Airbnb Reviews 

I’m extremely disappointed with my recent experience using Airbnb.

We booked a flat in London for 12th–15th March, and this reservation had been made eight months in advance specifically to avoid the stress of last-minute accommodation issues. Unfortunately, the host cancelled the booking shortly before our trip, leaving us scrambling to find somewhere else to stay at very short notice.

We managed to secure another property through Airbnb yesterday, only for that booking to also be cancelled shortly afterwards because the host claimed they had “lost the property.” This raises a serious question: how can a property still be listed and available to book if there is a possibility the host may no longer have access to it?

The entire situation has resulted in:
• Financial loss, as last-minute accommodation in London is significantly more expensive.

• A huge amount of stress and inconvenience, having to repeatedly search for alternative accommodation.

• A complete loss of trust in Airbnb’s platform and reliability.

Booking months in advance should provide peace of mind. Instead, we’ve had two cancellations in quick succession and have been left dealing with the consequences.

Overall, this experience has left me feeling that Airbnb does not adequately protect guests from unreliable hosts or ensure that properties listed on the platform are genuinely available. I expected much better.

Spend hundreds hoping a host will accept only for them to ignore my request then have to wait over a week to get my money back.

Airbnb say the bank hold the money but they should never take money until the host accepts.
Easy way to make interest profits i guess.

Its a game of hoping and praying a host reads your ballcrap message to stay at their property and then accepts. If not, full booking cost has still long gone from your bank account

Never had bad reviews so guess I didn't kiss enough backside when asking to stay at a property or could be that I'm simply not part of the airbnb 'click' hahaha.

If want to try the worst service try airbnb
It went wrong even before making a booking.
I verified my identity, provided id, selfie, even got the verified badge, etc.
After that I wanted to message a host and then was asked to verify my identity AGAIN.
This time it forced me to use their app by providing only a QR code, so they can have full access to my phone.
I install their app and surprise... it's full of bugs and doesn't work.
I go to contact customer support and Mithul K takes 2.5h to reply, but without addressing any of my questions.
After 2 replies, he just ignored me.
If you didn't get angry and frustrated in a long time then make sure to give airbnb a try.
They sure won't dissappoint, and will make your experience terrible instead.
Wasting your time and money is their favourite occupation.

I received negative feedback from a host, after an unblemished record, which was untrue and unfair.
He claimed I didn't clean the kitchen properly, which is not true and all my previous feedback on airbnb praises how well I clean things. I believe he doesn’t want people to use his kitchen even though it is listed as an amenity. Reviews are really important on airbnb and so I raised it with them. They just said it didn’t contravene their policies for a host to lie. I think they need to change their policies.

I booked what I thought was a whole apartment. I tried to cancel after finding a bed bug (picture attached), but the host, Mohamed, denied my request.

Airbnb expected me to leave the room in the middle of the morning, even though I had fallen asleep around 5 AM — this was on my birthday.

Overall, this has been a terrible experience. It seems like hosts can do whatever they want. The bed was horrible, the shower was broken, the listing title was misleading, and there were bed bugs. What a “lovely” place to spend my holidays.

Apartment written up as cosy....it turned out to next to a red light district in Thailand. One window couldn't be closed....so stayed open, couldn't lock it. Didnt look like the pictures, Cupboards falling apart. Had to leave stayed one night. Air bnb and said it the a window didn't have to close and the owner was not in breach of their policies....!!. I stayed 1 night out of 2. They refunded the cleaning fee......thanks for that.

They took the Host side on a Damage Report. All AFTER the host wrote how good of a renter I was..and . .BEWARE they lock your payment card so they can charge you whatever the Host tells them to. .

I was locked out of my Airbnb accommodation just after midnight in Nottingham when the door code stopped working.

I tried repeatedly and contacted the host immediately. There was no response. Airbnb support spent around two hours trying to reach them and admitted they could not resolve the situation.

