Airbnb

Flying into Madrid from South America, resting a couple days, then looking to base somewhere in Spain for May. Budget is around €500 for a private room on Airbnb (shared kitchen/bathroom is fine). After that I’d try to arrange something direct with an owner. What I’m looking...

Ontario, Canada. I had a 2-month booking. On day 2 the guest (she says she’s a co-founder of a gate company and is also a host) claimed my stairs were “unsafe” and demanded I install a permanent baby gate from her business. My listing never promised a baby gate. The layout is...

Five years ago I was all-in on Airbnb. It felt local and cheaper. Now with $150 “cleaning fees,” chore lists, and random quality, I’ve gone back to hotels. It’s nice just checking in, getting clean towels, and leaving without stripping the bed or taking out trash. Is the Airbnb...

Long time Superhosts here, almost 100 five star reviews, but this experience has been unreal. We listed our primary home for the first time this winter while we planned a short trip south. We turned off Instant Book, set a high nightly rate and a 10 night minimum, and were fine...

Guest booked about two weeks ago for a one night stay, non refundable policy. About 24 hours before check in they messaged asking to cancel and get a full refund, saying there was a death in the family. I honestly feel bad for them, but at the same time it’s super last minute...

Just learned that Airbnb bookings now only earn 1 point per dollar. CSR rep said it’s because Airbnb isn’t considered “a hotel booked directly.” Didn’t realize this changed with the recent updates, so heads up if you were counting on 3x for travel.

Had a guest book for next week, then immediately messaged saying she “needs” to bring a dog. My listing doesn’t allow pets. I told her no, now she’s trying to get me to cancel instead, even offering extra money to make it work. I’m not budging, but she’s sent like 20 messages in...

New host here, and this one was rough. Guests called me first thing in the morning saying my flat was “freezing.” It has floor heating, so I sent them the thermostat manual and even did a video call but they kept pressing random buttons and made it worse. I went over, checked...

Had a guest check in yesterday after my cleaner sent me timestamped photos showing everything spotless. A few hours later, they messaged complaining about “dust,” then sent this: “We don’t want to cause trouble… we propose a refund plus €1,100 now. In that case, we’ll keep our...

Used to love these platforms they’d actually step in and help when something went wrong. But lately, it feels like customer service has disappeared completely. I showed up to an Agoda hotel that claimed I “never arrived,” even though I had timestamped photos of the lobby and...

Had a guest book 11 nights, showed up super late (around 12:30am), stayed maybe 20 minutes, then canceled saying the neighborhood felt unsafe. I’ve been a Superhost for 2 years with zero safety issues and solid reviews, so this caught me off guard. Normally I’d do a 50% refund,...

I was supposed to stay at an Airbnb in Kyoto starting Oct 6. Four days before check-in, the host messaged saying there was a “water leak” and asked me to cancel the reservation. He claimed he couldn’t list the “identical replacement room” on Airbnb because it takes 3 months for...

I got a call from Airbnb around 1PM saying they were canceling a 16-day stay because the guest “violated the terms of service.” Check-in was at 4PM. They won’t tell me what happened just that the guest is now considered a safety risk and I won’t get paid, even with a strict...

Booked an Airbnb in Jodhpur for November. A few days ago the host called and asked me to cancel because of “issues.” He refused to cancel himself, saying it would hurt his rating, and promised he’d refund me in November once he gets the payout. Total red flag. Airbnb told me if...

I’ve heard the same rumor, that leaving negative reviews as a guest can make it harder to get accepted for future bookings. Honestly not sure if it’s true, but it does make me hesitate sometimes before writing a brutally honest review. If that’s the case, it feels like the whole...

Booked an apartment last December for the Abu Dhabi GP £800 for 4 nights, walking distance to the track. Yesterday the host canceled on me after making excuses (“maintenance,” “no longer own it”). Today? The exact same place is back on Airbnb for £4300. Now the cheapest I can...

Read this rant and… yeah, I felt it. Host listed free on-site parking, then told the guest to park on a 2-hour street. Guest canceled per policy, host retaliated with a sketchy review, and Airbnb wouldn’t remove it even with messages as proof. I’ve had smaller versions of this...