What is Your Definition of an “Entire Place”?

[James1155]

I’ve copied a letter sent to the owners of a property where I had booked a reservation (https://abnb.me/aQiw7YyvJX 6) based on it meeting the criteria of an “entire place” as defined by Airbnb’s own website. I’d be curious to hear other opinions as to what it takes for a property to be marketed as an entire place given the apparent subjectivity of the definition.

Letter sent to Airbnb and property owners:

The following is a recap of my recent complaint against the Airbnb rental property run by Corey and Kayla. Airbnb representatives have been contacted but have yet to issue a refund or force the owners to stop marketing their unit as an “entire place”.

1. Upon performing a recent Airbnb search on properties in Scottsdale, AZ and using the “entire place” filter, I completed a booking for the property run by Corey and Kayla which represented that the wing of the house used for the rental was properly partitioned off to provide “total privacy”. When I went to I check in, the owners had run retractable room dividers from the front door to the airbnb rental “suite”. Because the dividers were only about 5 feet high, any access to/from the suite involved having to walk through a hallway which was for all intents and purposes a shared space with the owners. A recent review of their property pointed out the fact that they felt that they were being watched given the odd setup of the space. Despite alerting Airbnb to the situation and pointing out that the space did not meet the definition of an “entire place” based on the standards outlined on their own website, Airbnb has refused to intervene and had allowed the owners to continue to market their property without modification.

2. Based on the owners profile as of yesterday which looks like has since been modified, they currently have two separate listings for the exact property at different price points. When I pointed this out to Airbnb and offered the theory that Corey and Kayla may have created a new listing after receiving a bad review related to privacy concerns, they refused to intervene.

3. The owners have a dog on the property which greeted us upon check in. While it was on the other side of the janky divider, anyone with pet allergies would be in for an unexpected surprise since the owners failed to provide this information in the listing.

While the owners can and have argued that they have not misrepresented the information found in their listing, the simple fact is that if they didn’t think that the partition setup was a potential negative to renting the unit they would have included pictures of the dividers in the listing. Instead, in my opinion, they have gone out of their way to present the unit as something that is definitely not. My hope is that Airbnb will reconsider their stance on this and issue a refund and censure the owners for what appear to be fraudulent actions.

[Marie82]

@James1155  

Ouii James, I think you are a little bit over the top when you reach the apartment and the place and saw this setting was not convenient and what you expected why u did not call ABB to be relocated?

Did u wait till your end your trip to make the refund claims?

I think you are making it too personal 

[James1155]

Hi Marie, as soon as I entered the property via keypad I saw that it did not adhere to their description and immediately left and filed a refund request.  

I believe the owners purposely left information out of the listing which would have been helpful such as pictures of what they considered an adequate partition setup.  I guess when I think of a "partition" I envision something similar to a hotel where they have doors on a track system capable of completely dividing a space.  In this case I felt that 5 ft. room dividers were not sufficient to upgrade a listing from a private room to an entire space.  While the home was nice, when I checked the box in Airbnb's search engine for an entire place I expected more privacy.  What if the owners had put out orange traffic cones to separate the space?  Would that have been sufficient to market the unit as an entire space in your opinion? 

[Jennifer464]

James - I'd take it as a lesson for your future bookings.  Their listing as I see it meets the criteria for "entire space" as defined by Airbnb. For future bookings, you cannot stay in the home AND ask for a refund. If you stayed, you have to pay. 

[Anonymous]

@James1155  This is how Airbnb describes the home types in their policy:

• Entire place: Guests have the whole place to themselves. This usually includes a bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchen.
• Private room: Guests have their own private room for sleeping. Other areas could be shared.
• Shared room: Guests sleep in a bedroom or a common area that could be shared with others.

I agree that the setup you describe is odd. If the partition was low enough that the hosts could see into your "private" space, and this wasn't clearly disclosed in their listing, you had good reason to report this as a Travel Issue and receive a refund.

However, if the partitioned area contained a bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen that were exclusively for guest use,  then listing it as an Entire Home isn't in any clear violation of the terms (which are purposefully vague, and generally at the host's discretion). If the listing has several reviews claiming the property is misrepresented, and the host is losing money on cancellations, they're likely to make some changes without Airbnb needing to censure them.

[Susan151]

@James1155 The space is now listed as an Entire Guest Suite, which is probably more accurate than Entire Place.

[Maureen76]

I believe the owners were pulling a fast one on AirBnb. To have a dinky 5 ft retractable curtain is really a lack of dedication. Entire place is ENTIRE PLACE, sharing a space with 4 walls with anyone besides your party, folding curtains or whatever is NOT the ENTIRE PLACE. Being too personal Marie28??? I think not, If one is allergic to animal dander it's very personal.

I would not have checked in (however that may be easier said than done). AirBnb should take action on these people who missrepresent the listing. How is anyone going to have faith in a listing when this is allowed to continue