I arrived at the house in the evening, after the host had left. We had a Zoom call before I accepted the sitting, but I hadn’t been to the apartment before. When I arrived, I saw the apartment was extremely cluttered. There was stuff covering all horizontal and some vertical spaces. Basically, there was just enough floor space to allow walking from room to room.
The bed linens were not changed. The clean linens were left on top of the bed for me to remove the used ones and put on the fresh ones. I texted the host to verify that this was the case, and she replied that yes, “she just couldn’t get motivated to change the sheets.”
There was literally no space available in the bedroom for anything. The floors and any furniture (such as dressers and the closet) were covered with boxes, baskets, dirty laundry, clothes, and personal items. The nightstand was covered with personal items including toiletries, medications, and a travel mug with liquid still in it.
There was nowhere to put any of my stuff. The only space available in the bedroom was a few square feet between the closet and the bed to put my suitcase on. The only seating in the house was one armchair in the living room, and any type of desk or table was covered with piles of stuff. There was nowhere to eat unless standing up or sitting in the armchair with your plate in your lap. The kitchen counter and stovetop were cluttered and dirty, and the fridge stank and had moldy food in it.
This was supposed to be a one-week sitting, and I don’t think I should have to deal with filth and mess just to be able to perform basic daily life activities such as cooking, eating, and using the bathroom! When I spoke to the host and told her I would have to clean the bathroom before I could even use it (this was before I saw the dirty kitchen), she said, “It’s clean! If it is not up to your standards, leave!”
Because I did not have anywhere I could go that night, I said I would stay. After a bit, I realized it was unreasonable for me to live like that for a week and decided to take her up on her “offer” to leave. I told her that I would stay the night, but she should make other arrangements for the rest of the week. I told her that if she couldn’t find a solution by the next evening, I would stop by to take care of the cats. Her only response was “ok.” The next morning, after taking care of the cats, I left and sent her a message reiterating that if she needed me to, I would stop by in the evening. She said it wouldn’t be necessary.
And now she has launched a complaint against me for leaving the sitting unilaterally…
Previous sitters either did not leave a review, or referenced only the cats and the neighborhood, not the host, or the house, which now I know are huge red flags!!!