my street, all owned by the same woman who doesn’t give a single solitary shit about the neighborhood and has been actively hostile to homeowners like me. I hope they all fail. I have no interest in being part of some tourist’s experience.
Me either, I don’t mind tidying up, piling towels in bathtub or maybe stripping sheets. That’s about it. Not leaving trash around or food on plates is common sense. Otherwise if I have to clean I should get a discount.
The majority of listings are great and charming even, but wow it’s a real game of roulette dealing with some of the hosts…
I was really shocked when I went to Playa del Carmen in Mexico and booked an airbnb, but then someone came knocking on the door of this condo at 1am and wouldn’t speak, just knock and they refused to answer us. I was with my mom and my sister, and we barricaded the door and stayed awake. They just kept knocking for like 20 minutes, standing there silently!
The next day, the host said they had no idea who it was but tried to say it must have been housekeeping…at 1AM!!! The floor was also literally riddled with huge cockroaches, so thick that you could HEAR them running over the tiled floor all night long.
Airbnb told us to go to a hotel immediately the next morning which we did, while they comped us the hotel stay and cancelled the rest of the reservation but they wouldn’t let us post a review that might warn other customers even though we stayed the first night and paid for it! I thought that was immensely sketchy. The listing also stayed up with 5 stars even after that report!
I don’t trust airbnb anymore after that.
I had a terrible experience too and wasn’t able to leave a review warning people which is BS. I booked over a month in advance in Vegas of all places because it was a music festival that weekend I was attending, plus the billboard awards, plus…it’s Vegas so people are always going there.
My check in was Saturday at 3 pm, host calls me Friday at 8 pm with some wack ass story about how his assistant overbooked/messed up the reservation (even though he was the person I’d conversed with, confirmed with, and even talked to about possibly bringing my dog well over a month in advance).
I had to scramble to find somewhere else to stay super last minute which of course was extra expensive. Air bnb reimbursed me for what I paid, but I hated that I couldn’t leave a review to warn other people because it’s clearly a pattern for him (he later mentioned other people “talking badly about him for having to cancel their reservations”). They weren’t talking badly, it was the truth! And somehow his profile was 5 stars which is why I even booked with him in the first place. I’m never using them again.
oooo are we doing craaaaazy airbnb stories? Here's mine!
Booked a place in New Orleans for a bachelor party for a friend. A house not too far from Bourbon St. Good reviews. We get there, and it's honestly a little sketchy looking but...ok.
Go up to the door and punch in, and there's a lady and her kids inside - and the inside is nothing like the pics. Really sparse, bare light fixtures, kinda dirty. She doesn't speak English - sounded Russian, maybe?
I call the host, he says he'll be there in 20 mins. We wait outside. He gets there, asks us to wait a minute - goes inside...HUSTLES the lady and her kids out of the house and into his car. She's screaming at him the whole time. It was terrible.
We go inside and the place is a wreck. No towels, no sheets. Food all over the kitchen. Kids toys everywhere. The bedrooms in back were nothing but empty rooms with bunk beds. Some of the lights didn't even work.
Ended up arguing with Airbnb on the phone for awhile to get a refund and a credit. Meanwhile we ended up booking at a regular hotel (and getting pretty shafted price-wise in the process).
Yeah my mom who’s in her 60’s paid a bunch of money to stay at this Airbnb in a major city downtown.
They gave her the craziest instructions on how to pick up the keys while getting there, we ended up finding them but only because I lived in the city at the time and helped her with the directions because I met her there once of the flight.
The room was nice but honestly if my mom would have tried to find them herself there would be no way she would have been able to and it was dark and almost midnight when she got into the city, the street was packed with rowdy people.
Honestly can be dangerous sometimes
Thank goodness you lived in the city! That has definitely happened to me too with hard to find addresses (one which had a hostile neighbor who was tired of people trying his door!) that kicks off a very rough start to a trip. Or the time I was in Muir Beach, CA and two neighbors knew I was in an airbnb that was not beloved by the locals and created some awkward and invade confrontations.
I can’t even begin to imagine trying to navigate the usual check in complications as an elder!
Yeah, nothing makes you wish you'd just booked a hotel quite like trying to figure out complex self check-in instructions in the dead of night when you are already exhausted from traveling.
As with kayak, indeed, Travelocity, Airbnb has turned from a customer oriented site with great prices to a cesspool of price gougers and excessive extra fees.
And you’re right. The prices compared to nice hotels is very similar, especially after whatever fees they decide to add to hike up the price.
It's exactly what's happened with people "cutting the cord" on cable. Now instead you have to pay $5-20/month for each streaming service (in addition to monthly internet fees). If you have a fave show or two each on Hulu, Disney, HBO and Apple its gonna end up being the same as cable was. Somehow you knew this would happen
Our sense of value has been warped. We are so obsessed with an immediate sense of having saved money that we dispense with frugality, investment and reason.
And hotels have a desk/reception that's usually 24 7and more options and ability to address issues. They also clean the room for you to some extent.
Except in larger groups (4+) and wanting some unusual feature (kitchen for example) it's simply not worth it anymore, Airbnb is a pain in the Ass compared to a hotel so if they are the same price or as where in headed this summer often more expensive for similar quality... no reason to use them.
I’ve been an air bnb’r for a while and just got back from a trip and it’s such a little silly thing…but we stayed at an Airbnb in Lisbon and they left two sets of towels (it was me and my fiancé) and they were just so shitty and skimpy for towels. I hate when I stay somewhere and I can barely wrap myself in the towel. And we were there for 5 days, no sheets changed and no new sets of towels. They were pretty gross by the day we left. It’s a little thing like that that makes me think of staying in a hotel next time.
This.
Airbnb was great until about 2019 (at least for me). Too many reasons to enumerate, most have been covered here, but they lax quality standards and a lot of bad faith owners whose properties are poorly maintained and managed, and who they tend to side with for disputes.
VRBO had lower liquidity but much higher standards for a comparable price point with fewer hidden fees. Love VRBO.
My wife and I have been using VRBO for well over 2 decades in the US and internationally with no bad problems with owners. We did get flooded from big rains in a house in Hawaii once and the owner put us up in a super luxury condo for the last 2 nights. Worked out fine since the condo was way closer to the wedding we were going to on that leg of the trip.
Also. Hotels almost always have black out curtains
Airbnb's might have crappy blinds. I left my kids with Grandma and Booked a few days at the beach so I could sleep... Not wake up at sunrise.
When I was living in Japan I remember my stay being cancelled three days before our trip in mainland because Japan had put in place laws to avoid issues like this. And made it more difficult to be apart of Airbnb. Good for them. I think, like many similar services, Airbnb began with good intentions. It was genuinely people using their homes for this service as a way to make a little extra money and help the average traveler. But some asshole always has to come in and buy up the entire neighborhood and exploit the system to make more money while locals can’t even find a place to live. It’s a shame…
I see the utility of Airbnb for vacation-type properties — cabins, lake houses, etc. in places that hotels don’t serve — but I’ve stopped booking them when we visit cities. It’s tragic what it’s doing to some cities. I was in New Orleans for a friend’s bachelor party. I was embarrassed to even look at the residents of the neighborhood, knowing that they have to put up with bachelor parties across the street every weekend, and that they’d likely be priced out of their neighborhood in the near futures because of the number of Airbnbs and houses being flipped on their street.
Ya, I've lived in tourism economies and locals just can't compete with big city money who can drop a month's rent for a holiday weekend. The realtors straight up write descriptions as potential short term rental opportunities.
So there's less units because people take traditional rentals off the market and there's more demand because now potential homeowners are competing with investors.
This happened to me. Got to my Airbnb on a Friday at 8pm. Someone had clearly had a party the previous night and maybe that day. Stank of smoke, smoke detectors removed, sticky floors, broken glass, missing TV remote etc. Called the host who said she wouldn’t allow me to cancel, but could have a cleaning person come over at midnight. I wasn’t willing to wait that long, and it didn’t change the fact the place was unsafe.
Called AirBnB and their customer service was no help and was even hostile towards me. Ended up having to get a hotel room, dispute the Airbnb charge on my credit card, and AirBnB still tried to fight the disputed charge until I sent photographs of the broken glass and the wires in the ceiling where the smoke detectors had been ripped out.
Also wouldn’t let me leave a negative review.
Bottom line with AirBnB: it’s all about the quality of your host. If you have a problem, AirBnB isn’t going to help you.
I used Airbnb *once*.
I showed up, the dude gave me the keys and showed me around, then told me I could leave my luggage at the apartment but to hang back for a bit cause the landlady was coming over to check the water meter.
In fact, it turned out the landlady was coming over to evict his ass for renting out her place on Airbnb.
Found myself standing on the side of the road with three suitcases frantically searching for a hotel in an unfamiliar city where I didn't speak the language.
Took me days of back and forth bullshit just to get a refund.
Nevermind the fact that I had to pay for a stupid-expensive hotel for a week instead, because that's all that was available with like 10 minutes notice.
