extremely disappointed

[Teri995]

Hello from Canada:

I am a frequent user of Airbnb but I am rethinking that after my last two experiences.  

First off I stayed in an airbnb in Newport California recently.  The place was supposed to be a "super host".  It was not clean, it was terribly noisy, it was illegal 9we had to find a hidden lockbox behind a hedge), and the amenities were very poor (no soap or shampoo or toaster or even kitchen knives!).  

I feel the "super host" designation means nothing now and can not be relied on.

Second, I had booked two places in Spain.  One week in Seville and one week in Valencia over Xmas.  Unfortunately along came Omicron and I had to cancel the trip. I gave both hosts more than a week notice of cancellation.  The host in Valencia gave me a refund.  The host in Seville kept HALF!!!!  plus a cleaning fee (why?  I was never there!) and to make matters worse, Airbnb kept a fee of $122.28.  

In these times of Covid there needs to be consideration that people may have to change plans when matters are out of their hands.  

[Ann72]

@Teri995   There is "consideration that people may need to change their plans."  You and the host essentially split the money 50-50 because you were both inconvenienced.  I

You need to pay attention to cancellation policies when booking anything, whether it's an Airbnb, a hotel, or an airline.  

[Emiel1]

@Teri995 

Sorry to read about your bad experience, your review for the listing is an important instrument to rate this  (super)host.

All cancellation policies refund the cleaning fee when cancel before day of check-in, but any other refund (if any) is calculated by the specific cancellation policy atached to the booking. The host can not be blamed for this.

The risk not being able to travel because of COVID related issues is your own risk (except when you or the host are infected, the specila COVID extenuating circumstances policy applies) . Travel insurrance is advised these days !

[Sarah977]

@Teri995  It's important to understand what the Superhost status is based on. 

Airbnb doesn't have field agents who go around checking the conditions of a  listing.

Superhost is based on a few criteria. The overall star rating given by guests, a host's response time (if they fail to answer booking reqests or inquiries within 24 hours), the number of bookings or days they have booked per year, and a less than 1% cancellation rate.

So the actual condition of the unit and the attitude of the host are only reflected by the ratings and reviews left by guests.

And those can be quite subjective. What may seem dirty to you may not be noticed by some 18 year old, and a lack of adequate kitchen gear may be a non-issue for someone who eats all their meals out. A lot of guests travel with their own shampoo or soap and might not be affected by the lack of those found in the unit.

So all you can do is rate and review accordingly to your experience to aid future guests.

You would be surprised how many hosts have gotten terrible guests who had several 5* reviews. Sometimes it's because the previous reviews were for stays the guest had had when travelling alone, but then travelled with a group, some of  whose members weren't respectful, sometimes it might be because the previous hosts were actually property management companies who tend to give generic 5* reviews to all guests as long as they don't burn the place down. 

Hosts receive penalties for cancelling, and depending on how many bookings they get per year, may easily lose Superhost status by cancelling even 1 booking per year. So the most valuable thing about booking with a Superhost is the unlikelihood of having your booking cancelled, leaving your travel plans in disarrray.

As far as not getting a full refund, as others have said, when you book  a place, you are bound by the terms of the cancellation policy. Some hosts may be willing to refund outside their policy, depending on the circumstances, but they aren't under any obligation to do so, and it doesn't make them bad people- they are simply trying to run a viable business.

The reality is that almost all guests think their reason for cancelling should be grounds for a refund, whether it is due to travel disruptions, a death in the family, an unexpected expense in their lives that means they can no longer afford the trip, whatever. If hosts simply refunded all guests who considered their reason for cancelling to be worthy of a refund, guests would constantly be cancelling and hosts would not be able to survive.

Always check the terms of the cancellation policy ( there are several different ones) before booking anything, and if you are going to feel that you've been treated unfairly if you have to cancel and don't get refunded in full, book a different place with a cancellation policy that's acceptable to you or make sure to purchase travel insurance.

[Lawrene0]

Hey, @Teri995 , just wanted to note a couple of things. Being a superhost doesn't mean your listing isn't noisy or that it has certain amenities. It mostly just means the host hasn't cancelled any guests in the last year and that the listing is what it says it is and guests have been cool with that.

I've stayed in lots of places with hidden lockboxes, and that was mostly about theft and nothing to do with being illegal, so I'm assuming you have other info about the legality? If it truly is illegal, you'll want to flag it. Also, as @Emiel1 says, be honest in your review. If the host offered soap and knives but didn't provide them, it's certainly something to warn other guests about. 

