[patagonia]

Luckily, we could prove to Airbnb that the furniture was not original, and that it was modified multiple times, badly. After the whole vacation spent worrying about the communication between the host and the Airbnb, we managed to avoid having to pay.

A similar experience is what put me off to AirBnb. What was supposed to be a carefree weekend at the beach turned into managing the property manager. One thing after another. Starting with no key because the lockbox code was incorrect. Some other doozies include: twin not a full bed, patio door did not lock, no hand soap in bathroom, and the Internet didn’t work.

Hosting is difficult and Airbnb is still learning. Once day they may have it figured out, but I’d be surprised if when that day comes they don’t look a lot like the incucmbent players. In the mean time we are all paying for their training.

[elif]

I was in Spain and got an airbnb which did not have sheets for the beds or towels. The host, who was in another country on holiday, had me walk down the street and meet her mother, who didn't speak english. Her mother gave me a musty top-sheet that seemed to have been in a closet for over a decade, and asked me to pay her 5 euros in cash for it. This whole process took about 2 hours.

Still didn't get a towel.. should have listened to douglas adams.

I also stayed at the cheapest airbnb in miami beach, which was an unwalkable room full of children's-sized bunkbeds, and populated by fully grown humans with the consideration of children. There was so much chaos i couldn't sleep, and since i was there to compete in a tournament the next day, I literally walked around the streets of miami at 3am until i found a patch of grass where I could sleep. I couldn't bring myself to pay $200 for 3 hours of a hotel.

[koverda]

Could you link to this Miami AirBnB? Sounds interesting.

[elif]

Thankfully it appears to have subsequently been shut down.

http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/5165144

I don't want to dox whoever lives there now, but it was just north of the convention center on Pine Tree Drive

[toomuchtodo]

Something doggy people have been doing is signing year long leases for properties, listing it on AirBnB, and milking it for as much as possible until the owner and/or HOA get wind and evict them (sometimes the HOA will find out and fine the owner continually while the eviction is in process, which is always unfortunate). I always recommend to owners and property managers when this happens to stick to the eviction and follow through to prevent future landlords from encountering the same issue (most landlords will not rent to someone with an eviction on their record).