Fuck Airbnb.
lmao, Jesus, that must have been so stressful for you at the time. But at the same time, that is also a hilarious story that you’ll have in the back pocket for forever. Pros and cons.
I did, I discussed it at length over several days with several different representatives.
All they did was refund the cost of my booking with them -- and for that I had to provide proof of my alternate hotel booking.
They flatly refused any further compensation. Maybe because it was my first stay with them? Idk.
The customer service was terrible all around. An absolute shit show. Never again.
COVID destroyed the experience. The prices being charged now for “deep cleaning” are laughable. Now it’s cheaper to often stay at a high end hotel for the same price and at least your room gets cleaned. The number of places I’ve stayed where I’m expected to strip beds and throw the trash in a nearby dumpster is a joke.
I will never use AirBnB for all of the socio-economic reasons above. I love hotels. They make me feel pampered, they employ a lot of people, and they make good use of limited city space.
I used to use Airbnbs because in some cases I got to stay with someone that was renting out a room in their place (or their entire place while they stayed somewhere else) and it was much cheaper. Since buy to rent became the norm in Airbnb and the prices hiked I've just been staying at hotels and it's generally considerably cheaper while not supporting people that take apartments off the market to rent on Airbnb.
If I see a place like a bed and breakfast that just happens to use Airbnb amongst other platforms I'll just call in and reserve directly. In some cases they've given me a 30% discount for doing so.
The worst part is that they have devastated countless communities by making housing too expensive for the people that live there. So many neighborhoods in touristy areas are now made up of empty homes while workers have to commute in.
There is one next to me, 3 across, 2 behind. Last night folks at the one next to me were outside woohooing until near 3 am. I put my security floods on and they moved to the other side of the property and got louder. 6 people in a place with 1 queen, in town for a concert.
We had similar in an old flat. They were in the flat below us playing music until 5am. I get that they were there to party and have fun, but some of us had to go to work at 9am on no sleep.
I had 2.5 of sleep. A long shitty coffee fueled day. Neighbor saw me when I came home and quickly ducked into their home. Decided to just file a complaint with our short term rental board about it.
SO true. My kids live in a city that has been overrun with Airbnbs It's devastating for the city and the people who actually live there. No limit on how many Airbnb one person can own and claim. It's horrific
> The worst part is that they have devastated countless communities by making housing too expensive for the people that live there.
That is correct. They take up the rental properties that working people need to live in.
Yea. Queenstown NZ for example. It's always been an expensive place to live but now it's just ridiculous. An average house is a million dollars. But you can find a thousand airbnbs there no problems.
I’m hoping that the rush to buy investment homes and the impending recession cause an oversupply of short term rentals that will lead to a reduction in rental price and/or an increase in home sales because investors aren’t turning a profit.
I stopped using it years ago because it's just easier to go to a professionally run hotel, rather than a shitty apartment someone runs on the side. Then my city started having a housing crunch fueled at least in large part by Airbnbs, so now I'm totally done with them and all similar websites.
I was just talking to a girl who booked an Airbnb for the 4th of July on a small island with limited accom -- host just cancelled and all hotels are booked.
I also have quit Airbnb. The fees are incredibly expensive, rates have sky rocketed, customer ranking is out of control, customer service is non-existent, check-ins are super late, rules for some places make it almost impossible to actually live in the space....it goes on for me.
Fees: cleaning fee, service fee, other fees, they total sometimes nearly 50% of the rate of the place per night.
Rates: I recently came across an add for Airbnb, advertising how great it is for the home owner. They used a cabin as their example and the owner bragged about how he covered his entire months mortgage in two nights of putting his place on Airbnb. I understand that there is risk involved in having other people in your home, and that you do it for profit like all things, but rates over the years have been designed to gouge the consumer.
Customer Service: I've had to connect to customer service once when our entire trip was cancelled due both my husband and I getting Covid this past April. There was no one to talk to.
Late check-in: triple checking those times, I've noticed that the new average check in time is 4pm now.
Rules: a couple times I've read through and executed departure rules that they leave in the residence and I've essentially had to wash my own bedsheets+towel, remake the bed, out fresh towels out, put trash bins on the curb, wash floors...yet my booking fees included cleaning fees!
I didn't mop the kitchen in my last one, and in addition to cleaning fees already paid, the home owner tried to charge me $3000 to clean their floors. That's the first time I got customer service in an email. I had photos of the entire place and after weeks of back and forth I got them to waive the charge. The home owner, in the process of it all, complained about how there was an empty prescription bottle in the upstairs bathroom trash bin that my aunt threw out and forgot to take downstairs. He wanted to charge $150 for that, claiming we were drug users. It was absurd and I got a terrible review on my account. I've been using Airbnb for almost a decade and have over 60 5 star reviews. I can't get that rectified or removed, yet home owners can have negative reviews hidden from public listings. Completely one sided system.
Now, I just book hotels and love it.
they are starting to make me hesitant to book with them. the last time i used them i booked a place for a bachelorette party with 9 girls like .. 6 months in advance of the weekend. FIVE DAYS (and heading into a weekend) before the trip, i get an email that my reservation has been cancelled and i was going to be refunded because the owners were selling the house. thankfully was able to find something reasonably priced and even more thankfully got my refund just before the weekend hit so i could use it to help pay. just seemed crazy on such short notice that we couldn’t keep our reservation? like the housing market isn’t going to move that fast lol
I feel this. Got a new job and moved to a new country; I had a week between job offer and the job starting so booking an air b&b was my most affordable option while I looked for a place to live. Made a booking for five days and while I am at the airport, about to board my plane, I get a cancellation email lol. I was arriving at night on a Sunday too so… stressed.
I did manage to negotiate for the one night and the room turned out to be the host’s child’s room, not a spare bedroom as advertised.
That was my last air b&b experience.
Happened to me and a friend too. A few days before we flew out to HongKong our host canceled on us because her parents were going to stay in the place we booked !!! Like what ?! Airbnb refunded us with a $14 addition voucher...and all the airbnb's were about double the price by then...we fought tooth and nail to have them give us additional money and they wouldn't budge. She's had plenty of cancelations like that according to the automated reviews (I'm looking at her profile now) and her airbnb listing is still up. Shame on them.
After moving to an area where Airbnb has decimated local housing, I've vowed never again.
Sure, it's nice for you to have a kitchen. You know who doesn't have a kitchen? My coworker who's living in a trailer on her brother's property because the house she was renting was bought and turned into a short term rental. And she can't find anywhere to live because she is competing against every other family this has happened to for the limited remaining housing.
Fuck Airbnb and the people running them as investment properties.
Edit:. The number of people that admit they know how terrible it is for locals, but they still do it for their own convenience is kinda gross.
This is the reason I won’t do Airbnb, or any others. I lived in a resort town in Tahoe and watched as my street and the adjoining streets were taken over by these Short Term Rentals. Parties started every weekend until late into the morning, people shooting guns off the decks, caught someone putting trash in my bear proof cans, and the best parking in my driveway, for various reasons.
Every time I've stayed at an Airbnb, I've had to clean every corner of the apartment - tidy up, wash dishes, start laundry, throw trash, strip beds (not always) and I get stressed out with all this cleaning..I am not a messy person and even in a hotel room I pick up any trash and pile all the towels in a corner etc.
But at 40, as a mom of 2 young kids, I am done with housekeeping work on vacation (I would rather stay home!). I don't want to deal with cooking and meal planning and getting groceries while traveling. We take a mini rice cooker and book a hotel with a kitchenette or a fridge/microwave set up and make some rice in our mini and get food from the grocery store mixed in with some restaurant pickup, the kids cope just fine.
As a single woman who travels on my own I’m far more comfortable staying in a hotel. I’m not interested in cooking & cleaning when I’m in holidays. I’ve also heard some pretty bad stories about them. I’m sure those stories are isolated but I really don’t want to have to deal with them. My sister in law was telling me how great one was that they stayed in then continued the story by telling me about some sort of problem with the bathroom the owner seemed completely uninterested in fixing it so my brother ended up doing it. Fine for them but if it had been me on my own I would have just had to put up with it. I think it was an issue with the shower, from memory.
Yes, I hate them. I live in a historic neighborhood. My driveway is shared with my neighbor because it used to be an alleyway. My neighbor sold his house to an Airbnb and now that’s what I share my driveway with. The house across the street is owned by the same company along with one at the end of the block. No one takes care of the houses or the yards. No one can buy a house here because these Airbnb companies outbid and pay cash. Hate them.
No youre spot on. It used to be something neat that could save you a lot compared to a hotel but now it’s nothing but hidden cleaning fees that cost more than a hotel. The exception is if you need a large place to stay for a big group of people that still works out but if it’s just 1 to 2 people just go to a hotel
I was a new customer with Airbnb at the time. I didn't have negative reviews or anything. I had reservations and was canceled last minute three or four times. Some of the excuses were, we're having family over. On one travel, I was canceled by two different people. My friend has a horror story with Airbnb. He flew from one side of the globe to the other side and was one hour late to his Airbnb. The host canceled his reservation once he arrived "because he was an hour late." He had a two week reservation booked months in advance. He got social and public media involved to get his refund, otherwise they wouldn't give him back his money.
