An Airbnb Mistake

I'm an avid Airbnb user, having used it for 10 years and stayed over 30 times with consistently good experiences. However, this time in Hong Kong, I finally had a bad experience.

I booked my tiny apartment through Airbnb. The Hong Kong host had a 4.8-star rating, and the reviews praised his helpfulness, saying he would personally guide me to the subway station.

After booking, I briefly described my itinerary as usual and messaged him the day before my departure: I would arrive around 3-4 pm, please provide check-in information.

"OK," he replied, offering only two words, without any instructions or answers to my questions.

Late into the night, I still hadn't received any check-in details, not even the address. I had to ask again, "Hi, so should I message you after I arrive nearby?"

Unexpectedly, the other party replied abruptly, "Why did you message me today? I thought you were checking in today! You caused me to overbook, losing $300!"

Completely bewildered, I replied, "My check-in date is tomorrow. The Airbnb booking record clearly states it. Today I only informed you of my arrival time and inquired about check-in procedures. I never said 'I'd arrive a day early.'"

The host replied, "I didn't check the order in the system. Since you didn't tell me it was 3 PM tomorrow, I assumed it was today and left the room for you for free."

He added, "Taking this order is my bad luck."

Seeing this bizarre response, I was somewhat annoyed. I told him the check-in date in the system was clearly written down, leaving no room for dispute. Besides, even if he misunderstood my arrival date, he hadn't provided any check-in information from beginning to end, nor had he contacted me at 3 PM, which contradicted his statement.

"Then cancel the booking and book somewhere else!" he retorted.

"Do you want a refund?" I asked.

"Yes, a full refund."

"I don't mind the room being empty tomorrow," he added defiantly.

I felt arguing was pointless, so I immediately did as he said. When I pressed cancel, the Airbnb system popped up a message:

"If the host tells you they can no longer accommodate your stay, please do not cancel the booking for them. You can message them to cancel. This will make you eligible for a full refund."

I took a screenshot and showed it to the host, asking him to cancel it himself.

"I won't cancel the booking; I've already lost $300 because of you."

He continued:

"If you cancel, I guarantee you'll get a full refund."

I wasn't going to believe him, and we were at an impasse, so I had to contact Airbnb's online customer service.

The customer service representative called quickly; it was a young man with a mainland Chinese accent, and he was very polite and courteous. After briefly explaining the situation, I asked the representative why the host insisted I cancel.

"Mr. Zhang, if the landlord cancels, it will negatively impact their account reputation and incur penalties, so they generally don't want to cancel voluntarily. I'll check with them and report back to you."

Everything became clear. The landlord wanted to cancel the booking but didn't want to bear the consequences, so they fabricated a reason to accuse me and then used reverse psychology to force me to cancel.

Interestingly, 10 minutes after contacting customer service, the landlord suddenly changed their mind and said they would prepare a room for me. Then customer service called back, saying that since the landlord was willing to accommodate me, they suggested I check in as planned.

Honestly, after arguing like this, I didn't really want to stay. Facing an unfriendly landlord in a foreign place, it's understandable to feel uneasy. But on the other hand, I didn't want to let them have their way and benefit from it, so I gritted my teeth and went with the plan.

This was a decision I later regretted.

On the day of the cancellation, the landlord didn't come to the subway station to guide me; they just gave me a house number and told me to find it myself. I followed the clues to the Mirador Mansion, and after navigating the complex old building for 30 minutes, I finally found the check-in counter—a budget hostel run by Indians, tucked away in a corner on the 8th floor.

Absurdly, the staff at the counter had no idea about my reservation. I had to explain myself at length before they finally called the host to verify, and only then did they begin preparing the room.

Then, I waited almost an hour before finally checking in. Upon entering the room, I found it completely different from the photos on Airbnb: there was no TV, and the environment was rather unclean. It seemed the original room had already been rented to another long-term guest, and the host, unable to get rid of my short-term booking, had arranged a room with the Indian hostel owner at the last minute.

Throughout the check-in process, facing unpredictable people, things, and the environment, and being in such a cheap and complicated hostel in a foreign place, I felt incredibly uneasy. The host was extremely passive in response to my questions, never showing up, and barely replying to messages, dealing with me with the most perfunctory attitude.

After the trip, unsurprisingly, we exchanged one-star reviews. Later, I carefully reviewed the host's past reviews and found that among the many positive ones, one Korean guest had the exact same experience as me: also unreasonably asked to cancel, also refused, and also had a terrible stay.

It turned out I wasn't alone. Besides the two of us, there were probably many more people who had been treated this way and canceled their bookings. Those forced to cancel couldn't leave reviews, so only the Korean guest and I left negative reviews on the entire page.

On the surface, he was still a "Superhost," without having to pay the price for maliciously abandoning a booking. This is a flaw in Airbnb's review system.

If I had to do it again, I would rather do what most people do: cancel and find another place to stay. It's not worth facing an unknown journey and emotional exhaustion just to save face.

Afterwards, I gradually pieced together the whole story:

▌Why did the host cancel the booking?

He had booked a longer-stay booking later and therefore wanted to abandon my short-stay booking.

Why did the host still receive other long-term bookings?

A key point is that he was operating a "hotel." Hotels can be listed on other booking platforms and may also attract temporary travelers. Airbnb isn't the only customer acquisition channel. If the host isn't trustworthy, they might prioritize long-term bookings over short-term ones.

Why did I end up staying in a room owned by an Indian landlord?

The host might be a "room broker," collaborating with budget hotel owners to attract guests and fill vacant rooms through booking platforms, earning a commission. He might own very few or even none of his own rooms, hence the lack of address information and discrepancies between the description and the photos.

The valuable lessons learned from this incident, for my future self and for everyone:

1. Don't book "hotels" on Airbnb.

2. If you must book a hotel, it's recommended to use platforms like Booking.com or Trip.com, which offer basic security and are generally less expensive.

3. How to identify whether an Airbnb listing is for a hotel? In areas where "Airbnb cannot legally operate in residential spaces," most listings are actually hotels (for example, in Hong Kong and Taiwan, it's illegal for operators without accommodation licenses to list on Airbnb, but legal in the US).

4. If you unfortunately encounter a host who maliciously cancels their booking, like I did, please have customer service intervene. The host won't dare to unilaterally threaten you to cancel. The best approach is to let customer service know your experience and ask them to "cancel the order and try to get a full refund."

Airbnb's original intention was "to share living spaces, giving travelers a home-like local experience."

I've stayed in artists' studios in Brooklyn, camping trailers on California farms, detached houses in Napa Valley, and lofts deep in the West Virginia mountains. Each one was unique, full of life, and featured genuinely amazing hosts who greeted me warmly—that's the charm of Airbnb.

If I go to the US again, I'll still open the app with anticipation.

If I go to Hong Kong again, please just give me a normal hotel room, thank you.