Clarity on rental descriptions

[Susie0]

Hi all,

I'm a host and have been staying at a few places recently while traveling. 

One used the word Private numerous times (private entrance, private room, private bath) and said she lived and worked at the BACK of the house.  I checked with her to see if other guests were staying in the house due to covid concerns, and she said no.

The host greeted me at the ("private entrance") as did her cat,  with mask partially on, and shortly I discovered that the back of the house meant the back of the floor where the bedroom I'd be renting was (about 8 feet away). Shared kitchen. She wanted to serve me breakfast.

I expressed concerns about the shared airspace. She explained all the surfaces were clean. Then she began coughing uncontrollably after which I said I just couldn't stay.

I left and suggested she clarify her description to say it is a room and bath in a home shared with the host. She gave me a refund, and I went to a hotel where I felt much safer, ironically.

She has not updated her listing weeks later. Wouldn't you think Airbnb would give a host an ultimatum after I contacted customer service and told them the situation and how misleading the description was??? She is a superhost, again ironically.

I encourage hosts to be as transparent as possible in this environment. 

[Debra300]

@Susie0,

When you did your search did you choose the filter for entire place, and that space was in the results?  Or was the listing classification private room?  If the listing category is incorrect, have you notified Airbnb about the discrepancy?

[Mark116]

@Susie0  I'm not sure the description was misleading, it sounds like you didn't understand it.  "private room" and "private bath" pretty much ensures that it is a shared listing, otherwise the listing would say 'entire apartment/house/bungalow'.  

[Sarah977]

@Susie0  Private room means you generally share some common areas with the host. I have a private room/private bath listing, and the guest area even has it's own outdoor entrance, but guests share my kitchen ( therefore I have been closed to bookings since March due to COVID).

But I state all this clearly in my listing info and no guest has been surprised.

You need to book entire places if you want no shared spaces ( which of course is important now). An entire space doesn't necessarily mean it's a house, it could just be a studio apartment attached to the hosts home, but it has to have a private entrance and no shared spaces.

If the host wasn't clear in her ad that the kitchen was shared, ( I'm not sure how you thought a private room listing would have its own kitchen unless the ad stated there was a kitchette in it) and said the guest space had a private entrance when it didn't, that's on her and yes, she should reword or add to her listing info, but it's your error not to have understood that a private room listing usually has shared kitchens, living rooms, hallways, etc.