Since 2013 I have spent more than 200 nights in Airbnb with my family. When it all goes well, Airbnb can be a beautiful thing. But when an Airbnb stay goes wrong, it’s not business, it’s personal.
Here are 17 of the most annoying, bizarre and crazy types of Airbnb hosts we’ve encountered traveling internationally as a family.
The 17 most annoying Airbnb hosts
1.The host that puts the location dot in the cool neighbourhod when they actually live in Dodgyville.
2.The host who tells you their neighbour thinks you stay up too late and get up too early.
3.The host who has no toilet paper in the entire house and charges a hefty cleaning fee.
4.The host who spends 2 hours showing you how their apartment works. Are they waiting for a tip?
5. The host who is engaged in a lawsuit about the construction of the property you’re renting while you’re renting it, and parades a team of lawyers and contractors through for a lengthy argument during your stay.
6. The host who isn’t really comfortable with Airbnb so they keep popping by and saying they forgot something.
7. The host who has rules about energy conservation and shuts down the electricity without advance warning.
8. The host who leaves you a dirty flat and expects you to leave it cleaner.
9. The host who expects you to clean but doesn’t own any cleaning supplies.
10. The host with a fridge full of 3/4 empty condiment bottles.
11. The host – and these can be hipsters with vintage toys and glass bottles or hoarders with stacks of everything – who has so many nicknacks you can’t unpack your toiletries.
12. The host with a dishwasher and a coffee maker and no dishwashing tablets or coffee.
13. The host who says they have two bedrooms without disclosing that bedroom #2 is a living room.
14. French hosts. Just kidding. But not really. Perhaps things are lost in Google Translation and our mid-level French skills. Mostly, it’s because the French have a well-established gite system with its own set of rules, which are different than Airbnb’s. They join Airbnb to make extra cash, but use the other system’s rules when it comes to bedding, cleaning, and room numbers, causing confusion.
15. The host who decides to renegotiate their listed check-in time after you book.
16. The host who asks you to pet-sit after you book.
17. The host who shakes you down for cash for linens. They didn’t mention the extra fee in their description.
Overall, we’ll keep using Airbnb. Our positive Airbnb experiences have included new friends for us and the kids, cold champagne in the fridge, fresh baked bread and jam, and incalculably special travel experiences that come from being enmeshed in a genuine neighbourhood, rather than a hotel district. We just needed to vent a little.
Image: GorillaSushi
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