The place is in a beautiful location and easily accessible to the metro. It has lovely view and is bare bones ( no electric kettle or blankets or a top sheet as shown in photos). There is basically no wifi because it will boot you off continually and you have to try different passwords and different logins which is really inconvenient for us international travelers that rely on wifi to communicate).
My husband and I had been traveling from Switzerland and cinque terre with little to no wifi for a few days before we came to this Airbnb and for whatever technical problems, we neither got an email or Airbnb message from Elisabetta reminding us to give her a check-in time) She had sent one a week before but didn’t try again a few days before we were to arrive.
It was our fault entirely that we didn’t give her a check in time so PLEASE BE ABSOLUTELY EXACT about your check in time even if it’s between a couple hour window.
We got in at 3 pm (her check in is between 11 am and 8 pm and says is flexible but it is definitely not flexible as we learned), had the reception call her because we had no wifi) and got no response. We finally found wifi at a bar that was closed but kind enough to help us get on the wifi a couple blocks away. We finally were able to message her on Airbnb messenger and she said we’d have to wait a couple hours ( we ended up sitting in the rain outside the bar). We knew she was busy so we waited... our fault... no problem. We messaged her saying when we walked over to meet her at the front door, we’d have no wifi so she’d just need to meet us there to let us in. We waited 10 minutes past the agreed time and then she finally opened the door and began scolding us saying why hadn’t we rung the bell ( she had messaged that she was not home when we had wanted to check in earlier... so why would we ring the bell if she wasn’t home and would be coming from the street? We had rung the bell that first time we had tried to check in at 3 pm and not had any luck).
She promptly took us up in a very tiny elevator ( the most uncomfortable elevator ride I’ve ever been on) and continued scolding us as if we were children that we should have rung, that she had classes to teach, and this was not her problem, that she shouldn’t have to deal with this)....
On her Airbnb info, it only says guests must give an exact check In time if checking in outside the check-in time frame. If she requires an exact check in time, regardless, she should know that most people traveling internationally will not know a week in advance how long it will take to get there.
Apart from us apologizing profusely, we still checked-in between her 11 am- 8 pm time slot, waited in the rain, and did our best to communicate as clearly as possible when we did have wifi.
If she had even just spoken to us in a more respectful and professional manner ie “ Hi, I’m sorry but I’m busy and only have time to give you the keys before getting back to work... you really did inconvenienced me etc” it would have made all the difference.
Flexibility, efficient planning for the sorts of emergencies and inconveniences that happen during travel etc are crucial if running an Airbnb. Going through the reviews, it looks like we are not the first to deal with a lack of professionalism and basic human kindness from Elisabetta.
We are all busy, dealing with all sorts of schedules and sometimes things that are out of our control but from every other Airbnb I have stayed at all over the world ... they either have a lockbox with a spare key, or someone nearby that can be available in case guests arrive within the check in period but are not able to give a check in time prior.
Lesson learned and hopefully for Elisabetta too.