My very first (BAD) experience: Airbnb

Hello!

Today we will talk a little about travel .. Or rather about a part of travel. Accommodation. How nice it is to be able to find cheap flights to a beautiful country and how disappointing to see that for the accommodation we will have to pay the double for the tickets. The offer no longer seems so attractive. But we have several options. 

To make a few economic trips I use the Airbnb page to stay. Surely you have heard of that page. It consists of renting flats of owners who offer a room or a whole apartment to tourists. Book and pay online and you're done. Let the adventure begin.

Today I am going to tell you my first experience with this page that unfortunately wasn’t very good and that happened in London.

I rented a small room in an area of ​​houses about 30 minutes by public transport from central London. In the advertisement there were not many photos but it was very cheap and the guy who rented it was so kind so I thought 'come on, sometimes you have to take a chance'. I arrived in London (December, last year) about 9pm. And I was at the host's house at 11:30 p.m. I was very tired of a long trip with transshipment and carrying all day with the suitcase. I entered the house and discovered that my host was of Chinese origin but spoke perfect Spanish which I was very happy because as a student of Spanish I knew I could talk to him perfectly about anything. He explained me how I had to behave in the house according to their beliefs (I remember that I had to take off my shoes and put on others… To this day I don’t know who those shoes belonged to). We entered the kitchen and there I noticed that it was very hot inside which I was glad to know that it would not be cold in the house. In the kitchen I met the companion of my host, who was also Spanish. Everything seemed to be perfect. We started to speak in Spanish and to comment on travel and London things. Everything was fine until I asked for my room. Then my host led me down a corridor away from the kitchen, with huge windows, very cold and very dirty. We were walking down the hallway, he was still talking about places to see in London but I couldn’t stop looking at that dirty floor and think of how cold was there. At the end of the hall  was a wooden door with a small hole in the bottom. ´´There is your room´´ my host said and disappeared. I stared for a while thinking about what awaits me if I open that door but I didn’t want to stay too long because I felt the cold over my clothes. I entered the room and I found it as I had imagined it after having seen that corridor. It was a small, old, dirty room, with a half-broken window, with scents smelling musty and cobwebs on the furniture. It looks like a description of a horror movie  but that was my ''very cozy room in London''. It was already two o'clock at night, and I was sitting up trying to start the small radiator in the room. I didn’t know if I would try to sleep and not think about how disgusting the place was or get my things and get out .. But go out to where? It was my first night and I was away from the center in a dead house area .. Catch a cab? Call someone? Those questions went through my mind again and again until I decided that I will endure it, I will sleep in the place and the next day I will get up, I will call Airbnb and ask for a quick solution. At the end I could sleep as tired as I was but the next day I told the host partner that I was leaving and that I have to inform Airbnb so maybe they can move me somewhere else. He understood it perfectly and said goodbye in a very polite way.

And now that?

I did not know very well what should be done in this situation, it was my first experience with this page and I was very disappointed.

What would you do? I tell you what I did.

First I called my mom to tell her how bad I've been and to complain about the whole world and the bad weather in London... I knew she wasn’t going to give me any advice about this but calling her always makes me feel stronger, especially when your mom tells you at the end of the conversation ''you can do it girl'' and then suddenly that extra power comes out and you are ready to act.

After such a motivating conversation I sat in a neighborhood coffee shop and started calling the Airbnb call center. I was attended by a girl who told me that it was normal that in December it was cold in England and that the weather is very humid, which is perhaps why  there was humidity in the place and why it smelled so bad. As you can see she probably didn’t like her work nor the ones she had to attend to. I asked to be contacted by someone else and there, finally I got someone to understand my situation and help me find other accommodation. Everything was solved in one day. The cancellation of that room, the return of the money and the reservation of a new room. This time hot, clean and even better located.

What have I learned from this experience?

Well among many things one is that now I am almost an expert when choosing accommodation, I analyze the offer very well, compare with others and immediately discard the accommodations that do not have many photos or in which information is not complete.Instead of dismissing this method to stay in other countries I have learned and improved my selection system. I have also learned that it is worth calling, asking and complaining.

I share with you this experience as a warning to choose well before going and not have to go through a situation similar to mine that in the end took me a whole day of my trip to London.

Today I continue to use Airbnb and I am part of the travelers who are in favor of this hosting system.

There are no things that can’t be fixed and there aren’t no-win situations.

We must try things new things that are offered but always with caution.

And what about London?

London was amazing as always. It is a city to which we must return from time to time. One visit will never be enough. I am attaching you one of my favorite photos, an important meeting... almost real. :)

Love,

Natalia.