To be unhappy with noisy abnb

[Anna713]

I am currently staying in a very nice villa in Portugal with two other couples. The villa is comfortable. It is near a railway station so I expected some noise from trains etc. However there his extensive work on the railway line literally outside our window which goes on all through the night. The digger and machinery noise is incredible and most of us have not slept well at all. The owner was very apologetic when we arrived and provided earplugs. She says she did not know the work would be taking place. (Obviously she knew enough on advance to buy the earplugs!) The owner said she had urgent business in Lisbon and disappeared there for a few days.

To make matters worse we had agreed a late checkout as we have a late flight. We have been told this morning that the owner now has another booking and we have to leave at 11am.

The others in my party are disappointed but not too bothered but I am fuming. I did not book this holiday myself and I dont want to upset my friend who did book it. My husband says to leave it and there's nothing we can do anyway but am I being unreasonable to be fuming? I am doubting my own judgement.

It’s annoying but you didn’t book it so you can’t complain
just focus on enjoying the time you have even if it hasn’t been great

Has the owner got somewhere you could leave your stuff so can enjoy your last day?

You are right holdthepineappleextracheese. We have enjoyed the holiday in spite of the noise but I just hate people not being honest with me.

The owner reluctantly said we can leave our luggage in the hall. I hope she will let us use the bathroom! I think I'll just use the toilet anyway and she can complain all she likes.

Obviously she knew enough on advance to buy the earplugs!

She could have found out that morning and nipped to the chemist before you got there. That's hardly a lengthy job! At least she was apologetic and has tried to do something to help. It's annoying and not great, especially about the check out, but you're being a bit OTT to be "fuming".

It probably is last minute. Our road was dug up last week within 12 hrs notice due to heating pipe issues. We have no guests in our holiday let right now, but if we did there really is nothing I can do about the noise.

I mean I probably would offer a discount, but it does seem unfair I am penalised for something I didn’t arrange, and guests would have booked months ago. And it’s not like it’s in my actual property or a fault on mine

I would leave it. You enjoyed holiday. Go have a nice cafe/ restaurant lunch and toilet breaks later today.

I agree, it could be emergency works or even planned with poor notice (it happens). While it's definitely not ideal at all they've tried their best to be helpful.

With regards to the late checkout, if you haven't paid extra for this then a paying customer should come first. It's unlikely she can afford to turn down the income at the moment. Again, way less than ideal but look at alternatives like lockers at the railway station for example. How would you feel at the next people staying? What if a group of people just wandered in while you were staying to collect their stuff and use the toilet in a place you'd paid to rent?

Maybe you're right pencreed. I dont want to be fuming, I want to enjoy what's left of my long awaited holiday and I dont want to spoil it for my friends. I won't be leaving a good review though

Thanks for the comments. I appreciate the feedback. Like I said, I didn't know if I was being unreasonable or not. We have looked at lockers at the railway station but its quite a distance and very hot here atm. My husband is older and I already have airport assistance for him. I really can't trail him about too much. Especially when it's hot.

I would be annoyed about the change to the checkout arrangements if it was formally agreed, but I really don't think the railway works are her fault! If you are going to stay that close to a railway line, it is a risk you take.

We back onto a railway line and never have any notice about works being carried out.

I also don’t think it’s really acceptable to give them a bad review regarding train line works.

yes you can say you pre arranged late check in which wasn’t then possible which is their problem. But you can’t leave a negative review on a property about something not in their control.

One negative review can really bring their overall rating down. I think on air B and B it’s actually in the conditions when you leave review that says you should only review the property and host, you can’t complain there’s a lack of bakery nearby or noisy road for example. Especially if as you say, it does accurately show on booking it’s location is next to a trainline. They aren’t deceiving you

The work on the line is all along the long railway line though. They must have known surely. Its major work replacing all the line from what I can see and it only takes place at night to avoid disruption to the trains. Having said that they are hammering away right now since 2 PM this afternoon. You need earplugs to sit in the garden. And the villa was expensive too!

To be honest I would be focusing on enjoying the holiday. As others have said the works could have happened unexpectedly so you cannot hold that against the host. She could have easily nip to a shop to pick up that day.

As you did not book you do not entirely know what the story is with the late check out. Unless they have it in writing and paying for late checkout then I would not expect the owner to delay check in.

I do not really think that you should be leaving a review. The person who made the booking should as they know exactly what the terms and conditions of the booking is.

