Not Worth the Price
(And Not Like the Photos)
Like many, we saw a beautiful British-themed Airbnb with a lovely roof terrace and thought it was a great find, but in reality it was a poorly-equipped home that was nothing like the advertised online photos.
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Online Photos:
For a start, none of the images online match what you’ll see in person. The main living room layout is completely different, with the gorgeous brown leather couches seen online being nowhere in sight (they were actually moved to the downstairs apartment instead, which is a seperate listing). The roof terrace seating is falling apart and lacks the hammock seen, instead replaced with rolls of old fake grass, left on the ground like rubbish. The flowers and lamps and lovely decor pieces seen online are all missing from the house, replaced with cheap alternatives or nothing at all. The little balcony next to the bedroom has no chair or succulent wall, instead being replaced with fake leaves and nothing else.
(Side note: one of the photos showed a projector screen down and a movie being projected onto it; there is no projector, it is just a screen they have used instead of a living room blind, so don’t get excited)
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Missing Amenities:
Secondly, it is missing so many of the standard items you’d expect from a “luxury Airbnb” (the owner’s words), including:
no ice cube trays,
no top sheets for the bed,
no shelf or rack for toiletries in the shower,
no projector as shown in photos,
and very few cooking utensils.
I wanted to have a nice cold g&t on a warm day and unfortunately it just wasn’t an option.
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Cleanliness and Quality:
Lastly, the overall quality of the apartment is just poor, given the price point and how it was advertised. The black carpet covers 90% of the living room, but there is a small strip that runs around the back of the living room that randomly isn’t carpeted, instead being tacked down with very cheap and sharp metal covers. It has also been hacked away where the fridge sits, showing raw edges and jagged sections of wood flooring. There are bits of wood screwed into doors and above the oven that have been painted to match the cupboards, but clearly were a cheap alternative to a proper solution. The inside of the bathroom vanity cupboards is raw plaster, covered in wires and cables, which looks awful and unfinished. The outside patio (again, unlike like the photos) has dying plants and MANY cobwebs over it, indicating it hasn’t been cleaned properly in years. The air conditioner vents are thick with dust and/ or mould. The pictures are all hung very close together and crooked. The leather couches are replaced with cheap IKEA couches, which are stained. The dining chairs are tattered and worn. The corners of the bathroom floor had thick buildup of dust, gunk and hairballs.
The kitchen pantry cupboard has no handles, nor does it have any sort of push-to-open clicking mechanism, meaning you have to dig your fingers into the crack and pry it open. But even if do that, one of the doors doesn’t open at all because it hits the air conditioner sitting right next to it, which shows poor planning and design. The kitchen window was also leaking when we had heavy rain.
(Side note: there are no overheard lights in the living room, besides the LED stripping inset to the roof, so be prepared to be sitting in a dark room, even with lamps on, unless you want to be bathed in sickly red and pink light all evening)
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Summary:
Was the house liveable? Yes.
Did we make do with what we had? Yes. Would I ever return? No.
If you intend to stay in this Airbnb, lower your expectations and disregard almost all of the online photos. Oh, and bring your own ice cube trays.