Typically as travelers, my family and I find it most convenient to stay in high end hotels and resorts. However, on our most recent trip to South Carolina we decided to test out a few AirBnB’s. While the main part of our trip offered a wonderful place for us to stay, we had many problems with the AirBnB that we stayed at on our way up located in Knoxville, Tennessee. Though this home offered a few conveniences and positive aspects, it did not meet our expectations from the online pictures and reviews. 

“Home Sweet Home to Me” in Knoxville, TN, had an inviting profile for a vacation rental home; in fact, it’s what first caught my attention when browsing through possible stays. The home was listed at 4.5/5 stars and had great reviews from past guests. The pictures offered a glimps into each room which were seemingly clean, tidy, and welcoming. My parents were very scpetical and did a lot of research on the integrity of the AirBnB website and rental options before choosing what would be safest and best for our family. The reviews and pictures offered everyone a lot of relief and excitement as we were planning each stay. 

Once we arrived at our Home Sweet Home destination we were pleased with the large section of graveled parking space and the privacy from neighbors. We also noticed that the home had a trustworthy lock on the front door, as it took us multiple attempts to figure out how it worked. We knew from online that this house had everything that we would need to suit our family for the one night stay. 

But upon walking through the door, the smell of animal urine hit us, and remained thick in the air. It looked like the owners of the home had not visited their property between stays and if they did it was only to rearrange pillows and recenter the decor. The furniture, including all of the bedding, smelled like it had just been removed from under a caked layer of dust. After touring the house a little bit more, we noticed paint chipping on the walls beside the mounted T.V. and appliances in unconventional places. The fridge stood on a wall in the kitchen blocking a small hallway with a basement door. This would not have been a problem if my Dad was not dragging our suitcases in through the back door, which fed into the basement. It left us frustrated as access to the door was needed. 

As we settled for the night, we began to take turns showering. We were pleased to see that they offered shower products even though we had brought our own. As I was the next person to shower, we came to the realization that the owners only supplied us with two towels for a four guest booking. We were very disappointed as my brother and had no choice but to use small hand towels and anything else we could find. It was great that my family had privacy from one another as the home had three bedrooms to accommodate all of us. The beds were in desperate need of updating though. When the night rolled into morning, everyone was complaining about how we could feel the bedsprings beneath us as we restlessly twisted and turned throughout the night. 

The dishes were still dirty from the previous stay or from poor dishwashing skills, which leads us to believe that the owners did not care much to tidy up before their next booking. We decided to ditch out on any breakfast at the house and left early to get on the road and grab some food.

Due to our extreme disappointment, my mom contacted the owner to discuss our stay. I would not recommend this home to anyone staying in the Knoxville area. After this experience I would suggest caution to those who are looking into AirBnB’s. Reviews are the most important part of the searching process! Do not overlook bad ratings and other important components just because a place looks good on paper and in pictures.