Cristina L.

I've used Airbnb a couple of times prior to this trip and had some decent experiences, but I will never use them again after this one. I will preface by saying that both my sister and I have traveled the world, been to many different countries and have stayed in hostels many times but never had an experience like this.

We booked a room in a house in New Orleans. The house stated that it was on Frenchman Street for those of you who are not familiar with this area, its a popular destination in New Orleans, lined with bars and restaurants where all the locals go to listen to live jazz music. Unfortunately, Airbnb does not disclose the exact address of the house until the day before your stay, they give you a radius to give you a general idea of where its located. Well, when we arrived at the house it was on the very far end of Frenchman Street, not at all in walking distance to that area as described (nor would it have been safe to walk, day or night, male or female, EVER). It was in a very bad, crime ridden area with bars on many of the windows and doors, and wood paneling covering windows that had been blown out. The house was not at all how it was described in the ad. We stepped outside for a moment to contemplate if it was safe to walk just around the corner to Walgreens, and within a few minutes someone made an attempt to rob us. I will spare the long details of this but luckily we escaped the situation unharmed. When we ran back into the house we discovered that someone left the door to the back patio unlocked. This was a shared space, meaning other guests were staying in other rooms just down the hall. Luckily no one had entered the home from off the street but we feared that if the guests accidentally left it unlocked again, that someone could enter the home in the middle of the night and rob us or worse. Also, there were no locks on our bedroom door, leaving our belongings at risk while we were out exploring the city. I realize that New Orleans suffered awful devastation from Hurricane Katrina and is still recovering and its really sad, but, Airbnb should be more forthcoming about the state of these houses/rooms.

This place was completely misrepresented. It said there was a porch overlooking the yard as well as street and two sets of french doors that open up into Frenchmen Street, letting in plenty of light and allowing for prime people watching. The french doors in the kitchen were bolted shut, and the only view from the porch was a very tall fence that separated the back of the house from the street, we couldnt view the street as stated. In addition, the house was unsanitary. The pillows were stained brown (very brown, spotted, DISGUSTING), the towels that were folded and placed on the bathroom counter were damp and smelled like mold, the toilet wasnt completely bolted down to the ground, etc.

Unfortunately Airbnb has a refund policy that protects them from just about anything. We contacted their customer support line immediately and worked with a case manager in an attempt to get a refund but they refused. They said that they cannot refund due to neighborhood factors, only things pertaining to the house itself; so we sent the pictures of the house and everything inside that was dirty (including those nasty pillows) but they still refused. We were also shocked that there were no reviews about any of these things which leads us to believe that perhaps the negative reviews are being deleted. After the incident I decided to do some more research on the company, and found that other people have experienced the following situations (also without refunds): door locks being broken when you arrive, getting kicked out of the house by disgruntled ex-spouses, cancelling peoples stays hours before their reservation, hosts openly using drugs in common spaces, getting kicked out by HOA reps because the host doesnt have rights to rent, not refunding people who were supposed to stay in Napa Valley during the devastating fires just to name a few. I dont care what their policy states, they should operate by whats right and whats wrong. This company has no moral compass whatsoever. It sounds like just about anyone can qualify to rent their space through Airbnb and misrepresent it in their ad. I would highly advise against using this service.