To say be VERY careful when booking an Airbnb

[Shineynew]

Just an Airbnb word of warning...
We stayed in one in London lately. Apparently it was ‘newly renovated and chique’ (I think he meant chic).
Anyway - it was neither.It was dirty and mouldy and the sofa bed was broken so I had to sleep on an air bed which kept deflating.
I won’t go into the million and one things that were wrong with this place but fortunately Airbnb refunded us half so we were ok with that...
Ffwd two weeks and the listing is still there. They are still selling this mouldy flat as ‘newly renovated’ and ‘chique’. There is another review after mine saying exactly the same things. I contacted Airbnb who said ‘if we have a number of similar reports we will talk to the lister’. How many people does it take to say the place is a dump before Airbnb will pull it? More than 2 apparently.
And in the meantime, people are still booking it!!
Beware of Airbnb guys especially in London. I’ve attached some photos of this ‘chique’ place for you to judge for yourselves...

Well done Jenasaurus! That one!

But MY page - reached through my log in, is showing my review and OMAR as the host.

The page I got to via your link is NOT showing my review and has a guy called Hicham as the host.

WTAF is going on??

@Shineynew
The illegal short-term lettings market has EXPLODED since Airbnb.

I have occasionally used it, and also regularly book apartments through Booking.com. I've never had a serious problem, but then I do read reviews very carefully and spend a lot of time making my decision. (and cross-reference with other websites, etc.)

If you have £150 a night to spend, just stay in a hotel

reviews of London hotels at that price are not great either

Sorry, that previous post was intended for @JustInCaseCakeHappens . Don't know how it was changed (not by me)

@JustInCaseCakeHappens I'm from London so I've never stayed in a hotel here. However, I have booked probably more than 40 places on booking.com and have never had a notably bad experience.
I've also booked plenty of times through agencies e.g. Original Cottages. It's really not rocket science to tell the difference between the decent places and the shit ones.

No way would I have booked that place reading the airbnb reviews either frankly.

@ScarlettBlaize

Yes, I doubt you ever get anything wrong.

Some of you are proper damn rude aren't you ?

Feel good and big behind a monitor ?

Also, Airbnb is destroying London (and many other cities)

What a load of rubbish

Oh and "I don't know why anyone stays in an Air B&B"

Tough.

I've stayed in several Air bnb's and haven't had a bad experience yet. A couple have been better than I expected.

Sorry you had a bad experience, OP.

Me and DH have been using Airbnb for over 5 years here and abroad. At present we use them about once a month when we visit family (different ones most of the time).

We have never had any problems whatsoever. I make sure I read all the reviews, study the photos and use my common sense.

We always chose "entire place" and they have always been cheaper than even hotels like Travelodge. We like being able to cook if we want to and have a proper living room with, hopefully, a comfortable sofa and not just a bed and uncomfortable chair to sit on to watch tv that you get in hotels

@Shineynew Yes, I doubt you ever get anything wrong.

Course I do. Loads of things. But if I couldn't be arsed to read the reviews of somewhere I was going to stay, I wouldn't try to pretend that was someone else's fault.

@Pinkyyy What a load of rubbish

Great rebuttal of all of the points raised in the Guardian and BBC articles there.

To be honest @ScarlettBlaize I'm not interested in responding to you because you're being so fucking rude

It's gone poof on air B and B but I think this is it?

www.booking.com/hotel/gb/chique-amp-spacious-top-floor-1bed-oxford-st.en-gb.html

@ScarlettBlaize

Maybe I'm naive, maybe I'm stupid. I'll take both of them on the chin.

But I expect Airbnb to take the reviews of their clients seriously and pull places which are not as advertised. Particularly if more than one person has said it.

You are being kinda rude to people on here, it's not really necessary. You can say the stuff that you want to say without telling everyone to STFU and accusing people of stuff. If you met me in real life, you'd probably like me....

It looks like the host has a new account but has listed the same property....tel AIRbnb

It seems like they have taken it down, but there’s a 2nd listing

AIrBnB is just another platform used by owners who already used Homeandaway, booking.com and so many others.

I would take negatives with a pinch of salt when none of the other sites are mentioned..

Shineynew
to be fair, I did report a fake listing once. The listing stayed on for months, that did annoy me a lot.

There are lots of hotels for £150 per night in the area of Oxford Street. Why do air b n b for the same price with nothing added like you get in an hotel. Just odd.

Op that’s nothing. Our first stay was a recently decommissioned care home complete with saggy beds aging decor and pervading smell of wee. The owner was abit mentally ill and regaled us unprompted with over sharing inappropriate stories of her family’s woes. Our girls cried and asked to go home 😁

Yep, looks like the original was taken down after I messaged them a couple of hours ago. But there is a second listing, with a separate host still on there!

www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/33952463?source_impression_id=p3_1583441650_HKJG%2BqTb56zJWUM7

@midsomermurderess

There are lots of hotels for £150 per night in the area of Oxford Street. Why do air b n b for the same price with nothing added like you get in an hotel. Just odd.

It had one bedroom and a living room. It was for me, my mum and my daughter. I couldn't get a hotel with two rooms for that price at all.

There are lots of hotels for £150 per night in the area of Oxford Street.

you really need to read the reviews, these hotels tend to be pretty grim for such a ridiculously low price.