If I could just review Daniela's apartment alone I would say: It is clean and spacious. It's in a safe neighborhood, and actually that's the best part about this place; the location. You are 2 seconds away from the Navigli river walk with great restaurants and bars. The metro is about a 10 minute walk to take you to other areas of the city. If you are looking for anything to wow you (decor, soaps, welcome gifts, snacks) you won't find them. This is simply a place to sleep.
Aside from the place, our stay was a much different story... I'll start by saying I had a hard time receiving messages and would get responses days after they were sent (traveling abroad with Verizon).
This is where the trouble with Daniela started. She wanted to know when we would be arriving to Milan, and my response went through the day before we arrived. This wasn't enough time for her. I told her our plane would land at 8:50 pm, and from what I searched beforehand, we would be there before 10 pm in a taxi. She then told me she has an upcharge of 20-40 euros for a late check -in.
I will say, this WAS in her listing, if you scroll ALL the way down. I do not remember reading this note, but will take the blame. I was a little disappointed though, feeling that the room was already pricey enough and she did live nearby. She let me know she was disappointed I was upset over only 20 EUR...because Americans must bleed money, right? Airbnb stepped in and paid her which we were grateful and I let her know I would update her when we were close to the apartment.
Having never been to Milan before, I didn't know there would be traffic and it upped our travel time to an hour and a half to get from the airport to Danielas...an extra 20 EUR. We originally planned on taking an Uber directly there, but saw the price was 200 EUR for a ride, so decided to take the metro instead. This added on time to our travels having to wait for trains to come in + a walk from the station with bags and suitcases.
Once there, we waited outside 25 minutes for Daniela to arrive.. even though she lives "around the corner." Clearly unhappy with us by her lack of a hello, she and her husband let us in and showed us around. She let us know that because we were only 2 people we couldn't use the third bed. We also couldn't shut the glass shower door when showering because someone walked into it before and hurt themselves...ok. She also showed us the dishes/pots/pans cupboard for cooking, but said "you won't be needing any of that." What did I pay for? Was it also an upcharge to use these items too?
This all concluded with a 20 minute condescending rant about us being late and why it wasn't okay. I repeated to her that my service wasn't the best and that we were sorry it was a later arrival than expected. Most of my airbnbs have lockboxes that allow me to do a self check-in. She didn't hear me though over her own voice.
Her response: "What if we wanted to go out to dinner with friends or had plans? Most people we know with airbnbs would have left you outside till tomorrow morning. And I STALKED your airbnb page, not every stay you've had has been a lockbox. You've only had 7 stays and we've had 150. If you want to check in late, go to a hotel."
I stay with airbnb because it is supposed to be BETTER than a hotel. Also, not all of my stays are on my page. I actually manage an airbnb myself, and am fully aware of how stays work. You should not be in this business if you are not willing to put your guests first. I don't like confrontation or issues to create a bad rapport. I was actually hoping no one would leave a review at all, and call this interaction a wash. But thinking about this stay weeks later after being home, the experience with Daniela still bothers me. I have never felt so uncomfortable or wanted to leave a place more. If I could have gotten a full refund I would have gone elsewhere, but they only offered me $70 back.
Still love airbnb, but I'll never stay here again. Word to the wise, READ ALL OF HER RULES, and allow for extra time to get to the apartment.