While the apartment itself was great, clean and well-located and my initial communication with Jul was friendly and timely, ultimately I did not find Jul to be an understanding or kind host. I found him to be defensive, condescending and not understanding of certain issues. I consider myself a good guest and I am very transparent and communicative if I see issues, sometimes just for the knowledge of the host.
First, check-in was smooth and nice, the place was clean and they let me drop my bag off early while the woman was still cleaning it. After the cleaning person left, I noticed a trail of ants by the bed. I simply notified the host just as a courtesy and to suggest ant traps and ask if he had any. He met my simple courtesy notification very defensively.
Second, the intercom to let someone into the apartment was a bit old and hard to use. I pressed the button to open the door and it got stuck. I immediately wrote a message to Jul to tell him this had happened but he didn’t respond.
Third, today at 10:55, before check-out, without ANY notice, the cleaning staff open the door with a key while I am still in the apartment. I was alarmed as a single woman staying alone. I was ready to check-out, but no notice was given to me that 3 people would be entering the apartment.
Fourth, Jul is the third person to walk in - I kindly notify him again about the intercom button being stuck. And he accuses me of damaging it. I told him that the button was old and got stuck, he again says you damaged it - it was not like this before. He took no consideration of the fact that the button was old and faulty - I merely pressed it - so for it to get stuck, has to me a symptom of a previous problem. He know says I owe €25 to fix the damages but immediately after leaving so this is without proof of an invoice or an estimate from anyone. I asked him to please get an estimate and an invoice and we can handle it through airbnb. He condescendingly then told me that he was more experienced than I know, so he knows the process. If I rightfully damaged something, I am happy to cover the costs but there was zero understanding on the host’s part that perhaps there was an issue before.
I read a couple reviews before that Jul was incredibly defensive if you made him aware of an issue. I now see that. Please know that if you have any issue during your stay, you’re likely to be met with defensiveness and claims that it was not an issue previously and that no guests have ever complained about it before. This to me is not a hospitable manner of engaging with guests.
Overall, my interactions with him were uncomfortable and left me with a sense of uneasiness and lack of trust.
While the apartment was extremely beautiful and unique, I would not stay again because of Jul’s reaction to any potential issues and also the entire team coming in without notice to me before checking out.