@Mindy Jensen
Unfortunately they tend to protect the host 90% of the time.
I had the same thing happen to me on Airbnb. I was booking a rental house in Austin Tx a few years ago, for the 2nd weekend of Austin City Limits (ACL). I booked, it was confirmed and then the following day I got a message saying if I was willing to pay 3x rate I could keep the reservation. I cancelled mostly because I felt like it was unfair, but also because it was ridiculously high. The dates of the festival weekend had been published for over a month, so it was no secret.
I did some research and found that I had no recourse as the renter. Hosts are essential for these short term rental platforms and therefore the rules are set up to protect them first and foremost. Unfortunately I couldn’t leave a review. It simply shows that I had booked and the reservation had been “cancelled by the host”
I'm all for a host pricing things whatever they want and allowing the market to determine if it's fair or not. But retailers can't change the price when you get home with your purchase and STR shouldn't either.
