This apartment in Brussels was very spacious and clean.
It was in a perfect location for a short visit to Brussels. And good value for money.
But Be AWARE!!
The booking process is complicated. After booking through Airbnb we were directed to an external link to make a €500 security deposit.
This practice is not advised by Airbnb and they make it clear that this leaves the guest open to being scammed.
Airbnb support on this was poor with mixed messages. Amounting to
“It is not safe to pay outside the Airbnb platform” but also “we allow it in some circumstances”.
And “if your not happy cancel”. But you won’t get your money back because of the hosts cancellation policy.
In short Airbnb allows the practice of the host taking deposits after booking without any support.
We continued with the booking as it was late for us to change.
Do not book this place if you don’t have €500 extra to put on hold from the day before your stay till 48 hours after.
We were NOT automatically refunded our deposit 48 hours later and had to follow up to get it.
Sweet inn have now returned the deposit.
I have never experienced these practices with Airbnb or with a host before and this will make me more careful.
Airbnb’s inconsistency in their policy and mixed messages in their support were very poor in this case.