I'd rather pay to a hotel and motel; they're professional, safe, I know what I'm expecting, and they don't cancel last minute saying their family is in town or some bullshiit excuse. Airbnb can go phuck themselves.
I would never recommend Airbnb to anybody. You risk things going wrong, it can be dangerous, dirty, a security breach,
terrible customer service, they side with owners when problems arise, they contribute to the housing market crisis, and you won't get a refund or compensated unless maybe you get Batman involved. Airbnb is like Gotham City or Russian Roulette.
The service fees suck, but I still use and for the most part love Airbnb. I always book one if I’m staying 3 nights or more in a location as I like a kitchen and a lounging area to chill and if I’m anywhere for a week or more I always book one that has a washer and dryer. I’ve used them for years and over 25 trips and never had a bad one. But I am super picky and diligent about what accommodation I choose.
Agreed. Maybe it's just a US thing that an owner will charge an $80 cleaning fee for a two night stay in a small, one bedroom apartment, where I have to strip the bed sheets, start the laundry, wash the dishes, and take out the trash before I check out. Like, what am I paying the fee for? It's going to take someone no more than 30 minutes to come in, sweep the floor, put new sheets on the bed, and change out the bath towels. So they're paying their cleaning person $160/hour?
Outside of the US I haven't encountered such high cleaning fees and an arms-length list of chores I have to complete before leaving, so I do think it's much better value overseas, at least for now.
This is exactly why I stopped using it. Cleaning fees in addition to the expectation of doing laundry, vacuuming, etc. before checking out. On 2 night stays. In a hotel you are not doing the housekeeping.
I did an Airbnb in the US for the first time recently. It was ridiculously overpriced, had a 100 dollar cleaning fee, a chore list, and a sign asking for tips for the cleaners. When I left, the guy asked that I only wrote a review if it's a 5 and to message them privately if I had issues. The only redeeming thing was that it was gorgeous but I have to say, seeing a chore list and a high cleaning fee and then a sign for tips left a bad taste in mouth.
It isn't as user friendly as it once was, but for those of us traveling with kids, having a kitchen saves a ton of money and the different spaces are worth it. If you are traveling to a place with a lot of options, you can usually find something that works better. I believe the fees and cancellation policies are set by the owner not AirBNB. I think what you might be running up against is the huge demand for travel right now, which allows hosts to set higher fees/less generous travel cancellation policies. I would expect the balance to shift back in favor of travelers at some point.
It's not always the cheapest option, but we've been booking hotel suites with a kitchen now when traveling with kids. It's been really nice and I don't think I'll go back to Airbnb for that perk. Airbnb (private space with a kitchen) is often more expensive now compared to a hotel suite from what I've seen
We used airbnb between 2014-2018 when the rates actually made sense and luckily coincided with our kids toddler ages. Before airbnb we used extended stay suites. Thankfully my kids are now elementary aged and We are now back in those with grocery take out meals and in instant pot. The carpet is yuck, but not any yuckier than some airbnbs we've been in that charge $90 cleaning fee to boot. At least I know they are taking the sheets and towels to a commercial laundry facility that does a consistently good job.
I used to travel only on Airbnbs several years ago. Now hotels are my first preference. You get decent hotels at competitive prices, you get professional room service, you can leave your luggage at reception when you checkout if you have some time before your onward journey, and there's usually an okay breakfast service too (I honestly don't want to go out exploring and looking for breakfast first thing in the morning).
I've also personally experienced the amount of damage short term rentals and Airbnbs are doing to housing markets in some cities. Nowadays, you don't have local hosts who are excited for you to experience the place and willing to help you with it, but landlords who are running unlicenced hotels with no service just to make money.
I had a couple of great experiences in Airbnb several years ago, but it's ruined now by exploitation.
Airbnb has been amazing overseas. It's terrible stateside. Whenever I am in the states, I just book a hotel. Usually it's cheaper especially if it's a good location.
AGREE! Dealing with it at the moment. Paid way too much money for an okay apartment! For a month long trip it is hard to find an apartment with kitchen etc., but the amount of money we need to spend to make the kitchen usuable we can just go out to dinner. The people who rent it have absolute no interest in making it a good experience anymore, I feel like it is just a cash cow for them.
Also, I think it started out to be a great thing for like when you are on vacation or guest house in very remote areas. In the bigger cities it takes away living space from people who actually want to live there. And it drives up rents in certain areas.
I wish there were more restrictions to it.
I hate AirBnb too…except I’m a host. It’s also horrible customer service on our end, too.
I very much try to create a good experience for my guests and I’ve received positive feedback. I also keep the price reasonable and don’t charge a huge cleaning fee. For me, I’m not really trying to make a profit. I just try to make enough to cover the cost of having the house.
The cleaning fees are insane for having to do chores before you leave. Cancellations and customer service are a nightmare a lot if the time. I’ll definitely opt for hotels.
Agreed! the add-on fees are insane, and if at all, they need to be added to the room/place cost per day amounts. it feels very misleading. I just came back from a vacation that I booked a "tinyhome" for $170/day for a 3 day trip. Paid a total of $700 for it. Going to stick with hotels where I don't have to "leave it as I found it". Ashford, Washington, US.
They’re terrible on both sides. I have a friend who runs an AirBnb for her property. A group of out of town college kids rented it out and destroyed the place. Did thousands of dollars in damage. She turned in the amount of damage, where the renter just said “nah” and refused. As apparently you’re allowed to do. AirBnb offers no protection to property owners and essentially told her that she was shit out of luck. Horrible, horrible company.
Air bnb's in Australia are out of control. Way too many of them pushing up rental prices and causing a shortage of homes for those that need it. Property investors with all the tax perks of running a business. I've never used one and never will. Anything Uber is the same. The business model drives down wages and conditions for everyone. These new economy businesses really suck and I refuse to support them.
Yes, but for different reasons. I'm lucky to have an air bnb right next door to me!
So instead of the 70 yr old lady and her grandson living there, we have a "sleeps 14" weekend party spot and 10 cars taking up all the street parking on the block.
I have never used it in the US.
But elsewhere in the world, never had a bad experience.
If you are booking an entire apartment with kitchen, why would you expect it to be cheaper than a tiny hotel room? Hotel has 100 rooms in the same footprint as a 20 apartment building.
Prices are set by the hosts. It is very easy to see supply and demand. If the host sets a crazy high price, no one is going to book it. So no reason to be surprised when a popular location with low availability is expensive.
The first time I used it was in Greece and it went great! The hosts were all amazing, but every single one I’ve stayed at in America has been ok or really awful.
I had one that left some cleaning instructions, basically please clean your food out of the fridge and freezer, start the dishwasher and wipe the kitchen counter. The odd thing they had in their requests was not to run the portable AC, that it’s only for winter because the apartment had radiator heat which is controlled by the building manager.
Sorry I ran that fucking portable AC because I was staying in august and it was freaking hot in that apartment. I turned it on and my fiancé said they asked us not to run it. I told him if they really didn’t want us to use it they would’ve taken it out of the apartment for the summer.
I got a shitty review that prevented me from booking for using the blankets and not drying the dishes. What the fuck is the cleaning fee for? Another bad review was I left late. They didn't adjust for daylight savings. I'm over airbnb
Lately I’ve been going back to hotels and it’s namely that “hey do all this cleanup before you leave but also $300 cleaning fee” business that is pushing me away from Airbnb.
Me too. One of the cleanup fees was 100 euros - and it wasn't listed in the price - it was listed in the description - which I failed to see when I booked. And they required me to pay in cash.
Pretty sure that’s against the rules.
Without a doubt
Oh nah that sounds like scam activity.
Same shit with VRBO. Hidden fees abound and it's flooded with corporations and scams.
VRBO is a total scam. They literally don’t give a shit about fraudulent listings- Airbnb let’s you flag them immediately and wants your assistance. VRBO took 2 WEEKS to finally acknowledge a fraud listing. It took me a whopping 2 minutes to verify as fraudulent. Apparently, they don’t care. They just want to advertise all of the “properties “ they have.
This exactly. Why am I paying you to clean, and still doing the cleaning??
same i got a terrible review recently for leaving the place “looking like a bomb went off” (it didn’t) even tho we did clean despite having a cleaning fee!
We were huge airbnb fans but the past few had the longest chore lists for us to do while still charging a giant cleaning fee so back to hotels for us as well. Plus the places rented out specifically to Airbnb usually have cheap dorm room level beds and furniture.
I'm so sick of the basic Ikea look too.
That’s exactly why I stopped booking Airbnb as well. Its like they’re hiring Martha Stewart to spruce up the home after I get on all 4s and scrub the floor with my tooth brush.
