House was very clean to the eye, but as soon as we walked in, could tell that someone had been smoking cigarettes. House was listed as non smoking. Very strong cleaning products were used to cover up the smoke smell. Smell was so strong, it made us nauseous. Immediately alerted owner who asked if we’d still be staying or wanted to leave. Since there was no vacancy anywhere w/in 30 miles and we had just arrived that evening after an 8 hour drive, we felt stuck. Went to Walmart to buy fans to try to air out smell. Brought fans back and that’s when we realized none of the windows on the ground floor were able to be opened to air the house out. True fire hazard but it was close to 10pm at this point. Tried to open windows upstairs, but realized all windows were set at ground level (if you opened the window to let in air, you could literally walk off the 2nd floor and fall to the ground below - I had my son with me, so not safe). No AC in the upstairs (house was listed as having AC but it was on the first floor only) and we couldn’t open the windows due to issues listed plus no screens. Small plug in fans were offered in each upstairs bedroom, so owner clearly knew they had an upstairs AC issue. Left first thing the next morning bc my son’s asthma flared due to excessive heat, cleaning product chemical smell and smoke. Owner has the potential for a nice home but the overpowering chemical/smoke smell and excessive heat made the home impossible to stay at. VRBO was no help bc I left the property before contacting them (I didn’t know this rule - thought I was supposed to contact the owner first - lesson learned). Host charged me for first night plus fees but did refund my remaining two nights. Would not give me full refund bc they claimed they went to the house after we left and did not smell smoke (firmly disagree). This was after I had provided photo evidence of multiple cigarette butts that had been tossed in the outside trash can (which was located right by the screen door into the house). Very possible/likely that someone smoked outside before we got there and the cigarette smell permeated house through the screen door. Still no excuse for the chemical cover up. Wound up renting through another site but closest place I could find was over 1/2hr away.
