First up, I want to say that the apartment was lovely and spacious, although not very private as the windows for the living areas are directly overlooked from the public areas of the apartment complex. The queen bed in the front bedroom was very comfortable. It was quiet and I was able to work comfortably from the dining table . I needed last minute accommodation due to a disastrous plumbing failure at my house, so it fit the bill really well from that respect. The person who met me to hand over the keys was right on time, which was appreciated.
There was an issue with the smoke alarm from the neighbouring apartment that the guest had put out on their terrace that pinged all night, but was fixed promptly the next day.
When I was looking at the place online, prior to booking, I noticed a few reviews that raised concerns about cleanliness, but the host's responses to feedback on this topic made me think that things had been addressed.
There were a number of things that indicate that this is definitely not the case.
There was at best, a superficial level of cleaning done prior to my stay. Given that the host charges a separate cleaning fee of a few hundred dollars, quite frankly I think the cleaner is ripping them off.
I had to wash 2 of the pots in the kitchen before using them for the first time.
There is a part missing off the kitchen tap so when you turn it on it sprays water all over the place. Incredibly frustrating. Resorted to filling the kettle up in the shower.
The insides of the kitchen drawers are in a few places badly worn and stained.
There was a single coffee pod in the cupboard, and half a jar of instant coffee. I think you should either leave a decent supply of coffee pods, or don’t include /supply them at all.
The bedsheets on the queen bed had stains on them
The pillow I slept with was also badly stained – would suggest pillow covers under the pillow cases that can be laundered would be a great solution for this
As my stay was 10 days, I got the vacuum cleaner out to do the carpets after a few days - the vacuum was completely chock full and smelled awful as soon as I turned it on. Looks like it hasn’t been emptied for months, and barely had any suction power.
The wall around the bathroom light switch and the door around the bathroom door handles also hasn’t been wiped down for months – grubby stains from hands all over the place. In a Covid world, this is unacceptable, and also not in keeping with AirBnB's Covid cleaning guidelines
The shower screen was also in need of a proper clean at the hinge at the base.
The bathroom smelled of mildew during my entire stay – just needs to be cleaned more thoroughly on a more regular basis
The laundry needed to be mopped more thoroughly, and there was sand all over the top of the washing machine
There was barely enough laundry powder left for a single load. The guest in the neighbouring apartment kindly gave me some of theirs.
The armchair in the lounge could do with a steam clean – stains on the arm.
The courtyard is in need of a pressure clean, and a sweep up of the fallen leaves would also be good.
It all honesty. had it been just a few things, I would have alerted the host on day one and had them addressed. But, as I started to look more closely, it was seeming like a move out for a day or two while they cleaned the entire apartment from top to bottom. This simply wasn't an option as I booked at the very last minute, and there was a dreadful shortage of accommodation available in Melbourne at the time (due the Grand Prix). I contacted the host via email at the end of my stay, offered all of this feedback directly, including photos of everything, and had a cursory reply, no offer of a partial refund, and to top it all off, an invitation to stay with them again in the future! Not recommended