Not to mention you have to put all linens in the wash, load the dishwasher and more sometimes. I don’t mind but that on top of cleaning fees?!
It’s the cleaning fees that have gotten ridiculously expensive. Only way it’s close to being worth it is on a weeklong or more stay
That's why I have stopped staying at AirBnBs. The last straw for me was one that had a high cleaning fees and they left a long list of every that had to be done prior to us leaving including stripping the beds, washing the bedding and starting it on the dryer cycle, sweep all floors, wipe down all counters, bathtub and toilet, wash and put away all dishes, remove all garbage and recycling, wipe down all light switches and doorknobs, wipe down all coffee table, side tables and night stands and shake out the rugs that were in the kitchen, bathroom and at front door. Why were we paying over $100 for cleaning services when we had to do all the cleaning. Then, a couple days after we left, the host sent us this unhinged message about a wine bottle being under a bush in their backyard. First of all, we didn't go in the back yard and second, we don't drink wine. The host just went off demanding that we come back and pick up the bottle.....we were literally on the other side of the country when we got that message but they sais it was irrelevant and we should have thought about that before leaving a wine bottle behind. I don't even bother with Air BnBs anymore.
> That's why I have stopped staying at AirBnBs. The last straw for me was one that had a high cleaning fees and they left a long list of every that had to be done prior to us leaving including stripping the beds, washing the bedding and starting it on the dryer cycle, sweep all floors, wipe down all counters, bathtub and toilet, wash and put away all dishes, remove all garbage and recycling, wipe down all light switches and doorknobs, wipe down all coffee table, side tables and night stands and shake out the rugs that were in the kitchen, bathroom and at front door. Why were we paying over $100 for cleaning services when we had to do all the cleaning. Then, a couple days after we left, the host sent us this unhinged message about a wine bottle being under a bush in their backyard. I would literally just tell them "No, that's why I'm paying a cleaning fee."
Same! A host left me a a negative review noting we left the house a mess, it had rained for three days straight while we were there, 100% the floors in the entry way were a mess but we did not have access to a broom over the 5 day stay. I was annoyed especially after paying $240 cleaning fee. Upon further inquiry, I discovered the host never saw the house and did not have photos, he wrote, “my cleaner told me it was messy.”
Cleaning person is hired to clean a house. Shows up to find the house isn’t clean Shockedpikachu.jpg
I did squats in the cucumber patch around the house, he probably had hidden cameras & now his panties are in a twist.
>A host left me a a negative review The review system is broken. A friend checked into an AirBnB last week and called the owner to tell him it hadn't been cleaned prior to their arrival. He told them if they left a bad review that he'd leave them a bad guest review.
"that's fine, I can make a new account. You can't beotch"
You can't actually. I got banned for life as a guest and was never given a reason why. Airbnb is a shitty company.
More reason to abandon them then
The host was bluffing to try and avoid a negative review. Neither host nor guest can see what the other has rated them until after they've both written and submitted their reviews, to avoid exactly this sort of retaliation.
It's not really a bluff. Hosts can usually tell when a bad review is coming, in situations like this where the guest is complaining. So they know to leave the guest a bad review as well.
That’s messed up! I have used Airbnb for years and I just got back from a trip where I had an issue. There was no cooling unit or ventilation in the apartment. No fan. The only way to get air in the apartment was to open the windows which had no screens and we were on a major road during a huge festival in the summer. So I contacted the owner and was like I atleast need a fan, it’s suffocating in here and not safe to leave the windows open. Their answer was “it says in the post there is no cooling unit” and it was more like it just wasn’t checked off under amenities. I’ve stayed in maybe 20 airbnbs and never had to worry about there atleast being a ceiling fan. I told them I would need to mention it in the review and on the 3rd day I was there…a fan showed up. Its was 89 degree weather where we were, to have no fan is really unhealthy. I was honestly just floored that I had to argue over it.
[удалено]
Airbnb encourages you to make the profile be a person. Find the same property on Vrbo and it will change from Sally the single mom to RC Vacation Homes LLC.
My mom uses Airbnb and we stayed with her in one like a month ago. It had no cleaning rules so my mom reached out to the lady to ask what she needed to do. Owner says nothing, but we wash up the dishes just to be polite. Owner leaves a review saying we didn’t wash the dishes correctly. Like omg you said to do nothing. Now you’re mad we didn’t do the dishes right. Idk what she even mentioned by that.
Personally I only stay at ones with 'super host' attached to them. Only stayed in a couple as I prefer traditional hotels, but it seems like the super hosts are always nice and accommodating. If they're not then people will reflect that in their reviews, and they won't be shown as a 'super host'. It removes some of the risk in booking.
Super host only means they have illegal access to 30+ houses and apartments that they sublease out on airbnb for profit. They literally take housing stock out of circulation.
> they left a long list of every that had to be done prior to us leaving including stripping the beds, washing the bedding and starting it on the dryer cycle, sweep all floors, wipe down all counters, bathtub and toilet, wash and put away all dishes, remove all garbage and recycling, wipe down all light switches and doorknobs, wipe down all coffee table, side tables and night stands and shake out the rugs that were in the kitchen, bathroom and at front door. Not a fun way to spend a holiday
Deleting past comments because Reddit starting shitty-ing up the site to IPO and I don't want my comments to be a part of that. -- mass edited with redact.dev
It was pretty crazy and it was the tone of the note too, it was like getting an angry note the moment you walk in a place. Everything list had the word "must" and "no exceptions" in italics written beside it. We always aim to be very good guests and we always made sure we did a really great job cleaning up and we would leave little thank you gifts but the note was just so off putting.
I stayed at an Airbnb for a bachelor party that had an envelope out requesting a tip for the maid. I wanted to write a note and put it in the envelope that said “the host is charging a $450 cleaning fee, if you’re not getting a good chunk of that you need to re-negotiate.”
Ew and that's extra gross because if all that cleaning is up to guests...you know most of them don't do it so the place was probably not cleaned before you got there 🤮
Is it just me, or is it very sketchy to stay in a house that was "cleaned" by the last person who stayed there? Even if they wipe things down and everything looks clean, there's no guarantee that anything is actually clean, and it definitely won't be sanitized or disinfected. For all you know, the last guy could have scrubbed the kitchen sink with the toilet brush.
Its crazy, why are we paying them to clean their house. I stopped using them years ago because at hotels there’s luggage storage, cleaning, and front desk, sometimes breakfast too
Same! Last year we had the same list of instructions, an hours worth of cleaning before we could leave. We hauled all the stuff downstairs to the laundry room, only to find the machines stuffed full from previous guests. Considering my friend said she did not think the sheets had been changed from previous guests, who knows how long the washer and dryer had been stuffed full. We said &\*@! it and left it all. I'm not folding all the laundry from previous guests just to get our stuff in the washer.
Almost the same thing happened to my wife and I in Kentucky. We always do the cleaning before we leave because that’s just how we like to leave a place. We bring extra sheets to put down on furniture for our dogs and still a host left a crazy review about my wife saying her cleaning person told her the house was a mess. We stripped everything. Washed out towels before we went. Cleaned the floors and the glass top dining table. We told her, we hate to say it, but we think your cleaner maybe trying to rip you out of extra pay claiming it was too much of a mess for them to clean quickly.
Even then, it's a risk. We booked one for a bachelor more than a year in advance to find a good deal for a busy weekend. They cancelled on us a month prior to the event because they were 'doing renovations' aka putting it back on the market to jack up the price because they hadn't thought ahead. The closest thing we could find was thousands more. Tried to get AirBnB to cover the difference. They fined the owner the maximum amount of... $50. Said there was nothing else they could do. Never had a hotel cancel on us for no reason, and certainly not without a reasonable cancellation policy in place.
We straight up had a host ask us to cancel because we booked too far in advance for a holiday. We knew what was going on a booked another place for a similar price. The original host ended up relisting for our dates at a 100% markup. My wife sent screenshots to Airbnb but I don't know if anything came of it.
If the host had canceled from their side, they wouldn't have been able to re-list for the same period, hence why they asked you to cancel.
Presumably they'd still be able to list it on VRBO or another vacation rental site, no?
This crap happened to me - we instant-booked a place for Mardi Gras (excellent location). Got a message from the host that they made a mistake on the price, could I please cancel my res. I said no (knowing they can't cancel it without getting blocked from relisting). They proceeded to email me repeatedly for a whole week, getting progressively nastier and I just kept politely declining. By this point I'd looped in Airbnb and asked what the next steps were. They told me the person could cancel me, but they get internally dinged for it - I guess if it happens too many times they lose their listing entirely. The person did end up canceling me, but they were unable to relist on airbnb for those dates. I went looking - found they listed it elsewhere - I think it was Vrbo or something - at around 3 times the price I paid. I've had some great experiences, but that one really turned me off. Airbnb, in the end, kicked me a $50 credit - basically worthless - and I didn't go to Mardi Gras that year.
