Our experience with Pascale (co-host) and this apartment were less than ideal. In short I would not recommend this apartment due to our poor interactions we had with the host. The apartment itself is okay but very small. The photos do a very good job of making the space look bigger than it is. The location is central and walking distance to all the tourist locations and would be a quick fix if you can’t find any other alternatives. Please take this review with a holistic view of our situation. I’ve already been warned that he will have me banned from AirBnB for writing this review and/ or have this review removed.
My girlfriend and I have been using AirBnB to backpack through Italy by bus and train and as such our travel plans often get delayed and are not always preplanned. Prior to arriving in Rome we took advantage of a wine tasting tour in Florence. Due to a bus cancellation the afternoon wine tour was shifted by a few hours changing our plans significantly. We ensured that we contacted Pascale to let him know an approximate window of arrival. Our estimated time of arrival was exactly what we communicated and agreed on yet we were scolded on check-out and told we are “bad guests” because we arrived after the 4pm check-in time. We had communicated and agreed on the later check in time hours before. We arrived at approximately 8:30pm. All my communications with Pascale were delayed significantly and often I wouldn’t even receive a response. Often I would have to send a follow up message asking for him to respond to my previous message.
On arrival we quickly checked in and didn’t pay much attention to the apartment. We did the basic here’s the bed, bathroom and shower walk through. Mid-way through the stay and on check-out we began to notice how dirty the apartment was. The sheets and duvets were not clean and had stains on them, there were used bathroom products left from previous guests in the bathroom, the walls were marked up from previous guests and the coffee machine was not prepared with coffee pods. Due to the communication problems leading up to this stay I chose not to engage Pascale as I knew I would either be ignored or the response would be delayed to the point that the question wouldn’t matter anymore. Keep in mind when I asked about the coffee pod situation Pascale kindly rectified it quickly. Alternatively, when I brought up the other issues on the time of check-out I was told that “I’m dishonest” and should have brought up the issues earlier. I asked Pascale if he would be willing to work with me on the separate $15 euro cleaning fee as I didn’t feel like it was fair that I had to pay to clean up someone else’s mess. He repeatedly spoke over me and wouldn’t let me explain my situation. In the end I paid the cleaning fee as Pascale became belligerent and disrespectful on the phone threatening us that he will have us banned from AirBnB if we do not pay the cleaning fee as it is part of the house rules. It wasn’t about the money I just wanted to be treated fairly. As the customer our concerns should have been taken seriously rather than having our concerns dismissed and being called “dishonest” and “cheap” as he thought I was trying to save the $15 euros.
This whole experience was very unpleasant. I have used AirBnB in many other trips and this was my only negative experience. I don’t like feeling like I’ve been taken advantage of and that’s exactly how I feel after this experience with Pascale. Do your research and take his 5 star reviews with a grain of salt.