What is a 3BR and what is a shared space?

[Kenneth12]

A'right... as I'm here on the forums tonight,  allow me to try to describe the "3BR" I am currently in.

Let's start with $135/night in a tourist/university town,    which is a good deal for a 3BR booked 3 weeks in advance here,  but not a great price 2 months out FWIW.  (This is for those who ask "do you book things too cheap?" crowd).

Actual layout:    shotgun on first floor,  with rooms on left and a hallway for the building (access to 4 floors including half-levels) on the right.

First floor shotgun:    bedroom -- kitchen -- bedroom -- bath.    You can also go through the hallway to the bath;  thus, the front bedroom must go through the back / second bedroom to get to the bath,  or out to the hallway.

Third bedroom is on the half-level up the stairs;  thus,  must be accessed through the hall/stairwell shared by all the building,  and must come down the stairs to use the bath,  and go through one or the the other bedroom to get to the kitchen.

None of the above layout / limitations is at all clear from staged pictures,  or at all clear from description.

To boot:  there is only one key for each level,  and the locks require a key on either side / doors do not lock without a key from either side.   This means that it is impossible for one person to leave if someone is sleeping,  without either leaving the doors open or locking someone inside;    etc.

I'm not sure what to make of this,   but it strikes me as far from a 3BR.    Having to go through a space shared by others in the building from 1-2 of the bedrooms is just odd.   Perhaps it is a 2 & 2 1/2 bedroom,  or such.    Airbnb isn't really set up for such a situation;  but I feel if you have something like this,  you have to explain up front in the top of the description,   not hide it and let people find out when they get there.

It is otherwise great in many ways,  but there's a feeling that I paid a bit of a penny,  and didn't get what I paid for.

Otherwise,  I didn't label this as a WWYD "What Would You Do,"  but am interested in ideas on how other hosts might title or describe such a listing.

I'm also often an easy rater in the end-- tempting to leave a 5 and mostly 5s because outside the layout,  most is good here-- but before I leave a review,    someone here might convince me to be harsher.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Kenneth12 

it seems it should be listed as the whole apartment with 2 bedrooms or 1 bedroom+living room,  not as separate rooms, and even then, the third bedroom is odd. We also have such separate room but we use it as a storage, not as another bedroom)

But obviously the owner is trying to maximize his income.

[Kenneth12]

Absolutely!   It's a 1+1+1,   1 bedroom + living room with full bed + 1 extra (unattached bedroom).   Thanks,  got it.

[Kelly149]

@Kenneth12 I actually still don't understand what is happening with this place... there are more guests in the overall house than your group?

I don't know how this is a 5* place, but at a minimum you could 5* the overall, mark down the accuracy and then use the text portion to either illuminate or hint at the layout issues so that guests have some idea and the host has a reason to be more clear.

I'd be frustrated at not knowing that you can't access the kitchen except for going thru the bedrooms and I'd want to know that (clearly a 1 bath in the 3 bed can't be en suite but still...) I had to go thru a public stairway to access the bath from beds 2&3. And if you can sleep 3 - 6 people then I'd expect at least one key per bedroom up to one key per guest

[Kenneth12]

@Kelly149 :  in case it wasn't clear:  the hallway is shared with other units in the building,  which is not disclosed.   You have to go through an outside hallway to the bathroom to/from room 3,   as well as from room 2 if you don't want to head through bedroom 1.     Host does not appear to control those units,  or rents them separately;  this impacts the security situation;   unless the door to the bath is left unlocked,   person(s) in room 3 cannot reach the bath without having the (single) key to 1 & 2,  which would mean people in 1 / 2 are locked in or out ...   guy should just get another set of keys,  but his landlord may not allow that ...

[Helen3]

You're a long established host @Kenneth12 and know the ropes. If you feel the listing is misleading then speak to the host and in a situation like yours where they can't resolve the situation Airbnb so you can find somewhere most suitable.

What did the host say when you asked for more keys/brought these issues up with them?

What did previous reviews say about the room access issue?

Why would you leave a five star review for a listing which according to what you say is misleading ? why not leave an honest one detailing issues with room layout and keys?

[Kenneth12]

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@Helen3 wrote:

You're a long established host @Kenneth12 and know the ropes. If you feel the listing is misleading then speak to the host and in a situation like yours where they can't resolve the situation Airbnb so you can find somewhere most suitable.

You keep repeating this message,   I'm not sure why ...

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@Helen3 wrote:

What did the host say when you asked for more keys/brought these issues up with them?

"We do not have any other keys at this point,  sorry."  Follow-up messages were generally quick,   but somewhat formulaic and minimal for a superhost.

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@Helen3 wrote:

 in a situation like yours where they can't resolve the situation Airbnb so you can find somewhere most suitable.

In this case,   I landed 7pm,   had a 2 hour journey to the city from the airport,  and had to leave 60-odd hours later after a presentation,  visits,   catching up with collegeues and friends ... relocation is hardly an attractive option in such cases;   moreover,  I think you're a little pollyannish if you believe ABB's support is really going to resolve such a situation-- I've had 2-3 and support has never acted within a reasonable time;  ABB CS appears absolutely unaware of time zones.

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@Helen3 wrote:

What did previous reviews say about the room access issue?

The superhost has about 80 relatively glowing positive reviews.   One recent review which I missed notes the issue;   I read through the rest and didn't see any indication,  thus I remain quite surprised-- I've never seen any situation quite like this,  though I've encountered some shotgun 1BRs listed as 2BRs in China etc etc hijinks.

It's certainly possible that the host has made recent changes or lost a key;  who knows?