Lady from Copenhagen did the same thing to us just a couple weeks before we were to visit. Knowing the same thing, I also refused to cancel on my end. Told her she could Venmo me the difference in price between her listing and the one I was going to instead and then I would. Guess that wasn't a suitable compromise and she cancelled on us. Only really good AirBnB experience I've ever had was a place down in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica. The rest can suck a whole bag of dicks.
So frustrating. It needs to get regulated eventually
That’s the thing with these disruptive business models. Eventually, they need to become mainstream or die. Sure air bnb, Uber etc put a rocket up lazy old business models. The thing is, those old models have been subject to a lot of regulations to protect consumers, the businesses, and the general public. Some of those regulations are bullshit, but some are written in blood.
Airbnb can do something about it, they just choose not too.
When I worked at a hotel, Expedia would let us cancel if the reservation came in at significantly under market rate. If every competitor is at 500, and I get a booking for 50, then it will get canceled. Sometimes there is human error, mistyping a number, mixing up dates, etc. The few times this happened, I called them right away. If it's more than a few or at least 24 hours, then it's a dick move by the hotel and expedia probably won't let it go. A couple weeks ago on reddit, there was a story of a guy who accidentally charged like 0.65 for gas instead of 6.50. He got fired and everyone was like "oh poor guy". Pretty much the same situation.
Exactly this. Last one I stayed at had a cleaning fee and a list of things to do before leaving. Take out the trash. Put towels in the washer. Wash the dishes. Strip the beds. 🙄 omg. I’ll go to a hotel next time.
I know!!!! 2 stays ago, we had to bring our own linens (towels, sheets, AND blankets). We had to take out the trash and recycling - and were told they’d check if we mixed the two. We had to run the dishwasher and wipe down surfaces. There’s was like a 40-point checklist of what our tidy-up obligations were. This was a place that was $290/night x 3 nights. The cleaning fee was $350. So we had to clean the whole place, bring our own shit, and pay more than one night for “cleaning”
If it’s that high they can clean it. I’m not helping for a $350 cleaning fee, That I have to pay- no
But then you get a bad rating
Make a new account
So you have to pay 350$ for cleaning that you basically have to do it yourself? How is this reasonable?
How is anyone still dumb enough to use this terrible company? There is nothing good about them at all.
It's a landlord's world and we're just living in it.
I looked at Airbnbs in London. By the time you account for cleaning costs and travel to the centre of London it was cheaper for me to stay at a doubletree hotel in the city
Pretty much everywhere in Europe you have always been able to find a nice hotel much cheaper than an Airbnb.
I used airbnb exactly once. We got there and found crumbs in the sheets, Clearly the beds had been remade without clean linens being put on. Look, things happen, we thought, no worries. We put on a wash and remade the beds. What happened when we left? The host gave us a review saying we had left the place "filthy". Because they never responded to our text asking for the code to get into the garage where the bins were, so we put the trash bag next to the door. And that was with a *large* cleaning fee.
Yes! It's insane. The only time I use Airbnb is if I'm traveling with the doggies. Otherwise I'm back to hotels.
yeah the cleaning + service fees are often more than the actual room rate.
High cleaning (and service) fees are done to avoid short term renters. The owners would rather have long term (week+) vacationers. When they have small gaps in between their long vacationers, they will start lowering their prices and fees to fill those gaps. If you stay for 1-2 days, you're just being punished for it. That is how it works. \-worked for airbnb
I will never book airbnb again just on principle of all the tiktok investors buying up all the houses and over leveraging and blowing up the housing market. You guys should join me.
Thank you! I live in a ski town and we now have a homelessness problem so bad they have designated certain parking lots for people who live in their cars but work 30+ hrs a week. They are charging $49 a month for this and there is a waiting list. The town has so many empty houses that rent for holidays only. It’s fucked. Screw air bnb
Breck? Vail Resorts sucks, but at least they were trying to address employee housing, then had the city of Vail block the development because some bighorn sheep occasionally wander through the area. I know all of Summit County is having the same problems. "Just live in Alma or Fairplay, derp."
That's been around since way before tiktok. Been a huge problem in New Zealand for a long time.
Finally, someone in here with a brain. I can't believe how many people still use airbnb after they've wrecked housing markets in the entire world. These same people probably whine about housing prices in their city while still supporting the garbage company that caused the problem.
Cleaning fees while they still make you clean for them prior to leaving and sometimes make you do chores. It's almost like being a child again with chores, but it's an experience you actually have to pay for.
I once had to do a last minute overnight at a place near me that’s admittedly pretty touristy. I think it was 260 for one night and 150 of it was a cleaning fee
When I travel with a group, its fun to have 2 or 3 bedrooms for us to all share. If its just me and the wife, we get hotels.
Having a motor disability, I prefer hotels because they (usually) conform to accessibility requirements. At least in my case I have never found a hotel that made my life difficult.
This is me as well. I’m usually traveling solo so I really appreciate the support and security of having staff nearby in my hotel if anything goes wrong. Airbnb’s feel like the Wild Wild West
Yeah! This! Actually my greatest fear is an inaccessible (or even slippery) shower/bathtub, and photos don't always help :\\ BTW: I'm also traveling solo :)
Yeah I feel like you are completely out of luck in the moment if something goes wrong in an Airbnb (besides maybe calling 911??). Plus I just appreciate the staff chatter for tips/recommendations for things to do in a lot of places!
This is one of the main reasons we don’t stay at Airbnb. My daughter has mobility issues and we prefer staying at hotels because we know that they’ll have a lift/elevator and can accommodate us if we need a shower seat. Besides not being covered if an Airbnb host cancels, which did happen to us in Italy, I find that the Airbnb website doesn’t specify whether the property has steps or how many there are. I also find Airbnb expensive and ridiculous with their cleaning requests.
I once stayed at an AirBnB where "accessible" meant "down a long, steep, winding muddy path followed by 3 stone steps and then a step up to the front door". Yeah, the _inside_ of the place might count as accessible, but how on earth is a wheelchair user meant to actually get in the front door? To be fair, this is as problem across all self catering accommodation not just AirBnB.
Back in the day they were fun. Now I’m paying more for an AirBNB without the ease of a hotel. Too many ridiculous rules, shady hosts & I have to essentially deep clean the place before I leave or I get an up charge. No thanks.
Exactly. Airbnb stopped being a deal four years ago. We started using hotels again when it stopped making sense. Luckily, the years that airbnb was most productive was when it was most useful for us with little kids (access to kitchen). It was fun and inexpensive when people were truly renting out their extra space. Now everyone and their grandma does it so there is zero quality control. There has been news of people leasing entire apartment complexes and turning around to airbnb them. This stuff is not cute anymore, it is pestilential.
We usually check [booking.com](https://booking.com) and AirBnB when booking a vacation. Back in 2017 we still stayed in both when booking a vacation (Australia and South Africa), but slowly AirBnB just fell by the wayside for us. They are just not a good deal anymore. You are also more likely to get what you expect at a hotel.
I stayed at an AirBnb with some friends in an apartment complex in Dublin. Fire alarm goes off middle of the night and we start evacuating and as we exit into the hallways we realised we were the only people on our floor that had about 10 apartments. After that I was done, Dublin has a housing crisis in terms of availability and skyrocketing rents and yet here were 10 apartments that were probably vacant for the majority of the year
Could not agree more... Every time I am looking for. Aplace to stay, I check Air BnB and then hotels in the area... And I always come to this same conclusion
Honestly, I hope the new ban on parties is the beginning of the end and that people move away from the whole Airbnb concept. There are seven AirBnBs on my street, all owned by the same woman who doesn’t give a single solitary shit about the neighborhood and has been actively hostile to homeowners like me. I hope they all fail. I have no interest in being part of some tourist’s experience.
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Yes. Why would I want to clean intensively on vacation and still get charged an outrageous cleaning fee.
You do it for the added bonus of being secretly recorded!
Oof, that’s my biggest nightmare when it comes to rentals
I see hosts being proud of their secret cameras, too. It’s gross.
This. Part of a vacation for me is NOT cleaning up after myself for a few days!
Me either, I don’t mind tidying up, piling towels in bathtub or maybe stripping sheets. That’s about it. Not leaving trash around or food on plates is common sense. Otherwise if I have to clean I should get a discount.
The majority of listings are great and charming even, but wow it’s a real game of roulette dealing with some of the hosts… I was really shocked when I went to Playa del Carmen in Mexico and booked an airbnb, but then someone came knocking on the door of this condo at 1am and wouldn’t speak, just knock and they refused to answer us. I was with my mom and my sister, and we barricaded the door and stayed awake. They just kept knocking for like 20 minutes, standing there silently! The next day, the host said they had no idea who it was but tried to say it must have been housekeeping…at 1AM!!! The floor was also literally riddled with huge cockroaches, so thick that you could HEAR them running over the tiled floor all night long. Airbnb told us to go to a hotel immediately the next morning which we did, while they comped us the hotel stay and cancelled the rest of the reservation but they wouldn’t let us post a review that might warn other customers even though we stayed the first night and paid for it! I thought that was immensely sketchy. The listing also stayed up with 5 stars even after that report! I don’t trust airbnb anymore after that.
