Hi
we are a Airbnb Property Management company on the Sunshine Coast Australia. We are always looking for new properties to manage.
Let us know if we can be of assistance
www.completebnb.com.au
info@completebnb.com.au
We are experienced guests who have generally enjoyed our various Airbnb stays. We are also hosts with an Airbnb facility in Thailand that has been consistently recognized as a Super host. We realize that there are various levels of accommodation with Airbnb but believe that, for the most part, hosts try to offer a pleasant experience for their guests. Unfortunately this wasn't the case with our experience with this host. It was evident that the host wasn't in the least interested in presenting a pleasant experience. The physical building was actually quite nice and the kitchen was expensively equipped. After that it was all down hill. Numerous light bulbs were not working and we had to switch around to have lights in the bathrooms. Towels and bedsheets were dirty and in the washing machine waiting for us to wash them. The ice maker didn't work until we emptied out old ice. While the coffee machine was an expensive model it required special capsules for operation and there weren't any. The second "b" in Airbnb was a joke as aside from no coffee there was nothing to eat. The carpets were stained and it was obvious some animal had lived there from the smell. The TV didn't work and there was no WiFi. In going back to the posting at Airbnb we discovered that the host is actually a property management company.
The reviews on the property were excellent but we later determined that the reviews were the results of the actual owners efforts before turning it over to a management company.
We are of the opinion that the Airbnb organization should not accept this type of host because all of the personal connection is lost as well as the attention to detail that is so important to the traveler.
Presumably @RumourHasIt if it was as awful as you outlined, you contact the management company within 24 hours about all the things that were wrong as Airbnb suggests?
It sounds like most needed major fixes, so if issues couldn’t be resolved - did you ask Airbnb to cancel the booking so you could find alternative accommodation?
I don’t think you can generalise and say all airbnb management companies are bad and all hosts are great as there is lots of evidence on airbnb forums that this is certainly not the case.
Would love to see the review you left of this listing. I am sure it is a corker 
We were 3 couples coming together for our annual family meetup, one couple from Thailand and two other couples from far flung US locations. We actually met for the first time at the 3 bedroom complete house and it was late and impossible to make other arrangements for all six of us.
Our review was scathing but it probably meant little to the management company.
I am certain that there are management companies that do a decent job but don’t believe that the Airbnb concept fits management company priorities. They, after all, are just there to make a profit. The joy of hosting strangers who become friends, the pleasure of creating a lovely hideaway for folks to recharge in are our payment. These are not part of a company’s language.
You are much more tolerant than me. I would never have stayed in a place such as you described post the first night @RumourHasIt
What did the host say when you contacted them about the condition of the property. Did they fix anything/bring new bedding?
Lots of hosts, host remotely and have multiple properties. They never meet their guests let alone become their friends. There is little difference between them and a management company.
And this is an experience that many guests who book whole listings look for.
I completely understand a situation where 6 people can’t find a place late at night. When I rented the home in Costa Rica last summer I would have been devastated if it had been like what Rumorhasit described and frankly don’t know what I would have done. I would not have spent hundreds more going to another place while awaiting a refund. That property was run by a property manager with a fairly small portfolio. Also there were caretakers who lived on the property similar to what PitonView has and they are the ones who are most responsible for standards being up to par. I agree with Rumor that properties managed by owners like what they have are preferrable to those run by absentee landlords.
Definitely I can understand not moving that night. As i said before.
But you can bet I would have been on the phone to Airbnb once I contacted the host/management companies and asked them to help me find a comparable alternative so I had something to move to the next day.
It doesn’t involve spending hundreds going to a new place and waiting for a transfer of funds, in these situations if the host wasn’t able to address the many issues the OP outlined, the refund is transferred across to the new host.
I know because this happened to me when I booked a place in Lisbon that was not as described in a similar situation to the OP. In my case it included no wifi, and having only luke-warm water and then only some of the time so we couldn’t shower or have a bath.
They provided me with a choice of four alternatives at comparable prices and I got a 10 per cent credit on top to spend with a new host. So actually ended up with a place that was more central.
All we did was review the places they sent us, chose one, Airbnb transferred the funds spoke to the new host to check everything was as listing and I got them to pay for the uber to the new place.
Would I choose to do this rather than staying in a place with dirty bedding and towels. few light bulbs, ice maker not working, no coffee pods, stained carpets, smell from animals being in the place (if not listed as accepting animals), TV not working and no wifi. Absolutely I would.
My downtime is precious to me and if something doesn’t have key amenities that I want/need if i have a choice and can move fairly easily. Then i will.
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