This is a mixed review. The location of the apartment is excellent, being in very close proximity to transport, food, shops etc; the floor space is large and spacious, the beds are comfortable, and the apartment kitchen is well stocked. The 3rd bedroom would be better described as an open loft, so there are no surprises with having no door.
I didn’t expect to have pick up the key in another location within the city via a lockbox, because 6pm was considered a late checkin. Lockboxes are commonly used, however, at the actual premises and not attached to a business door in the busy traffic of the CBD. Staff had also changed their pickup arrangements from ‘leaving on the table’ and sending me a building code to get in, back to the city lockbox, while we were halfway through our 7 hour drive to Melbourne…. with me having to make calls because staff would hang up. This was the most stressful check in I’ve experienced and was beginning to question if we would even be able to enter the apartment.
The apartment was dirty and clearly not been cleaned other then a ‘touch surface’ (wipe taps, benches, make beds, stock toilet paper, etc). There was a pile of rubbish in the bathroom/ laundry, heavy dust buildup on surfaces, dirty cushions on bed, filthy shower, dirt and debris around the skirtings and even debris on the floor including a soda can ring pull and a used Band-Aid.
We also had requested (phone then in writing as requested), extra blankets/ doonas because the supplied were only summer weight, but they never were delivered. We had to run the heater 24/7 to keep warm enough to sleep. The main living space was missing both the blinds (brackets were there) so this was a large area where heat was lost too. Note: we are not QLDs but from the ACT and very used to much colder then the current Melbourne temperatures.
Overall, this is the 1st time in all my years of using Airbnb, I have booked a place where the owner isn’t available to communicate with, and hands over the responsibility to a 3rd party booking/ accommodation business. After checkin and blanket issues, I realised there was no point communicating further… it’s a mute point. I have taken photos to send to the owner… cannot really call ‘host’, so he gets a visual on the cleanliness his apartment is being rented out. I now understand clearly about some of the reviews given.
Despite these issues, it’s still a very spacious and well situated apartment.