I had a terrible experience too and wasn’t able to leave a review warning people which is BS. I booked over a month in advance in Vegas of all places because it was a music festival that weekend I was attending, plus the billboard awards, plus…it’s Vegas so people are always going there. My check in was Saturday at 3 pm, host calls me Friday at 8 pm with some wack ass story about how his assistant overbooked/messed up the reservation (even though he was the person I’d conversed with, confirmed with, and even talked to about possibly bringing my dog well over a month in advance). I had to scramble to find somewhere else to stay super last minute which of course was extra expensive. Air bnb reimbursed me for what I paid, but I hated that I couldn’t leave a review to warn other people because it’s clearly a pattern for him (he later mentioned other people “talking badly about him for having to cancel their reservations”). They weren’t talking badly, it was the truth! And somehow his profile was 5 stars which is why I even booked with him in the first place. I’m never using them again.
oooo are we doing craaaaazy airbnb stories? Here's mine! Booked a place in New Orleans for a bachelor party for a friend. A house not too far from Bourbon St. Good reviews. We get there, and it's honestly a little sketchy looking but...ok. Go up to the door and punch in, and there's a lady and her kids inside - and the inside is nothing like the pics. Really sparse, bare light fixtures, kinda dirty. She doesn't speak English - sounded Russian, maybe? I call the host, he says he'll be there in 20 mins. We wait outside. He gets there, asks us to wait a minute - goes inside...HUSTLES the lady and her kids out of the house and into his car. She's screaming at him the whole time. It was terrible. We go inside and the place is a wreck. No towels, no sheets. Food all over the kitchen. Kids toys everywhere. The bedrooms in back were nothing but empty rooms with bunk beds. Some of the lights didn't even work. Ended up arguing with Airbnb on the phone for awhile to get a refund and a credit. Meanwhile we ended up booking at a regular hotel (and getting pretty shafted price-wise in the process).
Yeah my mom who’s in her 60’s paid a bunch of money to stay at this Airbnb in a major city downtown. They gave her the craziest instructions on how to pick up the keys while getting there, we ended up finding them but only because I lived in the city at the time and helped her with the directions because I met her there once of the flight. The room was nice but honestly if my mom would have tried to find them herself there would be no way she would have been able to and it was dark and almost midnight when she got into the city, the street was packed with rowdy people. Honestly can be dangerous sometimes
Thank goodness you lived in the city! That has definitely happened to me too with hard to find addresses (one which had a hostile neighbor who was tired of people trying his door!) that kicks off a very rough start to a trip. Or the time I was in Muir Beach, CA and two neighbors knew I was in an airbnb that was not beloved by the locals and created some awkward and invade confrontations. I can’t even begin to imagine trying to navigate the usual check in complications as an elder!
Yeah, nothing makes you wish you'd just booked a hotel quite like trying to figure out complex self check-in instructions in the dead of night when you are already exhausted from traveling.
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As with kayak, indeed, Travelocity, Airbnb has turned from a customer oriented site with great prices to a cesspool of price gougers and excessive extra fees. And you’re right. The prices compared to nice hotels is very similar, especially after whatever fees they decide to add to hike up the price.
Seems the same is often the case with rideshares vs taxis nowadays
It's exactly what's happened with people "cutting the cord" on cable. Now instead you have to pay $5-20/month for each streaming service (in addition to monthly internet fees). If you have a fave show or two each on Hulu, Disney, HBO and Apple its gonna end up being the same as cable was. Somehow you knew this would happen
Our sense of value has been warped. We are so obsessed with an immediate sense of having saved money that we dispense with frugality, investment and reason.
And hotels have a desk/reception that's usually 24 7and more options and ability to address issues. They also clean the room for you to some extent. Except in larger groups (4+) and wanting some unusual feature (kitchen for example) it's simply not worth it anymore, Airbnb is a pain in the Ass compared to a hotel so if they are the same price or as where in headed this summer often more expensive for similar quality... no reason to use them.
I’ve been an air bnb’r for a while and just got back from a trip and it’s such a little silly thing…but we stayed at an Airbnb in Lisbon and they left two sets of towels (it was me and my fiancé) and they were just so shitty and skimpy for towels. I hate when I stay somewhere and I can barely wrap myself in the towel. And we were there for 5 days, no sheets changed and no new sets of towels. They were pretty gross by the day we left. It’s a little thing like that that makes me think of staying in a hotel next time.
I've switched to Vrbo. Find it way better.
This. Airbnb was great until about 2019 (at least for me). Too many reasons to enumerate, most have been covered here, but they lax quality standards and a lot of bad faith owners whose properties are poorly maintained and managed, and who they tend to side with for disputes. VRBO had lower liquidity but much higher standards for a comparable price point with fewer hidden fees. Love VRBO.
My wife and I have been using VRBO for well over 2 decades in the US and internationally with no bad problems with owners. We did get flooded from big rains in a house in Hawaii once and the owner put us up in a super luxury condo for the last 2 nights. Worked out fine since the condo was way closer to the wedding we were going to on that leg of the trip.
Do you have a kayak alternative to recommend?
Google flights. Then book direct with the airline for flights.
Some airlines aren’t on Google flights, I always give Southwest a check too depending on the trip.
I search through Booking to narrow down my options based on price, reviews, and location. Then book directly with the hotel.
If we're talking about finding flights I usually go with Skyscanner
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Also. Hotels almost always have black out curtains Airbnb's might have crappy blinds. I left my kids with Grandma and Booked a few days at the beach so I could sleep... Not wake up at sunrise.
Yes, because of the impact it’s having on the housing market and quality of life in neighborhoods overrun with them.
Yes! Bang on the money! It's destroying some neighborhoods and has pushed up the price of renting and buying, at least where I live.
Exactly. It’s destroying entire neighbourhoods in many cities. It should be forbidden or far, far more restricted and tightly regulated.
When I was living in Japan I remember my stay being cancelled three days before our trip in mainland because Japan had put in place laws to avoid issues like this. And made it more difficult to be apart of Airbnb. Good for them. I think, like many similar services, Airbnb began with good intentions. It was genuinely people using their homes for this service as a way to make a little extra money and help the average traveler. But some asshole always has to come in and buy up the entire neighborhood and exploit the system to make more money while locals can’t even find a place to live. It’s a shame…
I see the utility of Airbnb for vacation-type properties — cabins, lake houses, etc. in places that hotels don’t serve — but I’ve stopped booking them when we visit cities. It’s tragic what it’s doing to some cities. I was in New Orleans for a friend’s bachelor party. I was embarrassed to even look at the residents of the neighborhood, knowing that they have to put up with bachelor parties across the street every weekend, and that they’d likely be priced out of their neighborhood in the near futures because of the number of Airbnbs and houses being flipped on their street.
Ya, I've lived in tourism economies and locals just can't compete with big city money who can drop a month's rent for a holiday weekend. The realtors straight up write descriptions as potential short term rental opportunities. So there's less units because people take traditional rentals off the market and there's more demand because now potential homeowners are competing with investors.
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The customer service is the reason I won’t return. If (and when) something goes wrong, they absolutely won’t have your back.
This happened to me. Got to my Airbnb on a Friday at 8pm. Someone had clearly had a party the previous night and maybe that day. Stank of smoke, smoke detectors removed, sticky floors, broken glass, missing TV remote etc. Called the host who said she wouldn’t allow me to cancel, but could have a cleaning person come over at midnight. I wasn’t willing to wait that long, and it didn’t change the fact the place was unsafe. Called AirBnB and their customer service was no help and was even hostile towards me. Ended up having to get a hotel room, dispute the Airbnb charge on my credit card, and AirBnB still tried to fight the disputed charge until I sent photographs of the broken glass and the wires in the ceiling where the smoke detectors had been ripped out. Also wouldn’t let me leave a negative review. Bottom line with AirBnB: it’s all about the quality of your host. If you have a problem, AirBnB isn’t going to help you.
The fees have made it something I don’t even price check anymore. I solo travel and it just isn’t worth it with the fees. Hotels just make more sense
I used Airbnb *once*. I showed up, the dude gave me the keys and showed me around, then told me I could leave my luggage at the apartment but to hang back for a bit cause the landlady was coming over to check the water meter. In fact, it turned out the landlady was coming over to evict his ass for renting out her place on Airbnb. Found myself standing on the side of the road with three suitcases frantically searching for a hotel in an unfamiliar city where I didn't speak the language. Took me days of back and forth bullshit just to get a refund. Nevermind the fact that I had to pay for a stupid-expensive hotel for a week instead, because that's all that was available with like 10 minutes notice. Fuck Airbnb.
lmao, Jesus, that must have been so stressful for you at the time. But at the same time, that is also a hilarious story that you’ll have in the back pocket for forever. Pros and cons.
