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...

@Shineynew

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.

The point of allowing reviews is so that people can read them and make their own decisions. I've rejected loads of possible places to stay by reading reviews. Some things don't bother me (like noise from the street outside, or lots of stairs, or an ill-equipped kitchen) and others do (like difficulty contacting the owner, or a crap shower). You have to do the work yourself.

Airbnb are not a like a hotel or an agency with properties. They don't give a shit. They don't have 'clients'. Why do you 'expect' them to do anything?

They are nothing but a website - a profiteering website with zero interest in anyone who advertises or uses their platform, either the property owners or the renters.

You are mistakenly applying ideas from proper companies (like being concerned about their reputation, or having quality control, or safety regulations) and applying them to an internet platform.

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....

Maybe. Who can possibly say?

@MsTSwift
Blimey! How long did you stay for?!

I just can’t support AirBNB, it is shit for anyone who lives in a shared building.

Next time OP, look at Last Minute’s Top Secret hotels. You can find out exactly which one it is by pasting the description into Google.

This weekend I am staying at the Hilton at the top of Kensington High St for £65 per night (double room, Sat & Sun) booked as a Top Secret. I’ve also stayed at numerous other 4* hotels in the nicer parts of London for well under £100 p/n. I actually live only 35m from central London but I have a friend who visits from abroad who likes to have a few nights in the city. I do it all the time and never got a dud yet.

I would never touch an Airbnb because I know a few people who rent out absolute hell holes in London.

@HermanHermit

You’re absolutely right- they remove negative comments. There’s one near me that costs thousands a night and is used for weddings / parties etc. It gets pretty consistent detailed feedback about the poor condition of the house / lack of Basic equipment such as cutlery / major things not working (heating / swimming pool) etc etc. They’re always removed so that overall feedback profile is positive and Air BnB continues to earn its very healthy commission from unhappy renters

Sadly, this is not the case. Air BnB is awful at both ends. I had a group of guests who evidently had a three-day piss-up. They threw up over all the carpets and bathrooms, and made no attempt to clear up. They smoked in the house (even though it couldn't be clearer that smoking is not allowed). They trashed the furniture.

I contacted Air BnB, and they said the guests hadn't violated the property rules (WTF???). As I couldn't provide a photograph of the air thick with cigarette smoke, they couldn't take anything out of the guests' deposits. Carpet cleaning isn't covered. And so on.

I had another guest at another property who left a very bad review because she was pissed off at her own failure to read the instructions I sent her (she admitted this). I complained to Air BnB, and they said, again, that she hadn't broken any of their rules. I said surely lying in a review was breaking a rule, and asked to be passed on to someone higher up the food chain. I have not heard a word since.

This is why I very, very, very rarely let out my properties via Air BnB.

@ComfortablyGlum

Great tip, thank you!

Please read this

www.wired.co.uk/article/airbnb-scam-london

@Wheret0n0w
Yeah, I read that after we stayed. Long but very interesting read

I looked at booking an Airbnb, house looked amazing...I will think again!!! It doesn't help that 2 weeks later the 'fast' response/contact hasn't been in touch

I don't use Airbnb for this reason. For everyone who insists you get luxury apartments on it at a knockdown price, there's a story like this. But there's no comeback. As @ScarlettBlaize said

You are mistakenly applying ideas from proper companies (like being concerned about their reputation, or having quality control, or safety regulations) and applying them to an internet platform.

I would rather pay a proper company to stay somewhere decent. Bet it won't even cost me more.

Tbh YABU because this is true for anything you are renting like this, not just Air&B.

FWIW, if you look at the photos you have a good idea of how small/big, clean/dirty the place is.

Oh wow that’s rank .
I’ve only ever stayed in one air bnb which was in Cornwall and it was lovely .
I will definitely be careful though in future, what a shite hole

I need to book a place for son's wedding. Found one on airbnb. Did the driving licence photo thing. Did the extra photo. Paid through PayPal. All good. Next morning was cancelled as photos do not match. Went on booking,com. Same place £30 cheaper. Nah airbnb isn't for me 🤷‍♀️

Just stay in a proper hotel ffs.

I looked for an AirBnB last year but didn't like some of the T&Cs. I googled the property name and found the company who own it directly, so booked through them and saved a lot of money.

@bootikin
Just stay in a proper hotel ffs
I couldn't afford it, sorry, I'll work harder next time.

Article setting out the issues Airbnb are causing for Edinburgh

Please think about the impact of Airbnb before you book - what makes many cities so special is being destroyed by Airbnb, turning what were thriving residential centres into a mass of short term lets and gutting the character that made you want to visit in the first place.

because endless Premier Inn, Easy Hotels, Travelodge are so much better..

Airbnb is fab, just like anything else, you find anything and everything.

@Bootikin what a ridiculous comment ..

because endless Premier Inn, Easy Hotels, Travelodge are so much better..

Hotel chains don't have such a negative effect on availability of local housing and public services. Most people in Edinburgh's old town live in tenements and they have partcularly lent themselves to being purchased and then let out for Airbnb, reducing the housing available to locals and then impacting on surrounding businesses, which become wholly tourist based with shop after shop of tartan tat. Thus the centre of the town is gutted and becomes a tourist theme park, not a living breathing city.

There is an Airbnb in Edinburgh that is described as luxurious etc, it wasn't it was clearly a student flat let out on Airbnb for the summer. Other aspects of the listing were also just simply false, eg it said the flat had fantastic views of Arthur's seat and Calton Hill - it was a basement flat and so had no views of anything except a dirty stairwell, brick wall and storage cupboard with a broken door and full of crap. One of the photos wasn't even of the flat but of a completely different one. Had broken furniture, etc.

Proof sent to Airbnb with photos etc, nothing refunded. Listing with false description remained unchanged. Complained again via social media, Airbnb said to report it using the report listing feature. Did this but the listing remained unchanged. Unsurprisingly it started to get lots of bad reviews and eventually disappeared from the listings at the end of the summer. Only to appear again the next year as a new listing, identical (misleading) photos, identical (false) description, only change was the name of the host. But of course, as it was a "new listing" there are no reviews, so all the bad reviews had magically disappeared. Reported (again) to Airbnb. No action taken (again). Gave up.

AirBnB is pretty shit in parts of Edinburgh - we live in a small central street (

@buttermilkwaffles

I guess the only thing you can do is not go with Airbnb again. I know I won't. Which is a shame as I've had loads of good experiences with them previously.

I remember your original post about this, @Shineynew.

Scammers rent properties in central London to let on Air BnB/booking.com at a profit. If you do a reverse image search, you may well find the same photos on the site of the agent that originally let the property. They often just steal the photos from the letting agent ad. If I'm right, you could report them to the letting agency. If they are renting, they will be in breach of their tenancy agreement. Even if they own the flat, they will be in breach of the lease. Pretty much all buildings in the area don't permit Air BnB lets.

The scammers use multiple profiles to get round the 90 day law.

The main freeholder in the area (who don't allow Air BnB) is: www.hydeparkestate.com/#content/page/subletting

Or you can look up the freeholder at the land registry.

You can also report them to Westminster City Council (for the multiple profiles to get around the 90 day law).

I won't book on Airbnb. I went to a while ago, but I get such a bad vibe from the whole website I won't do it. I think too many are like this in reality, crappy rentals that are way over priced. Easier to use website where I have a better guarantee of a clean room/house.