Well that certainly didn’t work out for me…
I’ve been sharing my home with people from Kindred since March of this year.
In many ways, it was a nice experience. People seemed very grateful and kind
I have a luxury apartment in Puerto Vallarta, with a gorgeous view from the very large terrace and a stunning rooftop pool.
The cleaners have thrown out all the food they found in the fridge and freezer, even though it is not a rental suite. That was costly,
Almost all the gifts that have been left for me have disappeared.
The cleaner put my antique woollen Kilim rug into the washing machine and dryer, destroying it and Kindred won’t cover the costs of repairing it, as they say they don’t cover antiques and collectibles.
Trinkets have disappeared from my home and recently, someone took a brand new blanket set and two pillow cases from another set.
This has been a very costly experience and I get kind words from Kindred but nothing more…
In many ways, it was a nice experience. People seemed very grateful and kind
I have a luxury apartment in Puerto Vallarta, with a gorgeous view from the very large terrace and a stunning rooftop pool.
The cleaners have thrown out all the food they found in the fridge and freezer, even though it is not a rental suite. That was costly,
Almost all the gifts that have been left for me have disappeared.
The cleaner put my antique woollen Kilim rug into the washing machine and dryer, destroying it and Kindred won’t cover the costs of repairing it, as they say they don’t cover antiques and collectibles.
Trinkets have disappeared from my home and recently, someone took a brand new blanket set and two pillow cases from another set.
This has been a very costly experience and I get kind words from Kindred but nothing more…
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Immature service
I’ve used the service three times: once as a host and twice as a guest. Hosting went smoothly, and my guest was great. The process was mostly clear although there were some minor glitches. However, Both experiences as a guest were problematic.
In New York, I spent more than an hour dragging luggage through roughly 20 cm of snow, going between two key pickup locations far from the apartment, looking for a key that wasn’t there. It turned out that a bug in the app was showing outdated pickup instructions. I eventually got access, but only after a completely avoidable ordeal.
On the other stay, the key pickup instructions were missing, making it difficult to access the apartment again. The apartment was also in a very old building with central heating that I couldn’t control or turn off when it overheated. It did not match the exclusive, high-end accommodation the service advertises at all, in that sense it felt over-marketed.
It is still cheaper than a hotel or many airbnbs, but you still need to pay a real fee, not just a nominal one, which goes to the company as revenue. But they don’t actually provide the housing, the host does, so it’s paying for the customer support and coordination, which is like this?
Support acknowledged my complaint and offered a few free nights. But my personal experience is that this is a unreliable, unprofessional service, with barely any apparent quality control. It fell below what I’d expect from Airbnb, let alone professional hospitality and I don’t think I’ll use it again even with the free nights.
In New York, I spent more than an hour dragging luggage through roughly 20 cm of snow, going between two key pickup locations far from the apartment, looking for a key that wasn’t there. It turned out that a bug in the app was showing outdated pickup instructions. I eventually got access, but only after a completely avoidable ordeal.
On the other stay, the key pickup instructions were missing, making it difficult to access the apartment again. The apartment was also in a very old building with central heating that I couldn’t control or turn off when it overheated. It did not match the exclusive, high-end accommodation the service advertises at all, in that sense it felt over-marketed.
It is still cheaper than a hotel or many airbnbs, but you still need to pay a real fee, not just a nominal one, which goes to the company as revenue. But they don’t actually provide the housing, the host does, so it’s paying for the customer support and coordination, which is like this?
Support acknowledged my complaint and offered a few free nights. But my personal experience is that this is a unreliable, unprofessional service, with barely any apparent quality control. It fell below what I’d expect from Airbnb, let alone professional hospitality and I don’t think I’ll use it again even with the free nights.
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Beware of the cleaners kindred contracts
Very disappointed with Kindred’s response to a significant security issue we had after hosting. The cleaning company they contracted left a door wide open, not just unlocked but wide open, and did not set our home alarm. This was discovered 2 days later by a friend checking on things for us as we had not returned home. The Kindred response to this was a sorry and a token credit to our account. After advising that this was not good enough they acknowledged the significance of the issue and then increased the coupon by another small amount. If you use this service do not trust that Kindred will contract trustworthy cleaners and they certainly will not make appropriate amends when they have been responsible for significant security breaches to your home.
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Fees are unreasonable
The entire premise of this system is that Kindred directly connects people who are willing to host others in their home and exchange for getting to stay in other people’s homes for free. That value proposition is ruined by Kindred’s outrageous fees — at $50/night, plus a $250 cleaning fee, the platform undermine the entire reason for sharing your home, which is free accommodation somewhere else… well it may be marginally less expensive than a hotel, it doesn’t make up for the inconvenience of sharing your home with strangers while you’re away.
The “feel good” vibe of this platform is undermined by its profit infrastructure.
The “feel good” vibe of this platform is undermined by its profit infrastructure.
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Great app until it wasn’t
No lie, terrific app at first, recommended it to several people. Where it gets tricky is the passport. I felt mislead by direct conversations with kindred employees after about a year of having the app and seeing that you’re at the mercy of other travers. I live in a popular (and party) city, in an affluent family neighborhood that is not in the middle of the craziness. The credits they give you are amazing, but once they are gone, you cannot do anything about it besides wait for someone to want to stay at you place—and if you live in a market where this makes sense, great! Otherwise, if you use passport, it’s a very long and expensive commitment to something that serves zero to little purpose.
However, make sure you check your area to see if it is actually useful before signing up for a passport have analysed terms and conditions as trying to get in contact doesn’t work until you threaten legal action.
They would do better to give options to people who have done what they’re asking and receive not stays so we aren’t just paying to prop up this business model.
However, make sure you check your area to see if it is actually useful before signing up for a passport have analysed terms and conditions as trying to get in contact doesn’t work until you threaten legal action.
They would do better to give options to people who have done what they’re asking and receive not stays so we aren’t just paying to prop up this business model.
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