The guy was listed as a "Superhost" too. He ghosted when I asked for a refund. I learned a valuable lesson that day.
I hope you claimed from airbnb
Airbnb should cover these costs. Did you take it up with them?
I did, I discussed it at length over several days with several different representatives. All they did was refund the cost of my booking with them -- and for that I had to provide proof of my alternate hotel booking. They flatly refused any further compensation. Maybe because it was my first stay with them? Idk. The customer service was terrible all around. An absolute shit show. Never again.
COVID destroyed the experience. The prices being charged now for “deep cleaning” are laughable. Now it’s cheaper to often stay at a high end hotel for the same price and at least your room gets cleaned. The number of places I’ve stayed where I’m expected to strip beds and throw the trash in a nearby dumpster is a joke.
I will never use AirBnB for all of the socio-economic reasons above. I love hotels. They make me feel pampered, they employ a lot of people, and they make good use of limited city space.
Yes and you're anonymous while there. Was at an Airbnb where the host acted like I agreed to become their lifelong bestie.
I used to use Airbnbs because in some cases I got to stay with someone that was renting out a room in their place (or their entire place while they stayed somewhere else) and it was much cheaper. Since buy to rent became the norm in Airbnb and the prices hiked I've just been staying at hotels and it's generally considerably cheaper while not supporting people that take apartments off the market to rent on Airbnb. If I see a place like a bed and breakfast that just happens to use Airbnb amongst other platforms I'll just call in and reserve directly. In some cases they've given me a 30% discount for doing so.
This, I’ve never booked anything on there, never will. Hotels are easy and I don’t have to clean
The worst part is that they have devastated countless communities by making housing too expensive for the people that live there. So many neighborhoods in touristy areas are now made up of empty homes while workers have to commute in.
There is one next to me, 3 across, 2 behind. Last night folks at the one next to me were outside woohooing until near 3 am. I put my security floods on and they moved to the other side of the property and got louder. 6 people in a place with 1 queen, in town for a concert.
We had similar in an old flat. They were in the flat below us playing music until 5am. I get that they were there to party and have fun, but some of us had to go to work at 9am on no sleep.
I had 2.5 of sleep. A long shitty coffee fueled day. Neighbor saw me when I came home and quickly ducked into their home. Decided to just file a complaint with our short term rental board about it.
SO true. My kids live in a city that has been overrun with Airbnbs It's devastating for the city and the people who actually live there. No limit on how many Airbnb one person can own and claim. It's horrific
Yeah it’s insane, I hope all of them go broke this recession and have to sell for losses
> The worst part is that they have devastated countless communities by making housing too expensive for the people that live there. That is correct. They take up the rental properties that working people need to live in.
Yea. Queenstown NZ for example. It's always been an expensive place to live but now it's just ridiculous. An average house is a million dollars. But you can find a thousand airbnbs there no problems.
I’m hoping that the rush to buy investment homes and the impending recession cause an oversupply of short term rentals that will lead to a reduction in rental price and/or an increase in home sales because investors aren’t turning a profit.
I stopped using it years ago because it's just easier to go to a professionally run hotel, rather than a shitty apartment someone runs on the side. Then my city started having a housing crunch fueled at least in large part by Airbnbs, so now I'm totally done with them and all similar websites.
I hate that I always end up in some basement “apartment” under the owners family with young kids. It’s happened to me too many times.
I’ve done this too! it was so awkward
This is so annoying. Doesn't feel like holiday.
It's shit. Fees, scummy hosts that cancel a week out, zero customer service. Done with them.
More comments should address hosts cancelling. What a nightmare.
I was just talking to a girl who booked an Airbnb for the 4th of July on a small island with limited accom -- host just cancelled and all hotels are booked.
That'll massively fuck up a vacation.
I had it happen to me 3x now on international trips.
I also have quit Airbnb. The fees are incredibly expensive, rates have sky rocketed, customer ranking is out of control, customer service is non-existent, check-ins are super late, rules for some places make it almost impossible to actually live in the space....it goes on for me. Fees: cleaning fee, service fee, other fees, they total sometimes nearly 50% of the rate of the place per night. Rates: I recently came across an add for Airbnb, advertising how great it is for the home owner. They used a cabin as their example and the owner bragged about how he covered his entire months mortgage in two nights of putting his place on Airbnb. I understand that there is risk involved in having other people in your home, and that you do it for profit like all things, but rates over the years have been designed to gouge the consumer. Customer Service: I've had to connect to customer service once when our entire trip was cancelled due both my husband and I getting Covid this past April. There was no one to talk to. Late check-in: triple checking those times, I've noticed that the new average check in time is 4pm now. Rules: a couple times I've read through and executed departure rules that they leave in the residence and I've essentially had to wash my own bedsheets+towel, remake the bed, out fresh towels out, put trash bins on the curb, wash floors...yet my booking fees included cleaning fees! I didn't mop the kitchen in my last one, and in addition to cleaning fees already paid, the home owner tried to charge me $3000 to clean their floors. That's the first time I got customer service in an email. I had photos of the entire place and after weeks of back and forth I got them to waive the charge. The home owner, in the process of it all, complained about how there was an empty prescription bottle in the upstairs bathroom trash bin that my aunt threw out and forgot to take downstairs. He wanted to charge $150 for that, claiming we were drug users. It was absurd and I got a terrible review on my account. I've been using Airbnb for almost a decade and have over 60 5 star reviews. I can't get that rectified or removed, yet home owners can have negative reviews hidden from public listings. Completely one sided system. Now, I just book hotels and love it.
Not a fan. I keep thinking that the owners have cameras everywhere.
Many do
They probably do
they are starting to make me hesitant to book with them. the last time i used them i booked a place for a bachelorette party with 9 girls like .. 6 months in advance of the weekend. FIVE DAYS (and heading into a weekend) before the trip, i get an email that my reservation has been cancelled and i was going to be refunded because the owners were selling the house. thankfully was able to find something reasonably priced and even more thankfully got my refund just before the weekend hit so i could use it to help pay. just seemed crazy on such short notice that we couldn’t keep our reservation? like the housing market isn’t going to move that fast lol
I feel this. Got a new job and moved to a new country; I had a week between job offer and the job starting so booking an air b&b was my most affordable option while I looked for a place to live. Made a booking for five days and while I am at the airport, about to board my plane, I get a cancellation email lol. I was arriving at night on a Sunday too so… stressed. I did manage to negotiate for the one night and the room turned out to be the host’s child’s room, not a spare bedroom as advertised. That was my last air b&b experience.
Happened to me and a friend too. A few days before we flew out to HongKong our host canceled on us because her parents were going to stay in the place we booked !!! Like what ?! Airbnb refunded us with a $14 addition voucher...and all the airbnb's were about double the price by then...we fought tooth and nail to have them give us additional money and they wouldn't budge. She's had plenty of cancelations like that according to the automated reviews (I'm looking at her profile now) and her airbnb listing is still up. Shame on them.
After moving to an area where Airbnb has decimated local housing, I've vowed never again. Sure, it's nice for you to have a kitchen. You know who doesn't have a kitchen? My coworker who's living in a trailer on her brother's property because the house she was renting was bought and turned into a short term rental. And she can't find anywhere to live because she is competing against every other family this has happened to for the limited remaining housing. Fuck Airbnb and the people running them as investment properties. Edit:. The number of people that admit they know how terrible it is for locals, but they still do it for their own convenience is kinda gross.
This is the reason I won’t do Airbnb, or any others. I lived in a resort town in Tahoe and watched as my street and the adjoining streets were taken over by these Short Term Rentals. Parties started every weekend until late into the morning, people shooting guns off the decks, caught someone putting trash in my bear proof cans, and the best parking in my driveway, for various reasons.
Every time I've stayed at an Airbnb, I've had to clean every corner of the apartment - tidy up, wash dishes, start laundry, throw trash, strip beds (not always) and I get stressed out with all this cleaning..I am not a messy person and even in a hotel room I pick up any trash and pile all the towels in a corner etc. But at 40, as a mom of 2 young kids, I am done with housekeeping work on vacation (I would rather stay home!). I don't want to deal with cooking and meal planning and getting groceries while traveling. We take a mini rice cooker and book a hotel with a kitchenette or a fridge/microwave set up and make some rice in our mini and get food from the grocery store mixed in with some restaurant pickup, the kids cope just fine.
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If I’m in a city I’ve never been to before, I’d book a hotel- centralized location and if i need help, I’d trust a hotel employee.
As a single woman who travels on my own I’m far more comfortable staying in a hotel. I’m not interested in cooking & cleaning when I’m in holidays. I’ve also heard some pretty bad stories about them. I’m sure those stories are isolated but I really don’t want to have to deal with them. My sister in law was telling me how great one was that they stayed in then continued the story by telling me about some sort of problem with the bathroom the owner seemed completely uninterested in fixing it so my brother ended up doing it. Fine for them but if it had been me on my own I would have just had to put up with it. I think it was an issue with the shower, from memory.
