My wife and I were in Italy for our honeymoon - Milan was our last stop and we were hoping for a great end to a wonderful trip.
However, we are disappointed to share that it was not the case at all.
We were told by the host that the apartment was ready and we could check in at around 230pm. Once we checked in, the first thing we saw was a very messy bed left behind by the previous guests, leftovers in the fridge, hair everywhere on the floor and a toilet bowl that wasn’t flushed.
Clearly, no cleaning was done and I immediately contacted the host. To her credit, she apologised and said it was the first time this has happened. However this does not remove the disappointment and disgust we faced - our plans had to change and we could not settle down and only could deposit the luggage and wait for the cleaning lady to arrive two hours later.
We waited until past 7pm and received no update whether it was cleaned already or not, and I had to reach out to the host to confirm we could return.
The positive thing is that when we returned, the cleaning was done. It wasn’t amazingly clean and we could tell it was done in a rush (there were still leftovers in the fridge, half used toilet paper in the toilet), but I didn’t voice out to the host again because she promised to provide a small refund to compensate us. More on this later.
One thing to note is that the shower has a missing door, so taking a shower would cause the toilet floor to be wet. This wasn’t a good experience as well as the toilet is really cramped too.
Simple amenities are provided but there wasn’t really a personal touch to the home, if you’re looking to stay for a night or two nights then it’s fine - but if you’re looking for comfort and a homely place to stay then look elsewhere.
Back to the refund, I reached out to the host after checking out to request for it and only received about 20 euros. This didn’t even cover the cleaning fee which in this case, I think it’s only reasonable we were refunded the cleaning fee as we had to put up with a dirty flat during the pandemic. Imagine checking in to a home with a toilet bowl unflushed, hair all over the floor and stained bedsheets!