As much as I try to keep it 100 with everyone, the vast majority of the challenging times just don't make it to the 'Gram. Mostly because we are in chaotic survival mode in those moments, and the last thing I am thinking about is taking a photo or scrolling on my phone. 🙃
ICYMI: My family of 5 (including 3 kids 3-and-under) has been living out of suitcases, hopping from AirBnB to AirBnB, while we explore the Tampa Bay Area house hunting. This is a pretty expansive region, and we didn't feel comfortable buying sight unseen, especially in such an inflated and competitive market. I've been booking us back-to-back rentals in different parts - from the beach, to the country, to the city, suburbia, and beyond to see where we feel is the best fit. Part of this hands-on research has involved us staying in rental homes for several weeks on end, so we could get a genuine feel for what it's like actually living somewhere, and not "vacationing." I wanted to have enough time to see the touristy things, but also go on walks, visit local grocery stores, parks, playgrounds, and get to know the people. Safe to say, we have learned a lot, fast!
But after all of the vibey shops, fun festivals, and dreamy beachfront moments you've seen through the lens of my social media, there are so many things we've struggled through behind the scenes at these rental houses. So I share this now so that:
1) It's an authentic reminder that no one's life is perfect, and social media only shows a glimpse of someone's day.
2) You can help avoid some of these same pitfalls when you travel.
3) Someone else can laugh and be entertained by the ridiculousness we have endured. Enjoy!
Bad Moment #1 - We had bug infestations... two to be exact.
Within an hour of moving into our very first rental home, I found ants (both dead and alive) lurking around the primary bathroom. It appeared they were coming out of a small hole (!!) in the ceiling. If you know me, you know I do NOT mess with bugs of any kind. The property manager was promptly informed and sent out pest control the next day. Not exactly how we'd hoped to start our Florida journey. Then, just two days later, there was a full-blown infestation in the room where my infant sleeps! Hundreds of tiny ants all over the floorboards and tables. I was grossed out beyond measure, and had to have yet another visit from the bug-zapper extraordinaires. Except this time when they came, they said the pests were likely in the walls and roof of the home, and had probably been there for a very long time. Safe to say, I didn't sleep exceptionally well that night! And with a long 18-day stay booked, we were forced to get comfortable with the sight of some extra roommates that were not on our reservation!
Bad Moment #2 - The washing machine broke and flooded the laundry room (with our clothes trapped inside).
Bad luck or cheap appliance purchases? We may never know. But with a full load of my family's clothes locked inside (thanks a lot "smart appliances"), the entire laundry room was filled with water in a matter of minutes. Better still, is the fact that no one running the rental property answered a single phone call, text, or email for hours. I even hunted down the owner of the company on IG and sent her a DM desperate for help! Finally, the property manager got back to me (after she got out of the gym, apparently), and walked me through how to turn the water off. A plumber was sent out the next day, but our clothes were already gross and smelled like mildew. Not a great way to spend our last night!
Bad Moment #3 - We got locked out with our stuff inside during check-out.
As they sometimes do, a host can honor a request for a late checkout. This was especially helpful for us, as we tried to coordinate timing for getting into our subsequent rentals back-to-back. Except, the property manager never quite finished the job, and our door code still expired at 10am, instead of 12pm, as we were promised. With all of our belongings inside, a car packed up with my kids ready to go to our next place, and a very frustrated husband, I waited outside frantically calling and messaging to no avail. As luck would have it, I noticed a landscaper in the backyard cleaning up piles of debris (which we also had to complain about!), and explained our situation to him. He graciously offered to try his "old door code" that he said he'd been given years ago when he worked on the property more. It worked! As much as I was ecstatic to gather our things, I was also equally concerned... wondering how many people actually had the code to where we slept this whole time. No bueno! (Oh, and I'm still waiting for a call back to formally let us in...and maybe even an apology for the enormous mistake? I don't suspect I'll be getting one.)
Bad Moment #4 - The house was filthy. Like absolutely, disgustingly, filthy.
If you've rented on one of these apps before, you know that the cleaning cost is always passed onto the customer, usually to the tune of around $250. So imagine my frustration when after moving our things in for 20 minutes, all of our feet were completely black. There was a half-eaten Frito bag under the bed, random garbage spewed about, layers of dust on all the decor, and probably years of filth in all the "hard to reach" places. It was absolutely infuriating. To boot, the owner basically called me a liar and said he's never had a complaint about cleanliness before, as he reluctantly sent the cleaning service back to the house. Not only was I awkwardly now facing the woman who supposedly "just cleaned" and now had to come back out again, but I had to move things around for her until 9pm that night. We were exhausted, and that was definitely not a part of my wind-down plan.
