Stefanie
Every now and then, an Airbnb adventure turns out to be less “charming retreat” and more “escape room”. The latter was the unfortunate case for David Holtz, a business professor from the University of California, Berkeley, when he discovered his “quaint Airbnb” was more “bathroom with a bed.”
Now, complaints about Airbnb are nothing new, and the once-quality service has, in many people’s opinion, been pretty s**tty in recent years, as evidenced by the countless memes on the subject, like:
On Monday, Professor Holtz shared his astounding discovery with the Twitterverse. His tweet read, “The whole space is essentially just a large-ish bathroom that the host put a bed into.” An accompanying photo displayed a narrow room where a sink, shower, toilet, and bed shared too-close-for-comfort quarters.
The somewhat humorous but largely uncomfortable circumstance led to a flurry of reactions, with Twitter users making jests at the situation, because, c’mon, look at this place:
One user even came up with the nickname “Airbnpee” – a brilliant, yet biting commentary on the situation. Another user advised Holtz to close the toilet seat to maximize nightstand capabilities – because who doesn’t love multipurpose furniture?
Holtz’s unfortunate experience serves as yet another example of the deteriorating trust in the once-beloved home-sharing platform. A slew of negative responses followed, with several Twitter users seeing this incident as a sign of Airbnb’s decline. A report from MarketWatch lent credence to their concerns, highlighting that Airbnb occupancy has been decreasing nationwide due to a combination of the lingering impacts of COVID-19 and an oversaturation of hosts.
Several users even pondered about the inevitable downfall of Airbnb. As @nirsd replied, “AirBnB is definitely dying, the question is when.” Meanwhile, @nvictorme reflected on their decision to stop using the platform: “What’s gonna take for people to finally ditch AirBnB? I did 4 years ago. Best decision ever. Never a single bad experience staying at hotels.”
Despite spending two uncomfortable nights in his makeshift washroom suite, Holtz reported that Airbnb’s customer service was less than helpful.
Airbnb did respond to Holtz’s viral tweet asking for his email so that their team could “take a closer look” at the situation. A little late, perhaps, but at least they responded.
In a statement to the New York Post, Airbnb confirmed they were in contact with Holtz. The company offered the advice that guests should “review all photos, as well as the description and reviews, prior to booking a stay.” Sounds reasonable, but it’s a piece of advice that seems redundant in the face of the situation Holtz found himself in.
As amusing as this story might be on the surface, it underscores a more significant issue with platforms like Airbnb. The company’s once-unique charm and promise of unique experiences are being overshadowed by consistent quality issues and customer complaints. And as more people question its credibility and usability, the platform is becoming an example of how a good idea can slide into problematic territory without proper oversight and regulation. It’s a sobering thought and one that may push potential customers back to traditional accommodations.