AIBU to raise concerns about an Airbnb after kind hosts helped us?

[Bunnyfuller1]

So..we booked an AirBnB near Nimes. Our wonderful Ryanair flight was delayed 2 hours, which was then a domino effect to getting out of the airport to where we were collecting our car. The hire place closed 5 minutes before we got there, despite me pleading with them and updating them all the time.

i had been in contact with the AirBnB owner since before the holiday and he had asked me to keep him updates to our arrival time. When I had updated him with our situation he immediately offered to collect us from the railway station, and offered us dinner. An absolute gem, we are so grateful. We sorted our car out the next day, so all good there.

The problem is the AirBnB itself - it’s a small gite attached to the owner’s house. The grounds are very neglected with stuff everywhere. The advertised aircon is actually one portable air conditioner with a pipe taped to the door to vent. The owner has given us a couple of fans which make it possible to sleep Everything is very tired r unfinished or needs repairing. Bedside tables are plastic chairs.

Theres a pool which is very cloudy, and again everything around it is unkempt. The cherries on the cake are their 2 labradors which they mostly keep control of, but they take into the pool twice a day.

We are really torn - owners are so welcoming and nice (a bit too chatty sometimes) but we’ve never stayed in an Airbnb like this before and as much as I like dogs, I’m not overly keen on swimming in water that two huge labs go in.

What to do - if the hosts were any different we would immediately speak to them and Airbnb and hopefully get moved to something better, but (I know, grow a pair) I’m really feeling bad and ungrateful over speaking to them. DH is fully for raising our issues, it’s me feeling awful.

what to do, dear MN, and if we were to raise it, how….

To be quite honest they’re running a business and charging as such. Things like dogs in the pool would piss me off and broken bits of house eg definitely run down and inadequate air con would irritate me too. France has been unusually hot this spring summer so they’ve had more than enough time to sort out proper air con.

The saving graces is they were very nice collecting you from the airport and doing other things.

I don’t stay in Giles in France only French air b n b (nothing like this set up!) and with friends who have houses there which they’ve had residential courses in plus when my parents had a holiday home they let family and friends stay there. Everything re the latter was/is perfect from the pool if they have one down to the houses. Maybe it’s a French thing but as I said 2 air b n bs in Brittany and Normandy and various apartments in Paris have been nothing like the gite in OP. Once when I got a cheap air b n b in Paris near the Eiffel Tower it couldn’t have been more professional.

If you leave an honest review it’ll help others considering staying there.,

The thing is, if you research carefully and set your criteria to reflect what you want, it’s disappointing when the reality doesn’t match your expectations or the photos.

You pay good money. I think you should be able to comment on the negatives.

If everyone just left it it’d be a sad state of affairs. If I was running an air b n b I’d appreciate honesty more as well as nice comments about hosts going above and beyond. With that at least they have chances to improve. My parents with their holiday home never charged apart from utility bills and they had a visitors book with comments which were all perfect - but they didn’t let it out to tourists.

Definitely. As long as it’s honest and backed up with comments about above and beyond hospitality. Suppose some guests are allergic to dogs, dog hair and slobber in the pool could set off these.

What were you expecting from the reviews and photos?

Even if the hosts weren’t lovely, I’m not sure what grounds you have to complain and get moved without just making another booking? Nothing about what you’ve said seems outside the realms of normal for an Airbnb.

Does it say the pool is shared. I love dogs but don’t want to share pool water with them. Grim. Ask them to stop if it is described as your pool.
or move.

"We cannot praise the hosts enough for their incredible kindness. When our flight was severely delayed and we missed our car rental, the host offered to pick us up from the station and even offered us dinner—they are truly warm, welcoming, and helpful people.
The accommodation itself is a small gite attached to the main house, but we found it to be quite tired, unfinished, and in need of some maintenance and tidying around the grounds. The advertised air conditioning is a single portable unit vented through a door, though the host did kindly provide fans to help keep us cool. The pool area is also quite unkempt and the water was cloudy during our stay. Potential guests should also note that the hosts' two lovely Labradors use the pool twice a day, which might not suit everyone.
Overall, an unforgettable level of hospitality, but the property itself requires some TLC and updating to match the listing description."

As for expectations of Airbnb in France I think it can depends on what you paid and what was advertised. Remember Airbnb isn't a holiday letting compant but a platform for individuals to rent out spaces to sleep - it can be anything from an airbed in someone's living room to a very high spec private apartment.

Nimes has lots of hotels and professionally let apartments, seems like you chose badly TBH. I tend to use hotel or professional apartment companies as I do not want to share my holiday with owners or their animals.

