I've learned my lesson with AirBnB rentals

[Nathan Gesner]

So I rented an AirBnB property in Dallas. This was the third time I've used that platform to rent a property and each one has been an illegal rental. I'm done.

The first one was in California three years ago. It had five 5-star reviews. On the day of arrival, I was unable to reach the host at all. We arrived at the property and discovered a leasing office. Sure enough, our "host" had been caught and evicted. Three days before Christmas and we had to scramble to find somewhere to stay.

A couple weeks ago I stayed in Dallas. I found a nice place downtown with 25 reviews at 4.7 stars. None of the reviews really said anything negative. Here's how the host describes himself:

I was a little worried this would be some arbitrage setup but I thought AirBnb put an end to that and required hosts to verify authority. I was wrong. The first red flag was on the day of arrival when they sent us check-in instructions that included 15 steps, nearly 20 pictures to help navigate the building, and several warnings not to speak to any of the staff in the building or we would be fined $500. Yeh.

The place was not cleaned well and missing some pretty basic amenities like hand towels and wash clothes, no cork screw, a cheap coffee pot with a decantur with no lid that had to be wrestled in/out because it was from a different brand/model, no welcome page or even instructions for the WiFi password, three towels for a rental set up for four guests, etc. It was a decent space and location, but I could tell the host had no customer service skills or attention to detail and it was a complete money grab. 

I contacted the leasing office as an interested renter and confirmed they do not allow short-term rentals or subleasing in the building, period. Now I've reported the host, though it's probably a waste of time.

Long story short, I've probably stayed in about 20 vacation rentals through VRBO, HomeAway, or professional management companies and they were always a good experience. I've rented through AirBnB three times and it's always been less than a 3-star experience. It won't happen again.