I sometimes wonder how close attention AIRBNB owners/cleaners pay attention to what guests might leave. I’m pretty sure they check the refrigerator but cupboards? Those leftover boxes of pasta can add up! LOL. We have left things like leftover paper plates, napkins before.
Here’s my current beef which may have been mentioned earlier - it’s been a while since I read this thread. We have a rental next weekend just for 2 nights. Check in is 4pm and check out is 10am. 10am!!! Even 11 is so much better than 10am. For a group to get up, clean up, have a little breakfast can be a lot by 10am.
I’m going to ask this week if it’s possible for us to get an extra hour (or two). I’ll look and see if it’s booked for that night. The listing said they would consider extra hours for an extra fee , but I’ll already be paying a pretty steep fee for 2 dogs so maybe they will just let us have a bit of extra time. I’ll put my nice writing voice on to ask.
While I understand why that is a requirement, I hate this morning rush. The only time a 10 am checkout works for me is when (a) it is Hawaii; (b) only Mr. and myself are in the rental; and (c) we have a morning or an early afternoon flight.
On our Hawaii trip (our first) in Feb, our flight home was not until 9pm. In that situation, we opted to pay extra, I think $60? more, to switch from noon checkout to 4pm checkout. It took a few minutes to convince my husband it was worthwhile to get that extra time, but later he agreed it had been nice to have a last leisurely morning on the beach and plenty of time to pack up after 7 days in same place.
If our flights are not until 9-11 pm, I always pay for an extra night or late checkout if available. The reason I mentioned Hawaii is because of the 2-3 hr time difference. It makes it so much easier to get up very early, have coffee, hit the beach, eat, shower, and get out of the rental by 10 am!
We usually travel with our grandson and nephew so we look for a place that looks like it is more lived in. No white for us! If the pictures look too pristine, we keep looking!
We just had a miserable weekend in two rented condos in a resort. Wi-Fi that didn’t work, cable that didn’t work (but hey, they had 4 big screen TVs), two bedrooms with no curtains, and new kitchen cabinets with no knobs, all made the experience unsatisfactory. Oh, and the pillows were skimpy.
Reviews can be valuable pieces of intel but one thing I’ve noticed after reading tons of them on VRBO & Airbnb, is that people have different levels of tolerance in rentals. There are many people who don’t care a lick about updated living spaces, working TV’s or comfortable pillows - they are simply happy with having someplace to lay their heads at night, and will give a stellar review despite numerous shortcomings that I would notice in the photos of the rental. Other reviews appear to review the location of the rental rather than the actual rental. I noticed this particularly on beach rentals. The rental can be in various states of rundown, but the reviews are 5-star because the beach is a few blocks away.
Another thing I’ve noticed in my own experience with rentals is that those that are marketed by the actual owner tend to be better all-around then those that are marketed by management companies (I tend to avoid the latter if possible, unless the management company has a great reputation). I think the owners care more about the reviews and are more responsive. The agent from a management company has likely never even been inside the rental.
I have tried to be diplomatic in my reviews even when the place is, shall we say, shabby, especially if the owner is helpful and kind. That’s important too. There was one place in SF that was apparently one of the original Airbnb’s and it was, shall we say, funky, but the location was convenient and the owner was very helpful. Then fast forward a year or so later and we needed a place just for a night or 2 and his place had a 3 night minimum. But I was having trouble finding a place that was convenient and not $$$$ so reached out to the owner to ask if he could help us out. He was happy to. Win win. I always worry that if I write a harsh review, even though they aren’t supposed to be able to see it before they write theirs, that it could come back to bite me.
The bookings we have made are always Super Hosts and rate 4.9/5 to 5. And usually lots of reviews.
Another tip is to look and see if the owner has other listings. You’ll get an idea how they value/maintain all their properties. Often there is even a similar aesthetic in their multiple properties
When I book an Airbnb I always look for one that has at least 10 or more reviews and I do tend to book ones with superhosts more. We have an Airbnb next month for the week before Christmas to ski at Mammoth in the Eastern Sierra Mountains. I booked back in September because I needed to find a place that D1 and her fiance could bring their dog. I also wanted a place where we could walk to town to go to dinner or the breweries after skiing. I hope this place has enough plates, coffee cups and silverware. We have breakfast before heading out to ski and also pack our lunches to take with us. I’ll probably make lasagna and take it with us for dinner the first night, but we will eat out the other 3 nights we are there. I hate when there are not enough dishes to at least get through a day.
We recently stayed at a B&B. Booked direct, but they also advertise on AirBnB. Reviewers commented positively about both accommodations and hot breakfast served in the dining room of the inn. Nice photos, showing dining area with buffet. Called a few days in advance to confirm.
Discovered only on arrival they didn’t serve breakfast at the inn, and had not been serving breakfast there on weekdays for the last month. No owner present. Instead, we were told to go to a deli about 2 miles away, and would be served a breakfast at the deli during a one hour window. Arrived the next morning when instructed, and deli cook was miffed because the kitchen would not even be open for another 30 min. Nothing offered to-go (pastries, juice, etc.). HUH?
We requested a partial refund due to incorrect and misleading web information, and told no, because they felt they offered an “equivalent”. Our biggest complaint was that they could have clearly stated any changes on the web, or when we called, so that we could make an informed choice. It definitely felt like “bait and switch”. Would like to share our experience, but because we did not book through AirBnb, there was no opportunity to post there.
We recently stayed in an AirBnB that was a bit shabby, but I thought it was accurately represented as such on the listing so I still gave it a good rating. If it was shabby and represented as super posh I would not like that, but I felt like the listing was accurate and it was cheap so I got what I paid for which was fine. I wasn’t expecting the Ritz. It was pretty clean, just old and had some minor plumbing issues with the upstairs shower that I was aware of going in. Accuracy is the main thing I am looking for.
@kjofkw - We had a similar experience at a b&B recently. Pictures and rave reviews about breakfast. They call us to ask if we want, as guests with “preferential” status, to book dinner with them. Um no, we are there for a wedding. I ask when breakfast is served. Oh- no breakfast. What??? A bed and no breakfast??? And it was $$$$$$. Oh they said they would have a coffee station set up. That turned out to be a cruddy keurig with cheap coffee pods probably from Big Lots. And when they gave us the room key, it was for a different room than I booked. What? Oh, didn’t we tell you? (Nope). our room had a pipe burst and it and the room across were not available. But oh they were “upgrading” us to a room with a king sized bed. Big deal. I saw that room when I looked on line. It was the same price. No “upgrade”. And I had to push for a token refund for no breakfast (we got $15/day back. Big whoop). They tried to give us a discount on dinner. NO! We were there for a wedding. All in all a very bad experience .
I have no problem with taking out trash. I definitely would not do the laundry. I steer clear of a place if there are any mentions in reviews about “too many rules.” That’s a red flag for me.
, but I’ll already be paying a pretty steep fee for 2 dogs so maybe they will just let us have a bit of extra time. I’ll put my nice writing voice on to ask. 
