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Am usually in the Host role, but traveled this weekend so had the opportunity to be a guest again. I picked a listing for just a room, Super Host status with all glowing reviews. The room ended up being in a house without a host and all ABB rooms, although the Host kept up the pretence of being “away”. The toilet had a considerable leak onto the bathroom floor, we had to go buy our own toilet paper, the blinds were falling off the bedroom window, there was no bed frame (mattresses sitting directly on the floor), and I had to config the smart TV for wifi before we could watch Netflix (a listed amenity.) On the upside, at least it was clean. DH was pretty mad about it all. None of this sub-par listing was mentioned in reviews and they had perfect 5 stars across all categories. WTH?!! Sometimes guests need to be more helpful for future guests, same as we hosts- I would never have booked the place knowing what I do now.
I was torn about doing the review (be another guest giving a poor listing an inflated rating, or be truthful and enforce the opinion that hosting other hosts is to be avoided.) As a host-to-host courtesy I ended up giving them 3 stars (since it was at least clean) and an earful in the private comments.
What a shame that you didn’t provide an honest public review, rather than just leaving private remarks. Particularly as you point out - that honest public reviews are a critical factor for guests when choosing accommodation.
In your situation I would have contacted Airbnb within the first 24 hours as they suggest so they could have the booking cancelled and helped you find a better alternative place to stay. And left an honest public review.
Too bad your public review didn’t have in it what you wrote above – absentee host, leaking toilet, SNAFU TV (that should have been fixed during the turn-over – I check it every time)
I mentioned the same type of property in Dublin, fully let out rooms with no host present. The guest left after a few hours as the noise was awful and the place filthy. I did see another property in Dublin with 6 private rooms but her title and listing states full house for airbnb rooms only. I would imagine someone complained about it and they were told to amend the description.
I would see toilet roll as a must, you can buy cheap toilet roll in most countries. I can’t understand how you could get 5 stars reviews and not supply a basic like toilet roll.
Hi @KKC.
Thanks for your thoughtful questions, as always.
The listing did not indicate that it had another room available, and since it didn’t show in my search (it was booked), I wasn’t aware. The host said (in his welcome message) that another couple also lived full time in one of the other rooms upstairs, but we never saw them. The listing mentioned the host and his fiance so I guess I had expected to see them at some point. However, believe it or not, a friend of ours lives two houses down (and we didn’t know that either until we arrived) and she told me that the house had been bought 6 months prior and that all the neighbors knew it was “an AirBnB house”.
And that’s the problem with reviews, right? The subjectivity in the balance between expectations and price point. The price was $39/night. In that neighborhood and given the accommodations, I thought the price was a little high. If there was a bed frame (I seriously hate sleeping on mattresses on the floor - felt super ghetto -
guess I’m a snob) and the leaking toilet water being so unsanitary, I might have been ok with the rate since my expectations weren’t super high. Had I known of those issues, though, I wouldn’t have booked because I would have paid a little more for a better room. But what really put my expectations out of balance was the reviews by previous guests and the perfect 5-stars across all categories!
I was using the Golden Rule because had it been my room where the guests expectations did not match my reality, I would have been super unhappy if they had aired all the issues publicly. I was very conflicted about the whole thing. I doubt my husband will agree to a room rental again thru AirBnB - we’ve previously only done separate suites and they’ve been really decent. This one was just a bomb.
Hi @konacoconutz.
I guess that’s part of my problem. There’s plenty of places in that area for that price point or below, but their stars and reviews are a little more realistic. I guess I just expected something better given prior guest reviews. How can anyone give a 5-star review for mattresses resting on the bare floor?
It sounds like a misrepresentation and I think I’d go so far as to report it to Airbnb. Honest reviews are important. I’ll just keep saying it even though people will always find excuses to get around giving them.
All these things you listed wouldn’t bother me at all. And if I paid 39$ for accommodation and all hotels in the area were 80$ and a place was clean, I would give 5* too.
So what blind was falling off? Toilet was leaking, things happen. It’s someone’s house, things break and sometimes they are not fixed right away.
In every house I stayed I have to figure out TV.
For me all of this doesn’t matter at all. Matress on a floor? I sleep now in my host’s house on a matress and don’t even think twice about it.
Also you didn’t like the fact that there were other Airbnb rooms. I had guest’s like this who for some reason didnot like that fact also. If people are so particular about not having other “Airbnb rooms” besides their own they should inquire before booking.
Were there any pictures of the bedroom, the beds in particular? If not, I would have avoided booking. I always get a suspicious feeling when large chunks of a place are left out of the pix.
