The listing is NOT what you get when you booked the private Roma suite. We booked a private 3 bedroom, 1 private kitchen and bathroom Roma Suite. I personally spoke to the host “Noi” prior to our stay to confirm all the details and ensure everything was exactly what we booked and he confirmed that it was, stated that it was all private and the only shared area were stairs, he sent pictures of the 3 rooms and kitchen and bath that we were getting when we got there and it looked great. However, when we arrived, it was not. Firstly, to share the one positive experience of this, is that the check in was simple, however when we arrived to the front door to the building to unlock the door was left opened which was very concerning and a huge red flag! Why was the door unlocked!!
We have small kids and having the the door unlocked was very unsafe. Next, we opened the door and walked up to our suite (with kids and luggage in tow) and it was a 2 bedroom and 1 bath apartment. I immediately contacted the host because we booked a 3 bedroom and kitchen and bath- and this was not it. My kids require special food and I would only book places with kitchens, so this was a huge concern that the private kitchen was not in the suite. The host “Noi” kept insisting there was a private kitchen for us with some wine and cookies and insisted there were 3 bedrooms. We gave him the benefit of the doubt and my husband and I tried to search everywhere for this. In a panic, we opened other doors in the apartment area to try to find the kitchen and third bathroom. The first door I opened, I found someone inside sleeping (so strange) the next door I opened there was someone in the bathroom (also strange) and the last door I opened there was the sound of a shower on (also strange) and someone was inside the shower. This was all extremely strange and this was NOTHING like what the listed described. Tbh e description stated a private Roma Suite with three bedrooms, 1 bath and 1 private kitchen… however it was none of that!
I tried to speak to the host the whole time via messaging and was sharing all my concerns, but I just kept being told that my room was there and pretty much making me feel as if I was crazy and missing something. I expressed how we’ve been searching for this suite and it just wasn’t there! He sent me a picture of our door and keys and that is the room I entered, and that is the room that was NOT what I BOOKED! There was no kitchen or 3rd bedroom in there. It was not anything like the pictures at all. The host “Noi” also confirmed there wouldn’t be people inside, so I’m not sure what was going on… all we were looking for was WHAT WE BOOKED & PAID FOR, and that was not it at all. It was a complete false listing and it was very unfortunate that our family had to deal with this, being foreigners and also having small tired children with us. We immediately felt scammed and unsafe and didn’t spend more than 2 minutes inside, we left, which was super upsetting as we are a North American family putting our trust into Air bnb in Europe with our two small kids.
My point of this review is to help other customers. Please Beware if you are booking the Roma suite because the description on Airbnb and what you actually get are two different things. The host completely ignored my concerns and kept insisting that what I booked was there, when it was not at all. He insisted to tell me the “private” kitchen was there and it was not, he never answered about a third bedroom, although that’s what I booked based on the listing description. I didn’t appreciate being treated like this from the host and wish the host was more honest and compassionate towards his paying customers.
My goal for this review is help other travellers and the last thing I want is for anyone to experience what we did. I know how frustrating and time consuming it is to plan and book travel and I truly hope this never happens to anyone again and I do hope that the listing gets updated to reflect exactly the correct description of what you receive when you book the Roma Suite. I also want to advise that our requests for cancellations and refunds were denied by both the host and via AirBnb, so please take that into consideration when booking.
I had sent 3 requests to the host for a partial refund, in which he denied and actually counter offered back asking for more money from me (super upsetting). I also was in contact with AirBnb regarding this entire stay, and they to declined our partial refund that we requested, which is very upsetting as well. We ended up not only being out of a place to stay for the night, but also out the money. The host kept my full booking amount fully knowing his description and what we were given were completely false. The entire experience was very unfortunate and just be careful if you do book this suite.