What do you mean ‘they must have known surely’?

I come from Spain where you NEVER get notified in advance of any maintenance or building work happening on your street, let alone on the railway. Of all the countries I’ve lived in, only in the UK and Germany have I seen these notices of nearby work / building / maintenance, days or weeks in advance.

In Spain, you just wake up and find the building site up, or suddenly get woken up by loud drilling on the railway (I used to live close to one). You also don’t ‘see it coming’ because they seem to hop from one stretch of railway to another, a bit at random so you never know if you’re next or it’s three towns over that gets picked for the next step.

Unless it’s going to affect on-street parking, or your water supply, the council is not legally required to tell you of anything even if it causes noise or disruption.

I can imagine it’s much the same in Portugal. Before leaving a negative review for something that’s out of the owner’s control, perhaps you can educate yourself on the customs of other countries and not just assume everywhere functions like the UK does?

Also, how will you leave a negative review if you didn’t book the Airbnb yourself? Surely it’s the friend who booked the villa who will be invited to review after the stay is complete?

For bathrooms - use a restaurant’s, a shop’s or go to the train station. Unless you paid extra for a late check in, you can’t complain they’ve now got paying customers they need to welcome on that day.

We are Central Europe, as above, we only get alerted with 24hrs notice if it affects us ie we can’t drive in or out of our driveway so would have to park elsewhere the night before. Otherwise they definitely do just rock up at 7am with the jackhammer

A particular favourite of mine was the 2 years ago when we drove home from hospital with 24hr old baby, to find we have to park 2 streets away and walk home with tiny newborn in arms, stitches and baby stuff. Our driveway and road was then dug up for 6 weeks, so that was wonderful trying to nap or get newborn to nap.

We did have the late checkout agreement in writing, although we have not paid extra. The holiday has been postponed since the beginning of covid and the owner was most anxious that we did not cancel so was happy to be flexible. She offered the late checkout, we did not ask.

I take on board your comments about customs being different outside of the UK. Although I do not see the need to be condescending EileenGC.

I do not think it is unreasonable to be upset about the amount of noise we have had to put up with when we have looked forward to a quiet holiday for so long. Or to be miffed about the offer of a late checkout being withdrawn with little notice. However, I won't leave any review is probably the best option. I pity the people staying in the villa after we leave though. I hope they dont mind staying nextdoor to a building site.

In the UK works and closures to the railway are planned years ahead. I bet they are in Portugal too. Especially a line replacement.

I hate noise and would be fuming too OP.

We complained about noise in an Airbnb once. They wanted proof of the noise! So get recordings in. They did refund us 25% or something similar I think. They were very fair about it. I did have acknowledgement in writing from the host that he knew about it and forgot to tell us though

If you didn’t book it you can’t leave a review can you?
the late check out is annoying but they E probably lost a lot of money over the last 2 years & didn’t want to turn down a booking

How is leaving a negative review now - which will be published a couple of days later - going to help customers staying there in the next few weeks? Most of those will have already booked. Realistically, it will be read by people wanting to book later on, it will stay on their profile for months and years, by which point the work will probably be done and the noise gone. It’s completely understandable to be annoyed at the unexpected noise and disruption to the holiday, but what really is condescending is thinking that leaving a negative review is going to help matters somehow. It will only cause further loss of income to the owners. Complain, but don’t take it out on them and put off potential customers. I don’t know, maybe I’m just too nice but there’s not much that would be achieved by making a fuss, in this particular situation.

@CottonSock of course they’re planned in advance. Doesn’t mean residents get told about them though. Is it that hard to comprehend that other countries do things differently or indeed don’t do them at all?

You can hardly blame the noise disturbance from the railway maintenance on the host! I get that you are fed up but it isn’t her fault. What do you want her to do?

The check out change is a pain but what has she said? Just tough luck?

Well, I've had a nice lunch and a few drinks so I'm feeling more philosophical now. Must be the Portuguese wine ! We are going out for a nice meal tonight and I intend to enjoy the rest of our long awaited holiday. Thanks to everyone for your feedback

The poor woman won't have been informed in advance. As pp stated, we're lucky to be considered in the UK.

@EileenGC of course I can comprehend it, did you mean to be so patronising.
I was responding to the Op and I work on infrastructure projects like this. It's Portugal, not timbuktu.

And a quick Google will tell you about the Portuguese government rail investment plan.. I'll just add that replacement of a rail line is a major investment, not day to day 'roadworks'.