I was left outside in winter conditions and had to find and pay for an emergency hotel myself at around 2am.
The host only responded at 06:58am, long after the I HAD GOTTEN AN EMERGENCY HOTEL at my own expense. When I later returned, the door code had been updated and was working again - way too late

I did have a call with Airbnb, I raised serious safety concerns about being locked out with no fallback and no overnight support, and no contingency if something goes wrong. Airbnb acknowledged this was unsafe and said the host would be investigated.
The issue here is not just one failed lock. It is allowing remotely managed properties to operate with no emergency cover and no reliable access backup. If my phone had died, or if this had happened to a younger guest or a parent with a child inside, the consequences could have been serious.
Airbnb offered 20% of the hotel cost which I disputed ey eventually reimbursed my hotel cost. But this only happened after serious effort and escalation, even though it had been agreed with the night of the incident - useless.

This experience exposed major weaknesses in how Airbnb manages safety and out-of-hours support.

I would strongly advise others to think carefully before relying on properties with no on-site presence and no emergency backup.

Booked a unit in dinkirk. Host was onsite and rude and when I asked Key to lock my room’ he declined and said it’s SAFE.
Later I found he locked his entire unit but could access mine all the time.
There was a dodgy basement just next to my bedroom’ My broken door latch & no key to lock at a costume party in neighborhood seems perfect Murder plan!
I felt so unsafe that ran for my life’ when contacted Airbnb they said’
Host isn’t ready to REFUND.
Also no damage or intrusion has incurred.
For them not having a locked property isn’t a safety issue’ as I’m still alive!

I abhor their safety policies and unprofessionalism.

Despite multiple attempt no resolution offered!

I strongly feel AIRBNB is a dysfunctional racket which favors shady host business and totally runs on revenue more than reputation.

Boycott Airbnb totally
Hotels are Safer

Thanks

Allows 'professional' fraudsters to play their system for a free holiday.
I work in the service industry as a cleaner and have worked at a house for over 7 years without incident.
An air BnB gusts booked last minute demanding early and late check out, an 10% discount and for me to put their shopping delivery away, I refused but the host gave a discount.
The positively unpleasant guest arrived early and was rude to my staff because we were still there.
She then parked in front blocking a neighbours driveway and refused to move.
When we left she demanded a re clean of the property and spent her holiday demanding discounts and compensation and complaining.
She refused to leave when offered a full refund.
She's still there threatening this and that and air BnB have refused to help.
Shame on you.

The accommodation was filthy,it clearly hadn't been cleaned for months if not years.
It has been neglected with a rusty clothes airer and wall tiles falling off the balcony wall, some left in a pile on the floor to trip over.
The place was a health and safety hazard with so much grime, dust and grease.
Everything was dirty,there were ants and cockroaches.
Cutlery, cupboards, crockery, appliances all unusable.
The bathrooms were disgusting, toilets black and shower screens covered in scale.
There was thick dust on all surfaces,food crumbs and hairs on the soft furnishings,grease and food waste on kitchen appliances and a messy balcony.
We slept fully clothed!, .

Airbnb ignored my multiple requests to leave / cancel which i asked on arrival.
They sent multiple meaningless messages, and continued to drag the issue with delaying tactics.

I wasn't supprted to upload my photos they didn't provide an option to do so until day 4.
I then submitted more than 20 photos and have many more, and checked out after receiving confirmation i had " Air cover ".

They then confused the photos and sent many different responses from an array of agents!
But failed to return my money, after i repeated my requests

This organisation does not support the paying customer and was only interested in preventing me from receiving my refund.
I will never use them again and obviously don't recommend to anyone.
Book with them at your own peril,i can't understand how they are permitted to operate with their systems and approach to basically scamming customers.
Avoid,avoid,avoid !

The air bnb support staff cannot be trusted. I was told to stay in an air bnb I wanted to leave and request a refund after I left and now it is like pulling teeth to get a refund which air bnb should not have even let be a host.

Review as owner host to help other Uk owners.

We have enjoyed meeting many people in our cottage and fully accept part of the process is to have the odd bad guest.

