The Airbnb Nightmare!

Staycation, Vacation, Holiday!! Every time we listen these words, all we can then think of is beautiful views, fun, good food, amazing rooms, lovely stay, Well, we too thought of something exactly the same when we planned to go to Delhi NCR for a few days.

The story starts here. We decided on the dates when we wanted to go and the next thing we did was, started looking at places to stay. We looked at some hotels and since we knew it was going to be a longer stay and would want it to be more comfortable and homely than a hotel, we though of exploring some options on Airbnb!

To our surprise, we found plenty of options on Airbnb in and around the areas we were looking for. After deep research and filtering through a numerous amount of reviews we finalized on an Airbnb. We booked it and thought it to be all sorted and started preparing for the trip, until the day came.

After a 10 hour long journey to Noida, we landed at the Airbnb at around 10:30 pm. We reach the apartment complex and to our surprise we were welcomed with dingy entrance, under construction parking area and a weird vibe altogether. Not to mention, the hollows of the lifts that were to be installed at the parking area which had absolutely no taping or marking of any sorts to caution the visitors.

Unsure and disappointed, we head to our apartment. We opened the lock and entered the place. Our first reaction, WHERE HAVE WE COME? WHAT IS THIS?

That was exactly our reaction. We were shocked. The house was dirty, unkept, the restroom was unclean and unhygienic. The kitchen and all the appliances were filthy and the upholstery and the entire house was not live able.

We called the host of Airbnb and requested him if he can provide us with any other property that is cleaner. He did not have any property available but he also refused to believe that the house was dirty and this was after we had shared the pictures and videos of the house and the dirt. When we asked him that the pictures online are different than they are in real so he very casually said that we enhance the pictures with editing before putting them online.

Well, we knew that we were not going to be living there. We called up Airbnb requesting them for a refund and cancellation of the booking. To our surprise, yes, another one, Airbnb was inclined towards the host more than the customers. While on the call, we decided to leave the place and continue the discussion with Airbnb later.

We started looking for a hotel around and finally got one at 12 am.

And after days and days of back and forth of pictures, videos and all the proofs, Airbnb refunded us the booking amount but we somehow did not have a good experience with the customer service of Airbnb.

Lesson learnt, always have a back up plan!

Love,

Shriya