Host refuses to grant reasonable heating in winter

[Dev13]

My host is not heating the house, or at least my room, adequately. 

Two things: 

1) I am long-term traveller who has had over 11 succesful long-stay visits with hosts all over Europe during the Winter time (Iceland, Hungary, Czech Republic, England etc)

2) In none of my reviews have I ever complained about heat, nor have any of my hosts complained about me turning up the heat. 

Currently I am staying four weeks in Rome, Italy during January. It is cold: the locals here are wearing (real) fur coats paired with long sweaters, leggings and long sleeve shirts, mits and hats. It is around 32-37 degrees during the day, on a good day 47 degrees. At night the temp drops drastically.

The apartment I am in is not well insulated, the ceilings are high and there is no dual pane windows. 

And there is no heat. During the day the host, of course, turns off the heat, as to be expected but it is midnight on a Sunday, the host is nowhere to be found and there is zero heat in the whole house. Even on evenings when the host is here the heat is turned on so low I can place my whole hand over the radiatior without it getting warm.

Also, I am wearing multiple layers: indoors. i am wearing pants, socks (and tennis shoes, to keep the cold out of my feet), a long sleeve shirt, a wool duster AND a parka with a wool cap...to no avail. When I try to work on my laptop my fingers begin to freeze and I shake. I estimate it is probably 40-45, maybe 50 degrees in this room and the entire house. 

I brought this up to the host, just asked to turn up the heat, at least in my room and she took me over to the heater and was like 'it's maxmimum.' I'm not asking for maximum and btw, if my palm can rest on your radiator for five minutes without even a singe, it's really not maximum, is it?

Anyways, tonight all the radiators are off. The heat controll is nowhere to be found. It's midnight, I am afraid to take a bath for fear of hypothermia. 

I really feel this is unacceptable. I visited Rekyavik in February...it was snowing so hard we could barely walk outside and the host had the house heated properly and I did not complain. I visited Czech Repblic in late Fall and winter, Berlin in winter and same...so how do I really get this host to understand that leaving the house at night unproperly maintained between 7pm-10pm...the times when I come back home from sightseeing and use my room to unwind, work, read and rest, is completely unacceptable? I get turning the heat off after midnight but it's midnight now and I have been too cold to go horizontal. 

Help Airbnb! I really feel like this host is being a total gyp about heating. 

[Helen3]

@Dev13

If the host refuses to heat the house adquately you need to speak to Airbnb. Hopefully you have followed up your requests through Airbnb messaging so there is a record that you ask the host to put the heating  on at reasonable level and host doesn't agree.

Of course a radiator should be very hot to the touch, when it is on.

But just as a heads up it is quite normal in Europe to not have the heating on overnight.

I normally have my heating on about 21c during the day but my house is well insulated.

The option is that you are ask Airbnb to cancel the booking and help you find somewhere else.

[Dev13]

I am not talking about overnight. I like it cold when I sleep anyways. I am talking about dinner hours between 7pm and 10 or 11pm when it's time to cook, shower, groom, unwind, read and work. 

[Mark116]

@Dev13  I don't want to be  unkind, but the high in Rome today was 58, the low is to be 36, the next week it is forecast to be in the 50s in the day and the mid 30s at night, this is not that cold, and I very, very much doubt it is only 50 degrees inside the house, especially if the heat is on for even some parts of the day.  I think you were on another thread where you stated you expected the temperature in a house to be 75 or even 80 degrees.

But, I would suggest that if you cant' work out the heating with your host to your satisfaction that you request airbnb to cancel your reservation and find a different place.

[Dev13]

I wish this forum had an easier way to upload photos because as of five minutes ago my weather app read

49 degrees

FEELS LIKE 39 degrees

Humidity 92%

Which means that even the metorologists realize there are extenuating factors --like humidity, in this case, or wind-- that alter way the conditions are felt and percieved. As someone who hails from the Pacific Northwest, Oregon and Seattle winters range from 50-32 but are chalk full of humidity I can honestly say that a sunny day with humidty that rankles at 40 or even 50 degrees is a more bone chilling than a 20 degree winter in a dry climate. And having experienced two winters in Western Mass, I was far more comfertable in the snowy, often freezing but dry conditions there than in my own state where a sunny day just meant the humidity was in the air...and in your bones.

And, to prove the point further, the host came home little over two hours ago, around midnight, turned up the heat to maximum, watched tv, took a shower then went to bed. So even they don't like to be in the house without the heater on.

50 degrees is not a liveable, workable space. It's cold, it's not good to shower in and 42 degrees that feels like 39 degrees isn't great either: assuming the house is boosted up another ten degrees on top of that, it's still too, **bleep** cold durig evening hours when a guest comes back to unwind, shower, **bleep**, resond to emails and sleep. I would be happy with 60 degrees or a nice 70 degrees. I dont like sleeping in overwarm houses, so I'm okay with dropping the heat down at night. And altough I'd reserve 80 for a winter in Iceland or Northern Michigan (people there actually do put their heaters up to that spec, btw), no, I don't think it's completely unreasonable for guests from tropical places, like Hawaii or Thailand, to request some additional accomodation in their rooms for some extra money. (I think I mentioned that it's reasonable to offer extra money for lots of heat in my last post). 

