I booked this apartment for a 54 day stay in Athens. Unfortunately, my overall experience was very disappointing to say the least. The apartment itself is cute and centrally located on a quiet residential staircase in downtown Athens. Additionally, it has a nice back patio that is ideal for relaxing and having coffee. However, that is where the positive aspects of this apartment end and the many negatives begin. I would advise anyone who is thinking of booking this apartment to read about my experience first.
Upon arrival in Athens I quickly noticed that the apartment was not up to my cleanliness standards. The sheets were dirty and stained, there was mold in the couch as well as all over the spare blankets that were stored in said couch, as well as on the wall in the bathroom. Upon check-in the host even admitted that there was a problem with mold. It was evident that the only attempt made to deal with this was by hastily painting over it. Furthermore, the fan in the bathroom did not work and the lack of proper ventilation contributed to the overall musty smell of the unit. In addition to this, there were various light fixtures that did not work, the sliding screen door was broken, the provided mop and broom on the patio were caked in dirt and grime to the point of being unusable and the apartment also lacked many kitchen utensils that are necessary for preparing full meals, despite being advertised as equipped for long stays. And the dishes/utensils that were provided were dirty and needed to be washed before use.
Despite the issues outlined above, I decided to not report them to Airbnb or to the host in good faith (which I realize now was a massive error on my part and I should’ve reported the issues immediately. A valuable lesson learned), because the host seemed like a nice lady, I did not want to complicate things for her; and I thought that I could make do with the situation, especially since I did not plan to spend much time in the apartment outside of sleeping anyways. So I did as I believe most of us would do: cleaned up to the best of my ability and went on as normal.
However, I quickly changed my mind about overlooking the initial issues when I returned back to the apartment after spending a weekend away, to find that it was infested with cockroaches. While I acknowledge that big cities like Athens are bound to have a cockroach here and there, this was outside of the norm. These were huge cockroaches and more than I have ever seen before in an Athens apartment despite having spent multiple summers in the city previously. Rightfully horrified and worried for my health, I quickly vacated the apartment, contacted support and went to stay with a friend that I had in the city. Due to the large number of cockroaches present I did not believe that the issue could be rectified and I was no longer comfortable staying on the premises.
When I eventually got in contact with the host about the problem at the suggestion of support, their behavior was atrocious to say the least. She took absolutely no responsibility for the unsanitary conditions of the apartment, insisted that I did not know enough about Athens to be making the claim that I did (despite the fact that I lived here for a year in college and have spent many summers in the city). She accused me of leaving the drains uncovered and allowing cockroaches to get in the unit, despite the fact that I did not do this. I took all proper precautions before leaving for my trip. It is abundantly clear that regular pest control is not something that the host has invested in, and I would argue that it is something that is necessary in Athens, especially in a ground floor apartment like this one. On top of being accusatory, the host also called me unkind names and spoke to me in a generally rude manner. She insisted on communicating over WhatsApp even after I stated I’d rather communication be kept on the Airbnb platform, where it is monitored for everyone’s wellbeing. While I acknowledge that it is not against Airbnb’s terms and conditions, hosts should honor these kinds of requests from their guests. As far as compensation for my unfortunate situation, all that I asked for was to be refunded for the 26 remaining days of my stay that I was unable to stay in the apartment and the host rudely refused. Due to this, If I did not have friends in the city, I would’ve been left vulnerable and alone in a foreign country without anywhere to stay. A situation that would be unfavorable for anyone and especially for me as a female traveler.
In addition to all of the above, and following the poor treatment and terrible customer service I received from the host, she felt that it was appropriate to repeatedly ask me NOT to leave her a bad review, despite her behavior, because she claimed that it would cause her to lose money. All in all, if you decide to stay at Zhihua’s place, manage your expectations; and if you have any extreme circumstances such as the one that I faced, where you need to request a fair refund, do not expect her to be willing to work with you, or to accept any responsibility for the condition of the apartment that she rents out. I personally would not recommend booking this accommodation to anyone, and advise anyone who is reading this to proceed with the utmost caution.