TL;DR: The apartment seems older and outdated but was still comfortable and nice and in a nice location. A damaged baby bed was provided and while I was offered a new one, it was only after being accused of breaking the clearly older and damaged one. This made me uncomfortable staying in this home for even a night, let alone our full stay. Momo is unprofessional and seems to lie when a guest has an issue during their stay (which I want to believe is the fault of the translation and language barrier, but after reading more negative reviews, I see a pattern).
*I will also note, as I am sure Momo will mention this, as she has to other guests: when requesting a refund, Airbnb only allows guests two options. As a host, I am aware of this as well. We requested a full refund because it was that or 26% of a 4-night stay where we only could stay one night and that one night was miserable for all three of us. We would have been willing to pay even an evening, though I still find that cost slightly unfair from the conditions that one evening were spent under. One evening would have been $95, but instead Momo only approved a 26% refund, which made one night around $380 total for us*
This is a negative review and I address the inevitable towards the end, which is that if you look at EVERY negative review that Momo receives, she meets you with hostility, condescension, and accusatory language. I encourage you to read the full review before booking.
I will start with the positives on our stay with Momo's listing:
- The location was nice and close to a few very nice restaurants and landmarks
- The layout of the apartment was interesting
- The AC functioned well, and the apartment was cool
- There was an HDMI cable available for the TV if you wanted to hook up a laptop or tablet
On to the negative side of our stay:
*I will begin that a lot of the issue may have started with a language barrier and poor translations. The issues then escalated and turned into defensive and accusatory behaviors*
We traveled as a family - my husband, our infant, and myself. Before booking, I confirmed there was a crib or pack and play at the location and I was told there was a "cot". As I am coming from the US, I just asked if there was the possibility to confirm what this was with a photo, I was told there wasn't one, but it was a 4-sided bed for a child under 3 to sleep in. I know that this should have been the first indication of how the rest may have planned out, but I booked anyway.
It wasn't until the day of the beginning of our stay that we received instructions on how to get in. Because we were on the train, the photos sent were not loading properly with the wi-fi and I received about half of the photos plus a few things that gave information but not a thorough description. We arrived up to the apartment door fine and couldn't get in. The reason being was because a picture that didn't load, with imperative information. Even with the photo once it loaded, the directions were not incredibly clear, but my husband was able to figure this all out and we were able to use an international day plan for $10 to call Momo and get the photos sent again. There was also a large, black trash bag that smelled outside of the door. There are three doors near each other so I'm not sure if it was the cleaning crew for Momo's place or if it was a neighbor who did this.
Going into the apartment was fine. It is small, but nothing different than expected. I noticed white, seemingly animal hair, on the couch that must not have come up with a vacuum. I also noticed open containers of alcohol in the room that were dusty. The apartment furniture seems older and there is damage to some of it. In the kitchen below the window, there is a missing tile. The white cabinets in the living room and bedroom have fraying and cracking, some of it with poor handy work that used electrical tape to attempt to put it back together. There is a chip in the glass coffee table, the pack and play had a decent tear in the fabric at the top, etc. I took photos of all of these things because:
1. I am an Airbnb host as well and I have found it useful to document things like this
2. I was still thrown off by the check in
3. On the train, I asked if there were any electric adapters for US appliances in the apartment and I was told "I don't think so". I found this a strange response because I wasn't quite sure how you wouldn't know what is and isn't inside the apartment you either own or manage.
The apartment smelled clean, which was nice. I was told the "cot" (pack and play) was recently cleaned and I can say that inside, the was an extremely large, folded white sheet that was laying on top of the folding foundation (for those with children and pack and plays hopefully understand what I mean. It's not quite a mattress, but it's a similar purpose). We knew it would need to be removed for her safety, as she is not old enough to be sleeping with loose sheets versus a fitted sheet, but we wanted to explore Rome, so we unpacked quickly and went on our way.
When we returned, it was time to get our daughter down for bed. My husband removed the sheet and immediately noticed that the "plates" or "discs" that make up the foundation (there are two to five in every pack