As promised, below are some photos from a recent weekend trip to St. Petersburg.

Unfortunately, our stay in the tiny home we rented from Airbnb wasn’t as pleasant as we had hoped. Because this is my first bad experience with an Airbnb rental, I thought I’d go ahead and share about it, too.

As you can see from the pictures, the tiny home was super cute. It was decorated in a “Little Havana” style and there were lots of little touches throughout — vintage books, tropical throw pillows, stenciled floors…you get the idea. And it was small…which of course, is the point (and the appeal) of booking a tiny home.

However, of all the Airbnbs I’ve stayed at, this one was by far the dirtiest. The coffee pot was covered with a film of gunk. The window sills all had a layer of dust. There was a wad of dirty/wet paper towels the size of a house-cat in the tub. Not cute!

Because it was nearing bedtime by the time we started to notice all of this, we decided to tough it out. (Upon arrival, we’d tossed our bags inside and headed out to explore, get food, etc. As ya do!) And honestly, I thought it was still livable…just not getting a good review.

Oh but then dear readers, I climbed into the bed. And it STUNK. The mattress was putting off an odor that was part cat pee, part body odor. Also…NOT CUTE! Yet, and I hate to admit this here…I slept in it. Well, sleep is a strong word for the situation. I laid in it for a night.

Not wanting to go for round 2 on sleepless nights, Airbnb was contacted and we were able to cancel // get a refund for the rest of our trip! Praise be for good customer service on Airbnb’s end. Not so much on the end of our hosts, though. They were out of town… Something I think I’ll be more aware of prior to making any future bookings through Airbnb.

So, while I was super excited about experiencing tiny home living…by the end of my trip I was shacking up in a Doubletree king size bed. C’est la vie! *shrug emoji*

And the happy ending for the story? Once the hosts were back on site and saw the tiny home, they realized their cleaning service had def been doing them dirty (har har!), apologized profusely, and issued us a FULL refund. Thanks dudes! Can’t say I’ll be back (or link to any of your properties here, sozz!) but I won’t slam your review section with ALL the sordid details.

Onto the pics…

The Takeaway…

If we hadn’t been paying a pretty decent cleaning fee… and had there not been any available/comparably priced accommodations nearby, we probably would have just made it work. But we were and there were.

If your Airbnb isn’t up to snuff or you feel like it isn’t quite what was advertised, communicate with your hosts and get Airbnb involved if needed. They may have a solution that works for you but you’ll never know unless you ask! Airbnb requires photo documentation and gives the host 2hrs to come up with a plan. (If the host has multiple properties, sometimes they’ll move you into another one of their own.) However, if they can’t come up with a satisfying solution, Airbnb will cancel your booking and issue you a refund. The more you know!

Some St. Pete places I CAN endorse…

Karma Juice Bar & Eatery
The Hangar Restaurant and Flight Lounge
BellaBrava
St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club
Museum of Fine Arts
Savory Spice Shop

Ok, thanks for making it to the end of this somewhat ridiculous post. Here’s a picture of us enjoying golden hour in downtown St. Pete before you go. 🙂 (…just to prove we actually had a good time and aren’t just fussy lunatics lol)

Have you ever been to St. Petersburg? Have you ever stayed in a tiny home (or do you LIVE in one full-time!)? Do you have any Airbnb HORROR stories? I’d love to hear about any and all of the above! xoxo