> culminating in a stay where the residence was completely unsuitable for habitation (extremely cold & heating was broken, no linens/towels, mold & damp issues) and airbnb caught us in some sort of bizarro catch-22.
This isn't normal? Unfortunately I've used Airbnb twice and this was my experience both times. Put it down partially to someone else booking it and probably being a bit cheap but yeah I'm just gonna use hotels haha. At least you can point issues out to them in person.
For me Airbnb has a reputation of being the place landlords list the shitholes they can't rent to people normally
I had one bad host experience, with a listing that as far as I can tell just didn't exist. Sent info to airbnb, including screenshots of trying to call the host. Got reimbursed in full in a few weeks. Pretty much what I expected them to do.
Since airbnb is a marketplace, it pays to look at host ratings and reviews, or just filter by superhost. If you pick somebody with 2 reviews that just opened, you have to be aware it's a gamble. It's not necessarily a mistake, depending on context, but a gamble.
This isn't normal? Unfortunately I've used Airbnb twice and this was my experience both times. Put it down partially to someone else booking it and probably being a bit cheap but yeah I'm just gonna use hotels haha. At least you can point issues out to them in person.
For me Airbnb has a reputation of being the place landlords list the shitholes they can't rent to people normally