Bad Moment #5 - Our rental was full of the host's personal items, literally everywhere.
From the dressers, to the tables, to literally the entire garage, our third AirBnB was filled with someone else's things! It is the weirdest feeling to rent a space, and feel like someone else is still occupying it. The dude's car was even here, so we couldn't park our own! Not only did it limit storage capacity for my family (which we are in desperate need of), but I had to spend hours the first few days relocating these random things to make space for us. So. Freakin'. Weird.
Bad Moment #6 - We ended up in a townhome that was advertised as a full house rental.
Imagine my confusion when I pulled up, only to see multiple, identical-looking townhomes and numbered spaces throughout a parking lot. This is not what we signed up for. We are just not in a place in life where we are trying to share walls with other lifeforms, and now we were stuck for two weeks in a condo complex that was billed as a private house online. At least there were lots of fun creatures to look at outside our porch by the pool... and I don't mean the local wildlife, hehe.
Bad Moment #7 - I took the rental owner off-platform to save money on fees... only to realize I had no recourse if she ghosted me.
Listen... it seemed like a good idea at the time! LOL My Florida realtor sent me to a long-term stay rental home website I'd never heard of (typically meant for healthcare professionals and traveling nurses), and I came across a place we wanted to try. Upon messaging with the owner, she sent me her AirBnB listing to complete the booking. If you've done this before, you know the fees can be really high from the third-party companies which facilitate the reservations. But the price quoted was nearly double what it was on the other website (which apparently helped connect owners and renters, but didn't handle the fund-exchange portion... weird). When I informed the owner of this, she had no idea how much it was charging renters on top of her fee, as she'd never used AirBnB in the reverse. After speaking for a couple of days, we decided to just take our booking process off platform and do it the old fashioned way, with a (digital) handshake, and exchange of funds via PayPal. After all was said and done, I realized I'd just transferred thousands of dollars to a stranger from the internet, in the hopes that she would indeed provide me with the lodging, as agreed upon. Luckily, all went smoothly, and it was ironically our best rental yet (from a fellow native northerner nonetheless!). But definitely nerve-wracking leading up to it and not something I would do again or recommend!
Bad Moment #8 - The house photos were clearly Photoshopped, and the place was actually a dump.
Boy, were we bamboozled. Want to know which rental this is? You won't recognize it, because I haven't posted much from here because, alas, it's a sh*thole. :) The photos looked great, and the most recent reviews seemed fine. But in person the furniture was ripped, windows were broken, bedding was bad, decor was just awful, bathroom was literally falling apart, and lots of creative angles were used in pictures, because it was not at all what it appeared to be. Even the outside backyard "oasis" that displayed beautiful landscaping, outdoor lighting, dining and umbrella set, and tree hammock was actually just a pile of dirt and dead grass, with no hammock and literally everything broken or missing. I guess paying closer attention to all the lowest reviews may have served us better, in this case.
Bad Moment #9 - I ended up beefing with a host.
I'm not sure if it was an authentic message or an automated one, but when asked "how we were liking our stay," I provided polite, thoughtful and constructive criticism on the experience thus far. I didn't ask for a refund, and I didn't complain - mostly because I knew it wouldn't be worth the effort and probably wouldn't qualify as "refund-worthy" anyway, no matter how rough the place really was. This is all a means to an end, after all. A short-term solution for our need to house hunt, and it'll all be over soon. However, the response I was met with by the homeowner was ballsy. The guy effectively told me I was wrong, I got what I paid for, and he'd like to see me do better... LOL. Shocking to say the least, especially when the option to roast the place is at my fingertips once a rental is completed, and public for all the world to see! I figured I'd appreciate it if someone took the time to let me know about the dissatisfaction they experienced, and I could use that feedback to improve my home for future renters (especially since this guy said he lives all the way in NYC and relies on the cleaning lady to help manage the place from afar). Plus, the chance to resolve issues with someone privately is always a better move than letting them fester and bring down your rating after the fact! Needless to say, I will not be holding back on sharing my experiences everywhere we've been so far, and look forward to doing so!
So would I ever AirBnB again? Maybe. Probably would avoid if possible. Also probably important to share that all of our stays were not cheap either... some in the $10,000/mo range for reference. So it's not even like we ended up in these situations because I was trying to save a buck... these hosts are really out here, in these streets, acting a fool with their rental properties! It is true, unhinged madness, my friends. If I didn't have 3 little kids that needed space and house-specific amenities, you wouldn't catch me in anything but luxury hotels ever again. I'm way too old to be dealing with this nonsense! But hopefully, you can learn from my experiences and avoid some of these hellscapes, too. Godspeed to you as you plan your next vacation. LOL I wish you more luck than we've had!