I would leave a review. I would feel bad as the owners have been very nice, but you’re paying for the accommodation not the owners, and it sounds like it doesn’t match the photos. I once went to an Airbnb which was filthy and awful, no one would have been happy to stay there and the grime on the doors (including what looked like poo stains on the bathroom one) had clearly built up over months. But it had no bad reviews so other people will continue to book and then be disgusted like I was. That was an extreme place, but I think people need to start leaving factual honest reviews like they would for a hotel or others will also waste their money on a bad experience

I think you need to leave a pleasant review mentioning how kind and welcoming the hosts are, but with pictures showing the state of the place

Dogs being allowed to swim in a murky pool is NOT what is expect when booking.

As an Airbnb host I couldn't agree less. Don't charge people to stay if you can't make the accommodation clean, safe and welcoming. It doesn't have to be luxurious or fancy but there are basic minimum standards. Reviews are vital, and I don't agree OP should leave a 5 star. Leave 3 stars for the accommodation with a positive message about the hosts. People booking the accommodation in future won't thank you for a misleading review.

I think people here have little experience with Airbnb. Choosing accommodation in someone else's home is completely different to choosing ( and rating) a hotel.

A hotel runs on a business model and Airbnb runs a private hosting platform.

You need to be very clear when you book to stay with hosts in their home that not everything may be to your exact taste.
An Airbnb is much cheaper than a hotel for a reason. You have a right to expect a decent place to sleep in the location you want, but it's unrealistic to expect to be as comfortable as you would be in a starred hotel.
Sometimes on Airbnb the accomodation is extremely basic and sometimes you get an unexpected extras that a hotel would never offer ...like the hosts collecting you from the airport, offering you dinner and being very friendly and helpful.

I don't think hotel chains and Airbnb are comparable really and so you should keep that in mind when you review. If your review is even slightly negative it's not going to slightly affect the percentage rating of an anonymous franchise or chain. It's going to have a direct effect on the kind people who went out of their way to pick you up from the airport.

Just don’t leave a review, that’s the easiest thing to do.
I know this may be weird but two huge Labradors swimming in the pool with me twice a day would make it the best holiday ever!

How would one do due diligence on whether dogs use the swimming pool?

But it’s an Airbnb, not a hotel? And presumably the price / listing reflected this is a family pool used by dogs (which I also think is gross tbh, but I just stay in hotels).

It's revolting whatever you pay for it unless it's your own pool / sole use in which case don't charge others to use it.

The problem is that for some reason, a lot of guests leave ratings of 4 or 5 despite the Airbnb not being particularly good. That was our experience the last couple of times. We were honest & rated them ‘3’. In terms of facilities and cleanliness they were just not up to Airbnb standard and it was really irritating that others had left such positive reviews, which were misleading and without which, we would not have booked. We are seasoned Airbnb veterans of over 12 years so have experienced a wide range from poor to excellent.

No way would I tolerate a dog in a pool I used on holiday. I would have to say something asap, as it would be unusable for me. Gross.

If the photos were different to the Airbnb photos, I’d say this in my review. The dogs thing is revolting. The clutter is unacceptable. So they are nice people, but they’re happy for you to pay for a cluttered hire and swim in a dirty pool?? Not so nice.

I’d ring Airbnb and see if they can move you. This is not typical of French gites we have stayed in…

But it will also prevent people hiring this dirty, cluttered, badly maintained gite and feeling scammed…

You’re not doing them any favours by doing what most people on this thread are suggesting. You’re doing yourself a favour so you can feel like a ‘nice’ person. But a really nice person would be honest, tell them the issues and complain. They might hate you for it but it might make them realise, improve their business and actually make good money/ be successful

Let it go.

Also a host - agree with the above

The owners were kind to pick you up, but this does not make up for misleading photos or the place being a state

If it’s truly misrepresented, Airbnb will move you if you contact them

Sorry, but your view of Airbnb is very outdated. Many properties advertised on Airbnb are independent apartments, villas, cottages etc. which are run as established businesses. It is not just a platform for advertising a room in someone's house any more. There is a huge range in the type and standard of accommodation on offer, from very basic up to luxury, and price varies according, with high end accommodations costing much more than a 5 star hotel, and offering a very high level of comfort and luxury that goes with that.
Personally we only book properties on Airbnb which match our particular requirements, and which have a 5 star guest rating based on a lot of reviews, and where possible I try to cross reference with reviews from other sites. But you really do have to read the reviews to try to get a feel for what other people enjoyed about a place. If a property does not match expectations, as in the OP's case, then you have every right to leave an honest, factual review which will help other guests make an informed decision about whether it is right for them.