You might be thinking of the old "Plus" listings. Those had certain standard amenities. The category didn't last long, possibly because we truly are all different.

As to getting a full refund a week out, that's hard with any cancellation policy except the "flexible" one. @Ann72 advises looking at the cancellation policies, because that's what you agree to when you book.  It sounds as if you, yourself, should always look for places with flexible cancellation policies if you wish your hosts to take the hit. Flexible hosts (I'm one of them) have signed up to be your travel insurance. 

Hosts choose the policy that works best for them, and guests choose that as well. 

Rather than worrying about that Seville host, I'd be very grateful to the Valencia host! 

And I don't sound it, because these likely aren't the answers you want, but I am sorry you cannot travel. I've had to give up my own plans, so I understand. It's awfully discouraging. 

[Jennifer1897]

As a guest, it is your responsibility to read a listing in full before booking. By booking you accept the cancellation policy clearly stated in that listing. When you reserve a place, those dates are obviously not available to anyone else. The closer to your actual stay, the less likely the host is to receive a replacement booking should you cancel. 

As a host, a lot of us rely on Airbnb as a form of monetary support. Why should a host have to suffer a loss because a guest was unable to travel and cancelled last minute? That being said, I understand that COVID was a factor out of your control, but you made a booking during a pandemic. Before Omicron was Delta and the other variants. You should have known the risk related to COVID by this time. You assumed that risk knowing travel was unreliable.

In relation to your place in Newport being dirty, I hope this is something you immediately brought forth to the host. If they did not address it appropriately, you can move forward and report it to airbnb. In the case of the noise, sometimes that is out of control of the host. For example if you are in a tourist location, which Newport is (I lived there for years) there is bound to be excessive noise. If it was caused by a neighbor or something the host didn't disclose like construction, if you are not able to rectify it with the host, your option again is to reach out to Airbnb. Lastly, addressing amenities, most are identified in the listing. I would review the listing again and see if those items were offered. If they were not, you can not hold the host accountable. I had a case where I first started with airbnb where I assumed the host would provide things such as a hotel does. Unfortunately I was wrong, and after reviewing the listing I realized my mistake.  Also, as others said, you can leave an honest review of your stay

[Sarah977]

@Teri995  Building on the amenity issue that Jennifer mentioned, all Airbnbs are unique and all hosts don't provide the same things. Just because every Airbnb you've ever stayed in before provided shampoo doesn't mean they all do. So you have to really read the amenity list to determine what it provided (I'm not saying you don't, it's just general advice) and always give the host an opportunity to correct an issue rather than just be fussed about it and downrate or leave a critical review. Neither guests nor hosts are perfect human beings, we all screw up sometimes. The host's cleaners may just have neglected to put out fresh soap or toilet paper, and the host would bring some over asap if you let them know. Or it could even happen that the cleaner never showed up as scheduled, unbeknowst to the host, who would be horrified to find that out and send someone over right away to clean.

Sometimes guests  don't want to be seen as complainers, so don't say anything, but it's unfair to mention something in a review or give a low rating if you haven't actually given the host an opportunity to make good on the issues.

[Anonymous]

@Teri995 Just building on (or summarize) the great advice everyone has already given: if you choose to stay in an Airbnb or other short term rental in the future, disappointments  like yours are largely avoidable. The thing to keep in mind is that, unlike corporate chain rentals and hotels, there's nothing standardized about Airbnbs. You have to look carefully at the listing and photos, and ask questions if necessary, to see if features that are important to you such as toasters are included. You have to consider the cancelation policy before you book, knowing as we have for nearly 2 years that Covid can disrupt our plans at any time. You have to research the destination to make sure it suits your needs, especially if it's important for you to have a quiet neighborhood.

And generally, the more prone to disappointment you are about the details, the more money you should be prepared to spend. Budget and midrange travel is a joy for people who just enjoy the thrill of exploring a new place and don't demand much from where they go to sleep. But if you find that more luxury and creature comfort truly makes you happier, it's worth leveling up your budget for the experience you really want. Life is too short, and vacations too precious a luxury in themselves, to get worked up about toasters and shampoo. 

[Linda108]

I see that your last 2 reviews were for stays booked by others.  Perhaps they did not have your level of experience in vetting a listing that will meet expectations.  It is a dilemma when booking reservations during these travel times.  Air BNB will refund according to the cancellation policy both of the host and the platform.  One thing you should get back if you have not stayed at a place is the cleaning fee so you could follow up on that.