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I'm OP's roommate and I was involved in this. We booked the place on short notice and came to see it the same day. It was advertised as a "penthouse" but in reality it was simply the top floor of a pretty decrepit ~50+ yo building, with bars on every window, and a filthy "pool". This is the view from the "penthouse". Contrary to what Airbnb says in the screenshot, there was no "A/C" of any kind in the bathrooms (no, not even fans). The only A/C units were in the bedrooms, and they were small, sized for bedrooms. The host showed up and said that if we let the A/C in the bedrooms run for 20 minutes with the doors open and the fan strategically placed, the living room and kitchen would be "cold like a fridge". We let it run for 30 minutes and were still sweating after that. Told him we couldn't stay because we work from home and the heat was just unbearable in the daytime during this hot season. What pissed me off: The host refused to refund us anything (which is why we reached out to Airbnb). Airbnb refunded ~USD 300, so the host took USD 480 from us for essentially visiting the place for 30 minutes. That's a $1000/hour occupation... pretty lucrative. Yes, we wasted their time, and an opportunity for someone else to book it, so I'd be totally fine with paying the nightly rate (USD 60) for even two nights. But not for over a week. It's just not fair by any stretch of the imagination. (Note that it's the week before Mexico's Independence Day, and the host bragged that the place will get occupied very soon if we don't book. Also, we booked same-day, and left same-day. How Airbnb considers that is inconveniencing the host USD 480, baffles me.) Airbnb's rude, STFU, response: This is the last that can be said on the subject. This seems to be part of the training they give to support agents, because I saw the same phrasing in the famous How I Got Banned for Life from AirBnB post: we consider this matter closed and will no longer reply to any inquiries regarding your account The fact that Airbnb doesn't have anything more nuanced than "Yes A/C", "No A/C". How about "partial A/C"? How hard is it to implement that, Airbnb? It's one thing to have central A/C or heating, and a very different thing to have a heater in one room or a fan in another.
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