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@Helen3 wrote:

Why would you leave a five star review for a listing which according to what you say is misleading ? why not leave an honest one detailing issues with room layout and keys?

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You are correct.    In the end I am probably somewhat forgiving and would tend to leave a positive overall and bring up issues privately with the host if I think they are likely to improve,  and leave low rankings or ABB action for more extreme situations.    Given previous ranking and reviews,  I tended that way here.

I come here to read others' opinions and be influenced by them,  not to hear mine regurgitated,  after all.

After reading the above,   I am inclined to bring the issues up frankly with the host,    see how they respond,   and be a bit more harsh in response if they seem not to get it.

Finally,  my own experience as well as things published here on the forums,   make me tend to conclude that commercial operations have a tendency to be shoddy and not address issues etc.   This was indeed listed as a house but clearly was not,    so a deeper look-see into the host or group may be in order -- in particular,    when things start out with friendly and personable / homey / looks like an individual,   and wind up with cookie-cutter formulaic responses,   my spidey sense starts to tingle a bit;   high tourism destinations seem to crawl with commercial groups trying to look like mom & pops.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Kenneth12  yes, agencies use stock images as a profile picture, it's a well-known thing. People think they are booking from a nice young host while in fact, it's an ugly agency behand it 🙂

It seems you travel a lot Kenneth, every now and then you have some odd-accommodation story to tell 🙂

[Kenneth12]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 : I'll be "in my own bed" about 15 days November and December,   if that.   I think @Kelly149 suggested that about half of ABB's have some sort of notable problem,   experience seems to bear that out,  though most problems are minor or bearable.

Lessee.

Today's host appears to be a *real person* and *whom she claims*.  It looks like her building maintenance enter while she is away,  and attempted to do some wiring work.   There are wires coming out the wall in the kitchen and the lighting doesn't work in there.

She also,  somewhat cutely,   realized (I wrote in advance a few weeks ago 'we are arriving at the airport 9:20pm,   etc,  is it going to work) she had no easy way to get the key to me,  building desk closed,  and had a friend bury the key in a ziplock in a planter outside and send me a video of where!   


(So,  so,  so much better than the French host a few months ago,  whose boyfriend put the key under the doormat and headed ... which got moved by rain ... and found by the building manager ... who chose not to answer their bell at 1am when we got there after flights from I-forget-where ...  oh wait,  that was #DDAY75,   so after the overnight from Portsmouth and a long,  long day ...  I'll let you imagine the further soap opera ...  )

So on this one,  yes,   "agencies" and the like using a stock photo or a front are my bain.   My current host seems to be a *real person* who is renting her apartment while working abroad for a year,  and making some basic mistakes,  somewhat outside her control,  but a reasonable human being who is trying ... I'm about 100x more sympathetic to that than to any kind of commercial operation which can't get its act together.

Finally "since I'm here:"  after showing pictures around,  it seems the lock arrangement (keyed only no latch on both sides for all locks) is normal for a ground-level commercial space where someone opens and locks up... can't be sure,  of course,  though I suppose the city has registration records online somewhere if I really cared;  space may be converted from an office.

[Helen3]

Loved the Pollyanna books @Kenneth12  so I will let your rather patronising response pass.

I am sure the majority of regulars here  won't agree with your analysis of me 🙂

Do I believe Airbnb would have helped you (an experienced superhost) find alternative accommodation when your place clearly wasn't as described .  And would it have been worth it for you for a nearly three day stay. Absolutely. My experience with them when I have needed help has always been prompt and positive.

That doesn't stop me calling them out on issues when I believe they don't have hosts best interests at heart. (sadly all too often).

Perhaps you need to look at how you are selecting listings you stay at.

I say you are an experienced host when you post about your problem stays - because it surprises me  as both an experienced host and frequent travellers that you have so many issues.

[Sarah977]

@Helen3  I'll bet that's the first time you've ever been accused of being a Pollyanna type 🙂

But Kenneth did say he had already had the experience, 2-3 times, of asking Airbnb to relocate him, with them not responding in a time frame that made that possible, so saying you believe Airbnb would have been suitably responsive to that rehousing request doesn't seem too relevant.

[Helen3]

It certainly is @Sarah977 - it made my day and will give my family and friends a real chuckle 🙂

And to give me my dues Ken didn't mention he had been unsuccessful in getting Airbnb to rehouse him twice until he responded to my initial post which I missed after the hilarious Pollyanna comment had me crying with laughter.

I had a problem with a poor listing twice now, so my response was based on personal experiences. Both when I was in a wider party. With the first (no hot water) they helped us find an alternative place that night, with the other (cleanliness and room issues) the following morning.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

Well, @Kenneth12 if half of ABBs have some notable problem, then I've been lucky so far, I stayed at 2 Airbnbs and both were great 😄

[Sarah977]

@Branka-and-Silvia0  I guess it's like when a host has a high turnover of guests- they are more likely to get some bad ones, as well as some bad reviews, it's just the law of averages. I gather that @Kenneth12 travels and stays at Airbnbs extensively, in many places around the world- if he has 30 Airbnb stays a year, it's much more likely that some are going to be not so great (altho half sounds high). I also think that there are some places in the world where hosts are unclear, either by design, or simply because they don't understand how to list, than others. I seem to see a lot of posts here from hosts in India, or other parts of Asia where the host has listed a 10 bedroom hotel all in one listing, then wonder why they aren't getting bookings, or why someone was able to book all ten rooms for 20 guests for the price of a single guest in one room. Have also read here that instructions for how to list a place are not as clear on the site in other languages as they are in English.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

Of course @Sarah977  I was joking about half problematic listings 😄