BEDBUGS! And not just one or two; flipped over the pillow because I saw one bug crawling in plain sight and found many, at all stages of life. I had never seen bed bugs in real life before, so I was terrified. (Note, this was before ever even sleeping here, only a few hours after check-in and after going outside for a meal. Ultimately stayed elsewhere due to this.)
Immediately called airbnb as well as my host, and while Airbnb support was terrible, I want to focus on Attilio/the apartment in particular as that’s the point for this review. His messages were apologetic for my experience, but I didn’t appreciate how he refused to accept responsibility. Instead blamed the previous guest and said it wasn’t really his fault because it wasn’t about cleanliness. Excuse me? How is it not about cleanliness when bed bugs at this stage of infestation would have been spotted during a changing of sheets, and can be eliminated via a hot, hot laundry wash? (I had a lot of time to learn about bedbugs during the multiple hours on the phone trying to remedy this situation).
Ultimately, this ordeal has affected my personal life beyond my vacation. In addition to having to spend a whole afternoon sanitizing everything while in Catania, I did this immediately upon arrival back home. And I have read that you must continue watching for months after contact, as they are very resilient. Ultimately i have had to face a lot of unforeseen financial repercussions from this host’s inability to make sure his apartment is safe between guests. Also honestly feel like I have PTSD from this!
Also, unrelated to the bedbug fiasco but his checkout instructions stated something about being unable to use the water heater at the same time as the air conditioner because it turns off the electricity/lights. This wasn’t communicated beforehand and only received day-of. Had we known before maybe this would be ok, but this info should be shared earlier so guests are aware what they are signing up for. It shouldn’t be my job to play electrician on vacation.