On January 14th I booked an airbnb near Baltimore, where I was going for the weekend to visit friends. I arrived after my five-hour drive, tired, to let myself into a pitch black stairwell. The light fixtures had no bulbs in them, so I used my phone flashlight to find my way upstairs to the apartment. I let myself in, set my bags down and went to check out the bed - standard procedure for anywhere I stay. There was evidence of bedbugs on both sides of the mattress - little black specks and stains in the creases and hem of the mattress, plus many gross unrelated stains on the mattress itself. I immediately got out of there with my stuff and canceled the reservation from my car. The host accused me of "scamming" her and "ruining airbnb for everyone"; then continued to harass me during what was otherwise a lovely weekend catching up with friends. Two full days after the TEN MINUTES i spent in her dirty, infested apartment, I received a request for $120, claiming that I had stolen her hairdryer and towels - I guess she wanted to try and squeeze some money out of me in some way. I declined this request and she threatened a police report. Beyond the bedbugs, the place was dirty, unswept, and smelled bad, kind of like body odor. Super unpleasant and not somewhere I'd want to sleep even if there weren't bedbugs.
This was my first experience with airbnb and it was awful. The host was a nightmare - incredibly rude and immature - and frankly shouldn't be allowed to host guests and expose them to bedbugs. Airbnb was relatively helpful and I've been promised a refund, but after this I am pretty unlikely to use airbnb again. Nothing quite like arriving after a long drive through sleet and snow, hoping to relax, to realize that you have to very quickly find another place to stay. I ended up having to book a hotel that was more expensive, but worth it because unlike the airbnb it was very clean.
Here is the profile of the host: [Link hidden]
I'm not seeing her place listed right now so hopefully airbnb took well-deserved action against her.
what a nightmare. I think airbnb should allow guests to leave a review for hosts even if they cancelled the reservation if it was due to a cleanliness issue.