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?

Agree that is is how it was supposed to be until recently.

Now they’ve changed all the rules (so you need fire doors and safety certificates) it tends to be more like holiday lets. Then people expect that high standard.

I can’t work out if it’s a good thing or a bad thing but we won’t air BnB our house any more due to the new rules.

I think that’s the risk when you rent an air BnB - it could well be someone’s house and hence have their things there. All you can do is mention it in the review.

Scran the lot then put up a brilliant review saying the owner left you loads of food 😀

I stay in a lot of AirBnB and have only had one which was full of family stuff, clothes, toys, food, toiletries. I think you've been a bit unlucky but it is how AirBnB used to be.....a decade or so ago......

This is why I stopped Air bnbing our home when we went on holiday - I’d clear the bedrooms of clutter & leave an empty fridge but leave our clothes in usual place. Had a couple of jackets stolen, people helped themselves to our booze - just irritated me in the end and anytime I misplaced anything I’d wonder if it had been pilfered til it turned up. The whole original premise was that you get the “home” experience but became more of hassle than it was worth to host. Final straw was a family of 4 turned out to be a large group of teens who threw a 3 day party…not done it since. Most were great but some ignored the fact it was a family home and treated it like a holiday let

I used to Airbnb my spare room, and occasionally the whole house. When I did that I cleared fridge space, cupboard space, and to be fair I only included the spare room which was already set up for Airbnb and my DS' room didn't stop some guy sleeping in my bed one time and leaving his boxers on my bedroom floor and made sure the living room was tidy and spotless.
I absolutely listed it as my family home with the price to match and nobody was ever shocked by that. It sounds like they have not actually bothered to make it guest ready. It's not the same as letting friends stay there when you're away - paying guests should expect a certain level of attention given to the house for their comfort.

Even if it is old school Airbnb I think it’s disingenuous if the photos are deliberately misleading. I would take photos to file a complaint later. Also, if there are zero cupboards available, I would happily empty a couple en masse.

Sounds like a house swap. Are you sure they haven’t gone to yours?😂

Because it’s absolutely naive to think you could trust a stranger. Just because they paid? What are you basing this random, off the street person among your home and prized possessions.

Aside from the ice cube tray, who uses a freezer in holiday accommodation?

I could be completely wrong, but I always assumed that, unless it's a professional host, you are temporarily staying in someone's home. It would be nice if they left you some closet space and emptied the fridge, but it's hardly going to ruin the holiday, is it? If you're worried, send a quick message saying there's no room in the fridge/freezer for your food, so you're binning anything perishable and storing the rest on the side/in a cupboard for them. As far as clothes, unless you're staying for a month or more, it's not really hard to live out of a bag, taking out what you need for the next day.

I concur with this, and in France my stays have tended to be in houses with the owners present. It’s also why I don’t Airbnb our UK home, because people’s expectations are completely different from how Airbnb was originally set up. I only let people I know use it, and with the understanding it’s still our home. The house has books, toys, phone chargers etc and I leave loo roll, tampons, cotton wool and all the usual toiletries for people to use.

That said, I have left a wardrobe and chest of drawers clear, as well as fridge etc.

Well, yeah, that was the original premise and it worked for a time. Air bnb vets people (not full proof) and is quick to compensate in my experience (the party) And the families with kids were perfect guests who left it as they found it, and were very complimentary. I don’t mind people using my stuff and having a nosey, but if I were to do it again I’d have locks on everything I didn’t want to be touched or I’d ensure I was there too. Its a rogue few that ruin it for the rest. I don’t think that’s naivety

Some friends and I stayed in one like this for a weekend in the UK. It was a very big and expensive house and immaculately tidy, but yes, fridge and freezer contained food and all the wardrobes in the main rooms had clothes in. Bit weird but it wouldn’t have occurred to us to complain.

You can usually tell from listings which properties are holiday properties and which are family homes, I think. A lot of people rent out their home on Airbnb while they’re on holiday.

That's nothing! In a not very well known Eastern European republic I was in a few years ago, not only were clothes and food still there but medication, toothbrushes were still next to the sink and hairbrushes etc were on the dressing table. The young man who met me and my husband took us to the flat and it looked like he removed his grandparents for a few days!

If you didn’t want to rent someone’s family home then why are you using AirBnB? As many others have mentioned, that was and technically still is the actual intention of the website. Unfortunately it’s been overtaken by property management companies and “professional” landlords. I find this an utterly bizarre thing to be complaining about, and even more bizarre to say you feel misled!

I think @Holly247 OP is getting a few unfair comments here. Whilst I think we all get that when Airbnb started, you were letting a room in your house, or your whole house with all that came with it, but when a vast percentage of the "entire property" adverts are now just empty-ish properties for the letting market (they are also on booking.com), then there is an expectation that you are going to get just that, especially if photos have sort of indicated that. I love Airbnb and have had some fab ones, even with quirks (like the washing machine has to drain into the toilet) and yes, sometimes there are helpful things in the cupboards (salt, pepper, dishwasher tablets and so on, kids games). But latterly, they have been more like an apartment let. The wording should have been clearer. Not sure there is anything you can do (or would want to do) in this instance, other than to chalk it up from an experience pov.

Have you got the owner's contact details. I suggest getting in touch and ask them to sort the situation out for you.

I do. I'm a Coeliac. Otherwise, families, folk on a budget, people with other dietary requirements or preferences... We are not all the same,

Binning their food sounds very rude and disrespectful.

There are a few shelfs free at the family fridge - which sounds similar to a space which would be available in an empty under counter fridge.
If the OP really wants to use a freezer, they can send a message asking to empty one shelf there, but unless freezer was offered in the listing, it's ok that it is full.

Sounds like a simple mismatch of expectations - in France the Airbnb is either someone's primary residence let for limited number of nights in a year or an object with a special permission turning it fully commercial, essentially a mini hotel.