We’ve have seen the good & bad bumps with safety issues, upset neighbours or smoking in the house et cetera. When things go wrong this really is the measure of a company.

Despite reporting safety issues we are told if the guest is removed, they have a full refund. For any UK host you have to tread carefully as any guests staying over 28 days legally that’s a great area on eviction issues as automatic rights exist on days of say 30 nights.

The wording from Airbnb is very well polished but does lack a little integrity. On past claims captured on external CCTV to our property. Airbnb have declined to pay any repairs as it’s outside of the dwelling even though you can have a gallery of images or listed amenities for guests enjoyment.

Several times we’ve had the house trashed such as smoking deep clean we have sourced say three local quotes ranging from £500-£1200. Airbnb will only give you market data so expect a third of the true cost.

As owner you just have to make a decision whether you’re happy with profit from the majority of bookings, but do not rely upon the air cover insurance we have a buy to let mortgage and troubled you will have no cover for your mortgage or running costs during the eviction process.

As a premium listing, we make considerable investments on bedrooms, bedding and specification of the cottage. Guests have naturally and never increasing list of wants for the holiday. Airbnb will encourage you to improve specifications, sadly in summary you carry the risk of those contents.

Do NOT book through Airbnb!

I rented an apartment for one week on the Airbnb platform from a host named “Arcan.” I arrived with my pregnant wife and my young child, and our experience was extremely stressful and unsafe.

First, we had to wait 1.5 hours in the cold outside the building for the key. When we finally entered the apartment, we discovered several serious problems:
• There was no hot water
• Many electrical outlets were not working
• We noticed cameras installed in multiple rooms, which made us feel very uncomfortable

We immediately reported these issues to Airbnb. Later, third parties entered the apartment without our permission, claiming they came to repair the cameras. After this incident, two gold necklaces belonging to my wife were stolen.

We informed Airbnb about everything and requested cancellation, but our reservation was cancelled without any refund. We were eventually forced to leave the apartment with police involvement, and since my wife is pregnant and I have a small child, we had to urgently book an expensive hotel room.

After returning to my country, the situation became even worse. The host claimed that we smoked inside the apartment and damaged the walls, and Airbnb is supporting these claims and requesting compensation from me. This is completely false. Before leaving, I recorded videos of the entire apartment because I suspected possible fraud, and the videos clearly show no damage and no signs of smoking. Claiming that I smoked in a closed environment while my wife is pregnant is completely unreasonable.

In my opinion, the host named “Arcan” is operating a fraudulent rental, and Airbnb is not taking any meaningful action to protect customers.

I strongly advise everyone: Be extremely careful when booking through Airbnb.

My partner booked 2 nights in Bournemouth staying with a so-called superhost. My partner is 82 and 5 days before our trip he was diagnosed as having cancer. On the day we were supposed to go, he had a pre-op booked for him at QA Hospital in Portsmouth. I tried to contact Kerry by phone and email to say we couldn't go. I received a communication from Airbnb offering us the opportunity to change our dates which came as a big relief to us. We found when the property was available (which is 2 weeks later) but the so-called superhost Kerry refused to let us change. This is disgusting and so utterly rude, she didn't even reply to us personally.

This company has their customer services offshore and that is why I have been treated very poorly. They did not act on safety concerns, I had to leave the flat in panic due to my safety being compromised by trespassers and Airbnb management did not care at all, refused to refund me as they only supported the host's own policies (Hosted Homes) which breach the UK Consumers Right Act 2015 . Also they did not allow me to submit a host review. Whatever claim was upheld from 1 agent got cancelled by another, nobody knows what they are doing in this company, they did mislead me with wrong information and gaslighted me even when I had written evidence. They have given me 11 days of pure hell on their website and on the phone. Do not use this company, they will try to scam you no matter what, I do not know why they still being allowed to trade in UK after the staggering amounts of customer complaints and bad reviews .

