UPDATE (current status): SOLVED
AirBnB Case Manager tried to contact our host and gave her a 24-hour chance to reply. When she didn't, AirBnB cancelled our booking and gave us a full refund, plus 20% of our original booking cost as compensation.
We have now successfully booked a new property at a much better location, with larger rooms, better amenities, and extremely responsive hosts. Can't believe that this incident doesn't just have a silver lining, but was actually a blessing in disguise. What a turnaround!
This was our previous booked room: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/26590973
- Private room with AC
- Cheap yet sparsely furnished
- Far from city center
- Shared space has minimal basic necessities
- Host didn't reply to our messages, not even once
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This is our booked place now: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/36465466
- AC room with balcony to green views, private rooftop terrace
- Gorgeously furnished open-concept apartment
- Few mins walk from El Born, Ciutadella Park, and all the beaches
- Gracious host was responsive and pre-approved us with self check-in
- BONUS: Host told us they're away, we can have the entire place!!
Thank you to everyone who has helped and provided as much info as they can. We tried to exhaust all our options and came out with a much MUCH better situation than we can dream of. This is amazing and we will try to pay it forward by helping others who might find themselves in the same situation in the future.
Our room in Barcelona had been the weakest link in our plans, but now it has become the highlight of our trip! Really excited now and our hearts are filled to the brim with wanderlust and good vibes.
I hope anyone reading this can benefit from what the community has contributed. If you guys have any questions, just tag me to a reply here or message me.
Our flight is a sleep away, see you soon guys! Thanks again!