I'm not sure why your post was so condensending -- you really looked up the weather over here to prove a point? You honestly sound like another guy trying to mansplain away a very real, physical concern. 

[Mark116]

There are two people in our photo, only one of us is a man, LOL.

Good luck, you should do what @Ute42 recommends and get a thermostat so you can record the temperature and then take whatever next steps are appropriate.  

ETA, I looked up the weather, because having been in Rome in the Winter, I didn't recall it being only in the 30s, so I checked.

[Dev13]

for the reference: mansplaining is an urban term that can be applied to both men and women. 

[Sarah977]

@Dev13 It was warmer than 39-49° in an Inuit igloo in the winter.

[Sarah977]

@Mark116 I don't think you can look at some temperature readings for somewhere on the other side of the planet and tell someone that it's not cold where they are. In the summer here it wouldn't seem to be too hot if you just looked at the temperature. But with 97% humidity, it actually feels much hotter, like sweating, sweltering, don't have the energy to do anything  hot.

[Qte0]

See this the sad part, you are basing this off your own body heat. How is that fair to a guest who's from a different country and isn't use to cold temperatures like that? And not all people are cold natured.

The problem is Airbnb need to either give you guys a specific allowance when it comes to heating, or make it mandatory for hosts to include how the heating works in their descriptions. That way, guests will have a choice to make.

[Ute42]

.

Hi @Dev13,

from reading Your reviews You seem to be a lovely person.

In live in Germany. If You are a landlord in Germany renting out a flat to a tenant, You have to obey general rules in the rentalbusiness based on laws and jurisdiction. According to said regulations the heating period in Germany is from october 1st to april 30. In this time period as a landlord You have to provide an inroom temperature between 20 to 22 degrees Celsius (68 to 71 F) from 6 am to midnight. From midnight to 6 am a minimun temperature of 18 degrees Celsius (64 F) has to be provided. If a landlord fails to provide said temperatures, the tenant is entitled to cut the rent.

What I'm saying is, it is not a question that Your host „feels“ the temperature is sufficiant whereas You „feel“ it is not sufficiant. No, there are regulations on minimum temperatures not only in Germany but also in Italy, the UK and other places. The indoor temperature You report of 47 degrees F which ist 8 degrees Celsius is dead cold and completely unacceptable.

Get Yourself a cheap thermometer, take a picture, send it to airbnb and talk to them on the telephone to rehouse You at no cost.

47 F/8 C as an indoor temperature for a rented place is an absolute joke.

[Dev13]

Thank you for your lovely explanation. I am not in Germany, nor have I ever had problems (in wintertime) with the heat being too low. In fact, my partner and I would often lower the heat (in our own private apartment) even more because my partner and I enjoy sleeping 'cold.' But this is useful to know in Germany.

I will get a thermometer. 

I really like my host, but the house is definitely too cold. The host came home late, turned the heat to maximum (radiator felt hot for first time in days), then they showered, ate, did a few chores, watched tv and went to bed. So whatever the temperature is even they -a local- felt the house was too cold to actually move around in reasonably. 

[Dev13]

@Ute42 @Helen3

Update and question:

the host offered to move me into a different (but same floorplan) room because she says the heat works better there. The catch is that she wants me to cancel my current reservation and take the adjacent room.

While I don't distrust her or her offer I wonder what ramifications this would have on my stay. I'm fine with switching the rooms but I don't feel like cancelling my reservation with Aibnb so she can free up the room I'm staying in is a good idea, either. Wouldn't that leave me without a safety net? And what about the reviews? 

Thoughts? Trying to furiously research this so I don't go into a situation tomorrow unprepared. 

Is there a way to change rooms without cancelling my reservation or paying additional money?

They are virtually the same, exact room, except (apparently) one has more reliable heating? The radiator in the room I am in is long and tall and has no apparent knobs to turn on while the other is a short, belly-level heater with a knob she twisted when she showed me. Not super familiar with radiators but I guess the one in my room is not capable of me turning it on though it does seem to work because when she came back home and turned it on the heat was good. 

Feedback on the technicality of swapping rooms and reservations would be greatly appreciated before tomorrow morning. Thanks!

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Dev13

if you cancel your long term reservation you will not be refunded for the rest of the month. This room will be available for others to book, this is why she wants you to cancel and book another room. It is ok but DON'T CANCEL BY YOURSELF, let Airbnb cancels.

If you really want to move to another room then you should contact Airbnb to help you relocate to another room (if another room is also listed on Airbnb)

If I were you I wouldn't do it. I would contact Airbnb, provide a proof of how cold the room is (did you buy a thermometer?) and ask them to cancel and to refund me so I can book somewhere else.

Gas is very expensive in Croatia and heating bills here are high but in my Airbnb apartments we have thermostats and my guests can adjust the temperature as they like. I would never allow them to freeze, this is unacceptable. And yes, heating is on 24/7 it is up to my guests to lower the temperature during the night if they want to.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

read about long term cancelation policy here

https://www.airbnb.com/home/cancellation_policies#long-term