Michael Huang reserved a studio apartment in Penang, Malaysia, through [Booking.com](http://Booking.com) for his family. He arrived to blood stains on the surfaces, mold on the walls, spiderwebs, a stained mattress and bedding with a stranger's hair in it.

He didn't try to make it work. He returned the keys to the lockbox, found emergency accommodations and paid for them out of pocket. Total loss on the original booking: $313.

He sent [Booking.com](http://Booking.com) the photos. A representative wrote back that the refund decision always remains with the property, and that the host had refused compensation.

The story goes into what makes a rental uninhabitable rather than simply unpleasant, whether the platform or the host owes the money, and how Huang built his paper trail.

[https://www.elliott.org/advocacy/no-blood-on-the-walls-does-not-count-as-a-vacation-rental-amenity/](https://www.elliott.org/advocacy/no-blood-on-the-walls-does-not-count-as-a-vacation-rental-amenity/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=no-blood-on-the-walls-does-not-count-as-a-vacation-rental-amenity)

Where's your line? What would you have to walk into before you'd leave a rental and eat the cost?

Booked a studio in Penang through Booking.com, found blood and mold, and got told the refund was the host's call