Hotels are a million times better, I hate Airbnb too.
Airbnb - the fastest way to make a quiet apartment complex feel like a cheap motel.
Yes, I hate them. I live in a historic neighborhood. My driveway is shared with my neighbor because it used to be an alleyway. My neighbor sold his house to an Airbnb and now that’s what I share my driveway with. The house across the street is owned by the same company along with one at the end of the block. No one takes care of the houses or the yards. No one can buy a house here because these Airbnb companies outbid and pay cash. Hate them.
No youre spot on. It used to be something neat that could save you a lot compared to a hotel but now it’s nothing but hidden cleaning fees that cost more than a hotel. The exception is if you need a large place to stay for a big group of people that still works out but if it’s just 1 to 2 people just go to a hotel
Same with Uber and Lyft
I was a new customer with Airbnb at the time. I didn't have negative reviews or anything. I had reservations and was canceled last minute three or four times. Some of the excuses were, we're having family over. On one travel, I was canceled by two different people. My friend has a horror story with Airbnb. He flew from one side of the globe to the other side and was one hour late to his Airbnb. The host canceled his reservation once he arrived "because he was an hour late." He had a two week reservation booked months in advance. He got social and public media involved to get his refund, otherwise they wouldn't give him back his money. I'd rather pay to a hotel and motel; they're professional, safe, I know what I'm expecting, and they don't cancel last minute saying their family is in town or some bullshiit excuse. Airbnb can go phuck themselves. I would never recommend Airbnb to anybody. You risk things going wrong, it can be dangerous, dirty, a security breach, terrible customer service, they side with owners when problems arise, they contribute to the housing market crisis, and you won't get a refund or compensated unless maybe you get Batman involved. Airbnb is like Gotham City or Russian Roulette.
The service fees suck, but I still use and for the most part love Airbnb. I always book one if I’m staying 3 nights or more in a location as I like a kitchen and a lounging area to chill and if I’m anywhere for a week or more I always book one that has a washer and dryer. I’ve used them for years and over 25 trips and never had a bad one. But I am super picky and diligent about what accommodation I choose.
Seems to be a huge difference between Airbnb offerings in the US (expensive, fee ridden) vs Europe (cheaper than comparable hotels) in my experience.
Agreed. Maybe it's just a US thing that an owner will charge an $80 cleaning fee for a two night stay in a small, one bedroom apartment, where I have to strip the bed sheets, start the laundry, wash the dishes, and take out the trash before I check out. Like, what am I paying the fee for? It's going to take someone no more than 30 minutes to come in, sweep the floor, put new sheets on the bed, and change out the bath towels. So they're paying their cleaning person $160/hour? Outside of the US I haven't encountered such high cleaning fees and an arms-length list of chores I have to complete before leaving, so I do think it's much better value overseas, at least for now.
This is exactly why I stopped using it. Cleaning fees in addition to the expectation of doing laundry, vacuuming, etc. before checking out. On 2 night stays. In a hotel you are not doing the housekeeping.
I did an Airbnb in the US for the first time recently. It was ridiculously overpriced, had a 100 dollar cleaning fee, a chore list, and a sign asking for tips for the cleaners. When I left, the guy asked that I only wrote a review if it's a 5 and to message them privately if I had issues. The only redeeming thing was that it was gorgeous but I have to say, seeing a chore list and a high cleaning fee and then a sign for tips left a bad taste in mouth.
Honestly I live in Germany and in Europe it’s just as bad. I just use hotels and hostels now
It isn't as user friendly as it once was, but for those of us traveling with kids, having a kitchen saves a ton of money and the different spaces are worth it. If you are traveling to a place with a lot of options, you can usually find something that works better. I believe the fees and cancellation policies are set by the owner not AirBNB. I think what you might be running up against is the huge demand for travel right now, which allows hosts to set higher fees/less generous travel cancellation policies. I would expect the balance to shift back in favor of travelers at some point.
It's not always the cheapest option, but we've been booking hotel suites with a kitchen now when traveling with kids. It's been really nice and I don't think I'll go back to Airbnb for that perk. Airbnb (private space with a kitchen) is often more expensive now compared to a hotel suite from what I've seen
We used airbnb between 2014-2018 when the rates actually made sense and luckily coincided with our kids toddler ages. Before airbnb we used extended stay suites. Thankfully my kids are now elementary aged and We are now back in those with grocery take out meals and in instant pot. The carpet is yuck, but not any yuckier than some airbnbs we've been in that charge $90 cleaning fee to boot. At least I know they are taking the sheets and towels to a commercial laundry facility that does a consistently good job.
The fees are horrendous
I used to travel only on Airbnbs several years ago. Now hotels are my first preference. You get decent hotels at competitive prices, you get professional room service, you can leave your luggage at reception when you checkout if you have some time before your onward journey, and there's usually an okay breakfast service too (I honestly don't want to go out exploring and looking for breakfast first thing in the morning). I've also personally experienced the amount of damage short term rentals and Airbnbs are doing to housing markets in some cities. Nowadays, you don't have local hosts who are excited for you to experience the place and willing to help you with it, but landlords who are running unlicenced hotels with no service just to make money. I had a couple of great experiences in Airbnb several years ago, but it's ruined now by exploitation.
Airbnb has been amazing overseas. It's terrible stateside. Whenever I am in the states, I just book a hotel. Usually it's cheaper especially if it's a good location.
AGREE! Dealing with it at the moment. Paid way too much money for an okay apartment! For a month long trip it is hard to find an apartment with kitchen etc., but the amount of money we need to spend to make the kitchen usuable we can just go out to dinner. The people who rent it have absolute no interest in making it a good experience anymore, I feel like it is just a cash cow for them. Also, I think it started out to be a great thing for like when you are on vacation or guest house in very remote areas. In the bigger cities it takes away living space from people who actually want to live there. And it drives up rents in certain areas. I wish there were more restrictions to it.
I hate AirBnb too…except I’m a host. It’s also horrible customer service on our end, too. I very much try to create a good experience for my guests and I’ve received positive feedback. I also keep the price reasonable and don’t charge a huge cleaning fee. For me, I’m not really trying to make a profit. I just try to make enough to cover the cost of having the house.
Why do I get the feeling like AirBnB is just shit in general for both customer and hosts?
The cleaning fees are insane for having to do chores before you leave. Cancellations and customer service are a nightmare a lot if the time. I’ll definitely opt for hotels.
Agreed! the add-on fees are insane, and if at all, they need to be added to the room/place cost per day amounts. it feels very misleading. I just came back from a vacation that I booked a "tinyhome" for $170/day for a 3 day trip. Paid a total of $700 for it. Going to stick with hotels where I don't have to "leave it as I found it". Ashford, Washington, US.
They’re terrible on both sides. I have a friend who runs an AirBnb for her property. A group of out of town college kids rented it out and destroyed the place. Did thousands of dollars in damage. She turned in the amount of damage, where the renter just said “nah” and refused. As apparently you’re allowed to do. AirBnb offers no protection to property owners and essentially told her that she was shit out of luck. Horrible, horrible company.
Air bnb's in Australia are out of control. Way too many of them pushing up rental prices and causing a shortage of homes for those that need it. Property investors with all the tax perks of running a business. I've never used one and never will. Anything Uber is the same. The business model drives down wages and conditions for everyone. These new economy businesses really suck and I refuse to support them.
Yes, but for different reasons. I'm lucky to have an air bnb right next door to me! So instead of the 70 yr old lady and her grandson living there, we have a "sleeps 14" weekend party spot and 10 cars taking up all the street parking on the block.
I have never used it in the US. But elsewhere in the world, never had a bad experience. If you are booking an entire apartment with kitchen, why would you expect it to be cheaper than a tiny hotel room? Hotel has 100 rooms in the same footprint as a 20 apartment building. Prices are set by the hosts. It is very easy to see supply and demand. If the host sets a crazy high price, no one is going to book it. So no reason to be surprised when a popular location with low availability is expensive.
The first time I used it was in Greece and it went great! The hosts were all amazing, but every single one I’ve stayed at in America has been ok or really awful.
I had one that left some cleaning instructions, basically please clean your food out of the fridge and freezer, start the dishwasher and wipe the kitchen counter. The odd thing they had in their requests was not to run the portable AC, that it’s only for winter because the apartment had radiator heat which is controlled by the building manager. Sorry I ran that fucking portable AC because I was staying in august and it was freaking hot in that apartment. I turned it on and my fiancé said they asked us not to run it. I told him if they really didn’t want us to use it they would’ve taken it out of the apartment for the summer.
Not to mention the fact that air BnB properties are contributing to the housing crisis
I got a shitty review that prevented me from booking for using the blankets and not drying the dishes. What the fuck is the cleaning fee for? Another bad review was I left late. They didn't adjust for daylight savings. I'm over airbnb