Appalling service our host cancelled our reservation but had not communicated this to Airbnb I show evidence of cancelled booking by way of a email but Airbnb refused to refund until the host communicated with them which they were not doing after numerous requests to do so. So no holiday and no refund of over £1000

Refusing to give me my money back. Trying to force me to make bookings and keeping my money as store credit.
Pls do a favour and go with booking.com. these people are robbers.
Shocking customer service!!!! How on earth can they refuse to give me my money back ?! Financial ombudsman has to have a closer look at fhis company as its smells fishy!!! Scamers!!!

Booked a stay in Rome for myself, husband and 3 children when we arrived at the apartment we found a number of things broken and took photographs before contacting the host in the first matter and then Air BnB directly. The shower was broken, steps to bunk bed were cable tied and moved any time the children tried to use them, the bed itself was a makeshift bed which was not safe enough for the children to use, handles on wardrobes were broken/missing. When we spoke to the host they told us there was nothing they could do about any of the issues as it was a Saturday and the cleaner had failed to report the issues to them. Being in peak of the summer and no way to wash the children was an issue but not being able to safely get them to bed was our main concern.
After getting no where with the host we spoke to Air BnB who agreed that it was not safe for the children and asked us to wait while they contacted the host to try to resolve the issues. We waited for over an hour for them to respond to us, the response was that we had to stay. Again we stressed the danger of the bunk bed situation for the children and stated that we spent a lot of money to stay there and were not willing to risk our children hurt themselves. We asked who would be at fault if the ladders broke and one of the children fell getting in/out bed. The agent then agreed verbally on the phone that it was not ok and that they would work to get the issue resolved and a refund issued, they would call back within the hour. No one called, I recalled them and they still had no answers. We had lost three hours of our one night visit and explained that we were going to be leaving the apartment with the children as we could not stay somewhere they could not sleep safely. They told us they were still trying to resolve the issue and once again they would call back within the hour. We took the children for dinner and walked around Rome at night for almost two hours with no where to stay and no response from Air BnB. I was left with no choice but to book alternative accommodation and once again call customer support back myself.
We were told there were delays in calling us back as it was escalated to a case manager, the manager agreed that they themselves would not stay in the accommodation but they would not be issuing a refund after previously stating they would. I explained that I was not happy with this response as they had previously said a refund would be offered but she did not care.
There was no interest in our care and they would have happily forgotten about us if I hadn't continued to call. I chased this up on return from holiday but was ultimately given the same response each time.
A company happy to leave you stranded as long as they make profit.
Will not be using them again, no customer care given at all!

We've used Airbnb for several years as guests and have always received glowing reviews from hosts commenting on how clean and tidy we have left their properties and how well we have looked after them during our stay. We pride ourselves on being respectful and responsible guests. We were therefore shocked when the host of the latest property we stayed in commented on our group being "unclean" despite the fact everything was left as we found it on arrival and we had left nothing unclean. In fact, we spent hours stripping beds, putting used bed linen and towels into the laundry basket, emptying the dishwasher and putting away all crockery and cutlery, emptying bins, sweeping and generally making sure everything was tidy and clean. Short of not sleeping in the beds, using the bathrooms or cooking, we cannot see how we could have left the property any cleaner or tidier. We raised the inaccurate and dishonest review with Airbnb customer service and pointed out to them it was completely at odds with our other reviews and our behaviour as guests. They failed to provide any evidence from the host as to what had been left unclean and denied our request to have the review taken down. When we challenged them again on this, they came back with a response that they do not require documentation such as photographs for subjective matters such as cleanliness. It really, really annoys us that we have been denigrated by the host without her having to show proof of or even give details of what she meant by her comment. Moreover, Airbnb has given us no confirmation that they actually raised the issue with her. Clearly they couldn't be bothered to investigate, so a dishonest host gets away with writing what she likes about her guests. As it is evident that Airbnb does not value responsible guests with a long-standing and fully documented history of taking care of the properties they stay in, we no longer have confidence in them and won't be using them again. We would urge anyone else who has similar experiences to use different platforms too.