Most Airbnb Rentals go perfectly. Here’s two that did NOT.
If you’re from the Midwest, or lived in the Midwest, or have family in the Midwest — you’ve likely heard of the term #MidwestNice. Midwest Nice is probably best described as having negative thoughts or feelings, but not saying them directly in lieu of kindness.
What the heck does this have to do with Airbnb rentals, you say?
In the last year, I’ve had two so-so Airbnb rentals, and DAMMIT! My Midwest Nice got in the way of me leaving honest feedback on them. Now here, months after each rental, I still kick myself for not a) asking for some portion of my money back, and b) leaving an honest (and more important – detailed!) review of the rentals.
What was so bad, you ask?
Here’s the scoop from my point of view as a person who expects the bare-minimum basics when renting from Airbnb, VRBO, Homeaway or any other site:
Cleanliness. Sorry, it’s a deal breaker if the rental is dirty or if there are insects present. Our recent trip to Costa Rica in December was during the end of the rainy season, so I totally understand if there is a mosquito or insect in the rental. What I find pretty unacceptable is bugs smashed on all walls (like previous renters decided to kill them with their hands and the owner never cleaned up the dead bodies :)) and ants on every surface (from the large hole in the screen door).
The kicker for me mentally, was that we rented this room to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in, and it wasn’t giving me all-the-holiday-vibes. My husband and I quickly jumped on the internet (mind you, it’s 4pm and you don’t want to drive in CR at night) and searched for any hotel rooms in an hour vicinity with 4 star+ reviews. Thankfully, we found a blessing of a place – Heliconias Nature Lodge – where we spent two lovely nights with the most welcoming staff and adorable kittens. I would recommend to anyone staying in Arenal, CR, to check this place out!
Moral of the story on this one: we spent 2 hours in the AirBnb and left the keys on the counter. I did take photos, but didn’t send anything to AirBnb and then never left a review. Leave reviews, people! I wish someone prior to me had shared a less than stellar experience so that I would have been aware and maybe picked another rental.
Basic Needs. Our second Airbnb rental of 2019 that didn’t go so well, was during the wildfires in California in October. I’ll save the trip detail and recap for a future blog post, but the basic idea here was — we spent some boo-coo bucks on a gorgeous guest house in Sonoma wine country…..and then arrived the day there were mandatory power shutoffs for the wildfires. We completely understood, welcomed the proactive safety measures, and mentally prepared for candlelight wine tasting, and flashlights.
Well, we didn’t necessarily realize that no power = no toilets. Or showers. Ummm…
Again, there’s the #MidwestNice problem! We stayed in the rental for 4 days with no water, and no power, and didn’t complain. Our biggest rub (even above the lack of toilets/showers!) was that the homeowner never checked on us, and didn’t bring us more than 1 gallon of drinking water for 4 days. If you’re an AirBnb owner, PLEASE think through the fact that 4 adults would probably consume more than a gallon of water in 4 days (especially when dehydrated from wine tastings!). Mind you, we were in a guesthouse next to a large mansion — an easy walk to make sure we were doing ok.
We made the best of that trip, and quickly figured out how essential dry shampoo was! I guess if we had to choose wine over water, it wasn’t THAT bad of a trip. And now we have a pretty hilarious story to share with our friends and family about how we went camping in Sonoma 🙂 Wish I had sent a quick message in the app giving the owner feedback, and asking for water 🙂
But next time, we’ll travel during rainy season in Sonoma, and dry season in Costa Rica, pack lots of dry shampoo, and oh – did you know they make disposable shower wipes? Amazon, as always – to the rescue!
-Missy