And do they still have that stupid question about whether the guest received “one” towel? Hosts have reported getting those equally stupid “You have something that needs attention” messages, because the guest said no to that question, since they got 3 towels, not one. 
I have a friend staying in town on holiday right now, not with me, as she needed a place for 2 and I only have room for one.
The place she is staying definitely deserves the bad review she is going to leave.
Firstly, she arrived at the place to find that there were already guests there, who said they had one more night. They also told her that there was hardly any kitchen gear, even though the listing claims it has a fully equipped kitchen and that the hot water tank is so small, you only get 2 minutes, max, of hot water. She contacted the host (who lives outside the country and has property managers), who told her that, oops, those guests had extended their stay and she’d forgotten to block the calendar (so they must have done so outside the platform).
That she would refund my friend for the missed night. But the host asked her for her paypal or bank account info, in a text message, rather than refund through the platform.
When my friend told her that she wanted to keep everything on platform, and copied and pasted the text message onto an Airbnb message, the host texted her again, asking why- that it was better for both of them to do it off-platform. My friend copied and pasted that message, too, and reiterated that she wanted to do everything through the platform. The host did eventually send her the one night refund through Airbnb.
When my friend arrived, she found the place really grubby. The oven rack, cutting board, and other kitchen gear was totally gross- moldy wooden bowls, grease and crud on everything. A couple of old kitchen knives with grubby handles. The previous guests were correct- the water heater only provides hot water for a few minutes. Additionally, the lock was broken, so she felt unsafe (the place is out in the jungle) and the property manager said they couldn’t get around to fixing it for “a few days”. She told them that wasn’t good enough. The main ceiling fan doesn’t work at all, the front porch lights, which are super big and bright, won’t turn off at all, or else flicker like a strobe.
When she told the host about all this, the response was “Relax. Everyone loves the place”. So she’s been reporting this stuff to Airbnb, who have actually been quite helpful. They said this isn’t the first time they’ve had complaints about this place.
I went over there yesterday. The place is indeed grubby- there are even throw pillows all over the place that are brown with grime. They look like they haven’t been washed in years. Additionally, there are all kinds of tripping hazards- stairs that have risers of varying heights, toe-stubbing pieces of wood trim at every doorway. The chairs on the patio that are meant to relax in are actually nice chairs- hand-carved barrel-types, but they are hard wood- they need cushions. Of course guests take the throw pillows from the couches to use on them, which is probably why they get so dirty.
The “extra” sheets and towels in the cupboard are musty smelling and stained. The bed area in both bedrooms was so grubby, my friend took the clean sheets off one bed and is sleeping on the couch.
Oh, and there’s also a gas leak she can smell coming from the water heater gas hose. Which the property manager also said they couldn’t get around to looking at for a few days (“We’re too busy”). Her booking there is only for a week.
She also got woken up early Saturday morning by the gardeners chain sawing and leaf blowing, which went on for hours. No warning about this in the listing, or in a house manual.
The thing is, the place could be stunning with a deep cleaning and proper maintenance. It’s in a beautiful setting in the tropical jungle, it’s in a little complex of Balinese traditional teak houses, with hand-carved wooden doors, and other beautiful detailing, that were shipped to Mexico in parts and reconstructed here.
And if it had been advertised as rustic, for a budget price, guests wouldn’t really have much to complain about. But it isn’t- it’s advertised like it is something really special and rents for $300/night. My friend got it for $175/night because the host had an unbooked week she wanted to fill, but even for $175, the place needs major upgrading.
