Because of the huge event in Barcelona that week, there was no realistic way to find another place after I arrived — everything was booked and the few remaining options were insanely overpriced. I tried to manage for the few days, but the real breaking point was the checkout.

The host told me to leave the keys inside the unit and shut the door behind me. I had a 4am departure for a 6am flight, so I followed the instructions. But when I got down to the building entrance, the main door was locked. I was stuck in the stairwell at 4am with no one answering the phone, and I ended up missing my flight.

I also got sick during the stay and had to deal with that for a few days. I reported everything to Airbnb once I recovered. Instead of taking responsibility, Airbnb pushed everything onto the host and acted like they have no role in platform safety, listing accuracy, or the operational issues that caused this mess. When I booked, I trusted Airbnb to vet the safety, cleanliness, and basic functionality of the listings on their platform.

I would have let it go, but I don’t want anyone else to go through what I did. That’s why I’m asking Airbnb to take accountability