AIBU to complain about Airbnb with owners' belongings and no storage space?

[Holly247]

So we've arrived at our Airbnb in France and although the place is nice, it feels like we're house sitting. Their clothes are filling all the closets, and the kitchen too, not one cupboard has been left free for our use, they're full of the owners food. There's also food left in the fridge (including a fresh pepper?), and although some shelves have been left free in there, the freezer is choc full! The photos didn't show these areas and surprisingly the reviews are glowing with no mention of this (perhaps because owners can review renters, too?). Am I being unreasonable, and what do I do if anything?

I would assume that any food in an air b&b is fair game and eat it.

1st post nails it. Large welcome basket.

It feels a bit like air BnB encourage this as they’ve had a series of ads around letting out your house when your on holiday. is the owners stuff mentioned in the listing. Have you rented the whole house or just a room with access to the rest?

I've rented the entire house. No mention of the owners stuff at all in the listing. And it sleeps seven and we're a family of four, just as well we travel light.

The Airbnb website is set up so they can't read your review until they've written theirs, so you can be as honest as you like!

Would the clothes fit you? That's only a little step on from eating the food.

That's very cheeky imo. I've had a similar experience, but they had at least made some effort to clear away their stuff.

Definitely mention it in your review. I'd hate that and want to be warned. As a pp has pointed out, the owner won't see your review until they've posted their review of you. So they can't 'get you back' in any way.

We had a similar experience in a French air b n b where the kitchen was left as if someone was returning imminently. Luckily not too clothes lying around but half used toiletries were in the bathrooms

Oh yes there's loads of used toiletries here too! It literally feels like we've broken into someone's house while they've popped out.

😂

This was the point of Airbnb. Stay in someone's actual home. All my best stays have been in actual homes, not managed properties.

And many more countries are now legislating about how many days a year you can Airbnb a property, and it has to be a main residence. No idea if that's the case in France.

They should probably have made a bit more space for your things but I wouldn't expect a vacant holiday-let style property from an Airbnb.

I hope you're in the right house :)

More seriously I agree with the PP who said this is how AB&B was supposed to be and it's a good thing it's getting back there.

I would, and do, use the toiletries too. I’d assume they, and the food were left for people to use.

I had this experience also in France. The owners left a note just asking if we ate the freezer food could we please replace. Everything else was ours.

I think there’s an option on the listing for the owner to specify whether it’s their home or a holiday let. I had a similar experience in the UK - the family were clearly keen photographers as there were multiple pics of their kids covering the walls, which was a bit disconcerting.

I checked the listing and saw that they had in fact listed it as a family home rather than a holiday let. I think they should have made it clearer in the listing however the extent to which it was full of their own stuff etc.

I have just checked the listing and there's no mention of it being their home. Says the letting is the entire house. The fridge is plastered on all sides with family snaps, and they are frames on walls as well. I think the problem is expectations, I feel like I have been deliberately misled, as all the photos on the listing have avoided showing any of this clutter and their personal effects, they have been quite clever in the bits they have shown and what they haven't! And no notes left or anything to say 'help yourselves to x,y,z' etc I think that would have helped. I don't want to touch or use anything they have left as it's not clear if we're meant to or not! Just wondering if it's a cultural difference with us being upright Brits and the French owners won't see any issue at all!

Perhaps suggest they make it clearer it’s a family home.

i rent my whole house out and mark it as such. I’d feel so upset if people were rummaging through my clothes or using my toiletries out of what seems like spite with some of these posters rather than necessity.

They’ve made space in the fridge for you.

I don’t like turfing me and the kids out to let strangers sleep in the house but needs must with the cost of living crisis.

Isn't that what AirBnB is supposed to be? People renting their home/room short term while they don't need it. I know holiday let business types use it too, but I thought that's why it came to being in the first place.

I don't use them except for the odd night, but I don't think this is unusual.

Edited for a depressing no.of typos.

Yes as a PP said, this is supposed to be the point of Air BNB. The fact that lots of people are treating it as a place to list holiday cottages, rentals etc (and ruining towns and villages in the meantime) doesn't take away from the origins of the site. These people might have been using it for years to let out their home while they're on holiday themselves and have no idea that people these days expect a professional holiday cottage letting service that is now no different to Booking dot com or elsewhere.

Yes, isn't that exactly what AirBnB was set up for?

This is old school AirBnB before commercial “hosts” turned AirBnB into an alternative to hotels, buying up homes simply for holiday lets.

And in the process ruining the atmosphere and feel of places by turning them into holiday resorts rather than places where people live.

Quite a lot of towns in France prohibit this use of AirBnB but letting the home you live in while you’re away is still allowed. And it’s what AirBnB was set up to do. It’s why AirBnB can be cheaper than hiring a dedicated holiday rental.

Yes this is old school air bnb.
I did borrow a coat once when weather ended up being 10 degrees colder than expected.
Our fridge was cleared though, and owner had done her best to hide stuff.

I agree with pp that this is what AirBnB is supposed to be! AirBnB comes from AirBed and Breakfast because the idea was homeowners could stick an airbed in their living room and rent it out to conference go-ers in San Fransisco when hotels were oversubscribed and/or too expensive. I first used it about 15 years ago and stayed in many people's spare rooms, which was a wonderful way to meet new people when I was travelling and get an insight into how the locals live. I also stayed in some self-contained properties but these tended to be where the occupant had left to stay with a friend or partner whilst I was there. In those cases wardrobes, cupboards and fridges were all full of their stuff, but it was normal to leave a shelf on the fridge clear and some spare coat-hangers in the wardrobe.

A few years in it became more common for holiday homes to be advertised, and it was a good way to get a bargain for a self-catering property where you could expect fridges and wardrobes to be empty, and then prices crept up and I'd say it's now at the more expensive range of the self-catering market with most properties being whole-property holiday lets. I no longer use it because if I'm paying premium prices I want the consumer protections that AirBnB tries to wriggle out of. It sounds like you've lucked out and found someone still following the original ethos! I hope you got a bargain.

This is why I would never do air BnB . Amongst other people’s stuff 🤢