My girlfriend and I recently stayed at Barbara’s apartment in Berlin which turned out to be a terrible experience. She met us upon arrival and gave us an introduction for over an hour. This was nice but unnecessary. We were on vacation we did not want to hear an hour of rules that we could read on the Air bnb website.
Barbara is very meticulous with how she keeps her apartment. Everything is white and clean. In her introduction she goes over how to use every appliance, which windows you are allowed to open, how to drape the curtains, and how to make the fold out bed. She then leaves notes throughout the apartment detailing which windows you are allowed to open along with other rules. I get it, she cares about her stuff and wants to keep it nice. But this is an air bnb with guests constantly coming in and out. Maybe she should make her place a bit more basic if she’s so worried about her things. This puts stress on the guest and made us feel like we couldn’t relax in the apartment.
I have stayed at Airbnb’s before and I always try to leave everything exactly how I found it after I leave to make cleaning easier for the host. Since my girlfriend and I knew that Barbara was strict about her rules of the apartment, we used as little as possible. We only used the fold out bed, the bathroom and two cups for drinking tap water. We never cooked, used any kitchen appliances or any other dishes since we felt uneasy about using her things.
On the day of check out, we had to leave at 730am to catch our flight. Barbara said she would not meet us that early in the morning and to leave the key hung up behind the door. We cleaned up the apartment and did as she said.
The next night, I get an email from Barbara saying her coffee pot was broken . She emailed me a receipt for $75 demanding that I reimburse her for the part she ordered. She then scolded us for not telling her it was broken before we left because it caused stress on her in preparation for her next guest. I have NO IDEA how the pot broke and I certainly NEVER touched the coffee pot or any other kitchen appliances. I told her I am sorry it broke but we never touched the coffee pot at all. The last person to touch the machine was her when she showed us how to use it on our arrival. She then begins arguing with me and blaming me in her email saying it was my fault and I need to pay her. She stated that we told her we are avid coffee drinkers so we must have broken it. What?! As I stated before, my girlfriend and I ate out for breakfast and coffee everyday. Never used her coffee.
It is truly upsetting for someone to accuse me of something i didn’t do especially with no proof. Even when you could clearly see we didn’t use any appliances in the kitchen. I pride myself in taking care of the air bnbs I stay at and I certainly would have owned up to damaged property if it was my fault.
***BEWARE***My advice to future travelers would be to INSIST that Barbara meet you on your time of departure so you can check the place TOGETHER and confirm everything is fine. Otherwise, she may accuse you of something you didn’t do. I definitely do NOT recommend staying here though and will advise my friends and family the same. It was a very weird turn of events and the whole process was extremely uncomfortable.