Air conditioning Italy Codiv

[Jacob463]

Hi,

I'm staying at Airbnb in Rome at this moment and after arrivig we were informed that the airco was shut off due to Covid regulations. Is that true? Can they do that? It's almost 10PM, I have 30 degrees in my room and can't quite image sleeping in this environment. 

I also booked this palce because they had breakfast included but that's also canceled for the same reason. I can make myself a coffee and take a yogurt. 

Any suggestions if that's fair?

Thanks for answers!

[Anonymous]

@Jacob463  I don't know if any specific new Covid regulations have been introduced in Rome in the last 24 hours, but it would seem strange considering how long the virus has been rampant in Italy. Hosts are supposed to inform guests in advance if any of the advertised amenities or accessibility features are going to be unavailable during the stay. If, upon arrival, guests discover that an essential amenity is missing - and the host can not resolve the issue - the guests are entitled to cancel the remainder of the booking and have the unused portion of their stay refunded. 

Presumably, you want to terminate your booking and stay elsewhere. The difficult thing is that Airbnb customer service is a disaster right now, and you might find yourself on hold for hours waiting for assistance. So while you should go ahead and contact them to get a ticket started, you're probably not going to get confirmation of a refund right away. If it's possible to reach a resolution with the host to change your checkout date to tomorrow and refund you the remainder, that would probably be the easiest option for both of you (fortunately, hotels in Rome are not fully booked, so a last-minute room with air conditioning shouldn't be too hard to find).

On the fairness question - if the listing advertised air conditioning, it's not fair to wait until after the guest's arrival to tell them it's not available. There are times when conditions beyond the host's control cause conditions to be less comfortable, but an attentive host would demonstrate some effort to improvise a solution - perhaps bringing a ventilator fan or whatever else might help to cool off your room. (My last host in Rome made sure we didn't mind the 35 degree evenings because the fridge was full of Prosecco).

[Debra300]

@Jacob463,

You have the option to contact Airbnb, and request to cancel and be relocated, because the host has informed you that some of the stated amenities are unavailable.

[Mark116]

@Jacob463   Hmm, I will recommend what I almost never do, which is ask for a discount.  If you paid XX which was listed to include a breakfast, and now it doesn't, you should get a reduction of maybe $10 a day.  It may be that the AC is off due to issues with recirculating air or something, it sounds a little dodgy, I would ask the if they can link or otherwise send you the information on the AC restriction, and tell them you will be cancelling your reservation because of this.  Then, when and if you cancel,  make sure you are clear w/airbnb that this amenity was not provided and you were not informed in advance, you can also mention the breakfast. 

[Anonymous]

@Mark116 The host should offer a discount if they're not providing all the inclusive features such as breakfast. But I would never recommend that the guest ask for a discount. This seldom achieves anything other than to poison the communication. If the guest has further issues after initially bringing up a price reduction, they'll appear to be scheming for a free stay rather than expressing legitimate concerns.

For this reason, I would only say that if you're displeased enough with the Travel Issue that you might feel entitled to any form of compensation, your best course of action is to cut your booking short and vacate the property. If you choose to stay despite the problems, any kind of discount or offer should come solely at the host's discretion.

[Sarah977]

@Jacob463  Both the airconditioning and lack of breakfast do seem like they can be a responsible response to COVID- Air conditioning and heating systems which circulate air throughout a building can spread the virus. I don't know if the breakfast amenity meant that someone would be preparing breakfast for you, in which case, that is also not safe right now. (many hosts who used to prepare breakfast for guests pre-COVID have gone to simply leaving adequate breakfast food for the guest- some eggs, some bread, granola, fruit, etc.) If it meant that there would be breakfast food supplied, and all there is is coffee and yoghurt, I don't see why the host couldn't have provided more, and should certainly have done so if a prepared breakfast was the deal.

If I were a guest, I'd actually be pleased about these precautions, but the host should for sure have told you in advance, and also provided a fan if it's hot weather.