For the most part, my AirBnB experiences have been really positive. So far each one has had at least one thing wrong with it, but often getting to meet someone new or seeing a different part of the city or having other really nice amenities easily makes up for it. Better experience and/or cheaper than many hotels, and, as with hotels, if you spend more you get a nicer experience. Still, this post is a listing of those nigglings.

Once I got to LA in September, I decided that I wanted to live in a bunch of different places to check out different neighborhoods before committing to a place more permanently. My appointment at Pepperdine is for this school year, which is about 8 months, so the plan was to check out different places for 2 months and then sign a 6-month lease. At the time, this plan also made sense because I knew I was going to be gone for 3 weeks at a couple of different conferences in October, so why pay rent for those 3 weeks?

One

I’m counting my first AirBnB experience back in January when I stayed in a shabby chic apartment near the Pepperdine building in West LA.

Before booking it, I didn’t know that “shabby chic” was a thing, so when I got there, I mentioned to Robin how bizarrely appointed it was… like fake antiques with a bunch of frilly stuff… She asked me if it was shabby chic, and I was amazed that she knew the adjectives in the listing title. 😛

No desk. In fact, no flat surface at all other than the kitchen counter.

Two

The first week of my actual appointment was good. I got here September 6. Hella hot during a heat wave. The two sisters were really nice. Their floor was a little dirty and I’m used to walking around barefoot.

Black feet at the end of each day. Neighbor’s smoke alarm chirping the whole week.

Three

Nice one bedroom apartment to myself! Even hotter than the previous week. I mostly laid around wishing I was back in Seattle.

Ants. Lots of ants. I put my garbage in the fridge for fear of attracting even more ants.

Four

A room in a really expensive house. The owner didn’t let me know that there’d be another guest, which I felt kinda awkward about…

Uncomfortable desk chair.

Five

Amazing food nearby on Sawtelle. The ramen is prob the best I’ve ever had. I had almost the whole downstairs of a townhouse to myself, which was also great.

Crappy phone reception.

Six

A one bedroom to myself again. By this time I had ordered and put together a new mini desktop computer, so I rearranged the furniture so that the kitchen table became my computer desk with the 42″ TV as my monitor. Played Wasteland 2 with the A/C on. 🙂

Next door were neighbors who played action movies with their TV right against the adjoining wall, and upstairs was someone with a dog that click click clacked all day and night.

Even crappier phone reception which made it hard to schedule appointments to check out places to live.

Seven

Nice location, and the hosts basically saved my butt. I had planned on finding a place to live by Nov 1, but the leasing company for the apartment I applied to weren’t returning my messages on Halloween. I had the check ready and had passed through their loops (incl. paying for a credit/background check) and everything! I spent the evening looking for a place to live with little luck since I assume everyone else was out partying. These hosts got back to me about 3 hours before I had to check out of Six!

Shared a two bedroom with the hosts’ roommate who they told me not to talk to. They mentioned it five times! She seemed nice, but I locked my room at night, just in case.

Eight

Cramped place really close to the beach. I picked it for it’s location and because, well, frankly, I was desperate again since on Monday afternoon the leasing company decided to tell me that they rented the apartment out to someone else. WTF?!

I sort of wish I hadn’t rushed to find a place… though I was sort of forced to. Turns out the host is a single mom with slight hoarding tendencies whose kids were visiting their dad or something. I stayed in their room surrounded by toys and stuff and with my feet dangling off the kid-sized bed. The washer’s spin cycle seemed to be broken (I’ve been doing laundry each week since I only have enough clothes for a week), so they took foooorever to dry. The two cats were nice, but I noticed one of them scratching and biting itself a lot.

Fleas. And upon closer inspection, flea poop under the covers of the bed I was sleeping in.

Nine

So, I fled that one! I was going to stay in Eight from the 5th to the 19th of November. I fled on the 7th once I realized how horrendous it was, what with all the fleas and all… mostly fleas. Fleas! Canceled my reservation, got refunded, and took all my shit to a Starbucks to find yet another emergency place. Oh, yeah… I’ve been traveling between places by bus and foot! The last three places I had to find a place that I could get to on foot since my mini-computer on top of my one suitcase was too cumbersome to bring onto a bus… So yeah, I’ve been walking a few miles with luggage around LA. 🙂

Anyway, Nine. Very lovely. The host saved my ass… this was even more harrowing finding a place than the previous ones since it was very, very short notice as I abandoned Eight. But it’s great!

With crappy wifi.

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Nine will be my last AirBnB for a while (I think). While apartment searching, I found a nice person who offered her spare bedroom for the rest of November, and hopefully by December I’ll have a “permanent” home with a cool person for the rest of the school year.