GUESTHOUSE engiya

When Typhoon Hagibis hit, all trains and buses to and from MATSUMOTO were canceled because of flooding. The storm was described as the strongest to hit mainland Japan in decades and one of the largest ever recorded, and 121 people died. We did everything we could to reach this Airbnb, but the host would not offer any kind of refund and charged us for the full stay. I was astonished by how little empathy he showed. It felt like the money was all he cared about, and I would not recommend staying here. His response later said buses were available, but that’s simply not true. We tried to take a bus. Roads from Nagano were flooded, as was the railway. When we asked whether he could give even a partial refund, he said that’s what travel insurance is for. Other places we had booked understood and refunded us in full. It was a personal choice, and people can look up what happened during Typhoon Hagibis. Because I booked outside Airbnb, I had no recourse. He got his money, which seemed to be what mattered to him.