Booked a place in Savannah, GA for 200 USD a day. ...

Booked a place in Savannah, GA for 200 USD a day. Turned out to be located in an area of the town I would describe as torn down and actually dangerous. After a little research it turns out that we became the victim of a predatory landlord who buys dirt cheap places in these kind of areas (he claimed to own 17(!) properties in this "gorgeous" area) and rents them out to unknowing tourists making a huge margin.

We refused to check in, and the guy owning the place refused to give us back our money. What I really found problematic is the fact, that it is impossible to reclaim the full amount via the airbnb dispute resolution center, as airbnb insists on their cut of the rent, even if they obviously fail to perform any vetting of their landlords deserving the name.

Hence I will now directly reclaim the money via Amex and see what will happen.

My personal conclusion is, that a once great idea falls apart once the greed sets in. Very sad.

P.S.: here are some photographs of the lots adjacent to the place. Whoever lives in places like Detroit (like I do), might find them familiar. And Detroit actually came a long way, and I like the things I see there.